This is one of the dozen signs that line Lyman Street voicing residents' ire at the presence of hazardous waste in the residential neighborhood. Photo by Leisa Strabel.

The signs erected in front of houses along Lyman Street don’t mince words about how residents feel about the pollution in their neighborhood. More than a dozen signs take General Electric and 3M to task for their past manufacturing processes that have led to contamination of ground water and soil in the residential neighborhood.

Several Lyman Street residents are part of the $300 million lawsuit filed against the manufacturing giants two weeks ago. Other residents have filed separate lawsuits.

During the next month, General Electric will install a treatment building on Lyman Street. Ground water will be pumped into the building and treated before being re-released. The treatment building is being erected on a lot purchased by G.E. for that purpose, the home on the lot has been razed. About 15 additional wells will be dug on the site to increase the amount of water that enters the system for treatment.

At this time, the treatment facility is expected to operate for two to four years, then an evaluation will determine how much longer treatment is needed. The village has been told that G.E.’s plan to remove contaminated stream sediment will begin this summer and will continue northward along the stream "as far as necessary."

Across the Erie Canal on Oxford Street, five homes have been purchased by 3M and will be demolished due to high levels of soil and water contamination. Brockport Mayor Mary Ann Thorpe met with representatives of 3M last week to discuss the demolition process and the future use of the properties.

Thorpe said 3M’s plan calls for the five homes to be demolished one by one as 3M closes on each property. But the village has asked that the buildings be demolished all at once, to lessen the noise and mess residents of the west side of Oxford Street and surrounding streets will face. Brockport is also requesting a landscape plan for the site, complete with berms and tree plantings so that remaining Oxford Street residents won’t have a view of an industrial complex where they used to look on other homes.

Once the five homes are razed, 3M plans to spread clean fill to a depth of three feet. But the village wants 3M to remove at least three feet of soil, replace it with clean fill, then add another three feet on top of that.

Brockport village officials have told 3M that no paving will be allowed on the site. 3M plans to ask Agrilink, a neighboring business, if it would be interested in purchasing the rear portion of the five lots. Thorpe said 3M was told the property will not be rezoned from residential. "And we also told them not to add insult to injury by asking for a reduction in property tax on the five properties," Thorpe said.

Nearly 400 past and present Brockport residents are part of the multi-million dollar lawsuit against General Electric and 3M. The companies are being sued for the contamination that has had alleged health repercussions, according to the plaintiffs, and caused a decrease in property values. Currently, the New York State Department of Health is conducting a study to determine if there is evidence of a cancer cluster in the area of contamination.

Residents have many anecdotal reports of cancer and other serious illnesses in the neighborhood, but environmental attorney Ed Masry, who is heading up the legal team, told residents at the outset that it is difficult to prove that a cancer cluster exists and even harder to extract compensation.

The legal fight may go on for years. In fact, John Lessord, who has filed a separate suit, doesn’t expect the problem to be resolved in his life time. He has complained about pollution in the stream that crosses his property for nearly 30 years.