What is the settlement for Newby Island?
A class-action lawsuit against Newby Island Landfill regarding property damages has been tentatively settled pending approval by the Court. The settlement would include approximately 6,800 households within a 1.5 mile radius from the landfill (see map below). As part of the settlement, Newby’s composting facility would either be closed or altered by the end of 2017. $2.75 million would be allocated by Newby to mitigate odors over the next 5 years including enhancing or upgrading its gas collections system. Also $1.2 million in damages would be distributed with $650,000 to lawyers, $10,000 to named plaintiffs and remaining $540,000 to be prorated among households who file a claim by Feb 9,2016.
Is the settlement of the Milpitas odor settlement inadequate?
The settlement terms are inadequate. The Citizens Odor Action Group of Milpitas were not involved in negotiating the terms of the settlement. The negotiated terms strongly relies on Newby’s operators to make the final decision of any actions would be taken to mitigate the odor generated from the Newby facility with no assurance of odor relief or effectiveness. The 2-5 years time frame allotted for adopting improvement measures does not provide immediate relief either.
