Judge Allows Class Action Suit against New York Lab

A New York judge has given a green light to a class action suit filed by a group of Long Island homeowners worried about toxic leaks from a renowned research laboratory.

Suffolk County homeowners say past leaks of chemicals from Brookhaven National Laboratory have reduced their property values and endangered their health.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti has granted them the right to sue as a class of up to 1,000, but only for property damages.

The leaks were first reported in the mid-1990s and included radioactive tritium. The lab now has an ongoing cleanup program.

Some homeowners in Upton first sued Brookhaven in 1996 for loss of property values and the cost of hooking up to Suffolk County’s public water supply.

An attorney for Brookhaven says the lab might appeal.