The city of Auburn could pay for a hazardous waste contamination incident in Niagara Falls despite having not violated any regulations.

City officials will decide Thursday whether or not to give $2,000 as part of a settlement agreement and avoid potential litigation for disposing of hazardous waste in 1987 at the Frontier Chemical Royal Avenue Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility.

The city at the time transferred 165 gallons of waste to the facility, and did so legally and properly, Corporation Counsel John Rossi said Thursday.

But environmental regulators took action in 1992 against the facility for uncontrolled release of contaminants into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

Rossi said there are no available records showing what kind of waste was transferred to the facility.

According to state and federal environmental laws, any party that has disposed of waste at a facility is partially responsible if a leak or other incident of contamination occurs there.

That means, despite the fact that the city did not break any laws, it is legally liable in part for the incident in Niagara Falls, Rossi said.

“It's a tough standard, I think because of the tremendous cost that is involved (in a cleanup),” Rossi said.

The city was contacted in September by Frontier Chemical Site PRP Group, a collection of entities organizing a investigation and cleanup effort initiated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

DEC spokesperson Maureen Wren said Wednesday that the PRP group includes more than 100 organizations, businesses and municipalities that had disposed of at least 7,500 gallons of waste at the facility while it was operating.

The $2,000 will allow the city to contribute a small amount to the investigation and remediation of the site in exchange for a liability release that severs any further involvement in the site, according to the Frontier group.

The letter also states that the investigation and remediation could cost more than $20 million.

If the group does not end up entering into a final cleanup

agreement with the state, the DEC will have the right to pursue litigation against all entities that disposed of waste at the facility, Wren said.

Rossi said it is better for the city to pay the amount up front than have to deal with litigation down the line.

“There are probably other entities that are getting a pretty large assessment,” Rossi said.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.