LACKAWANNA, N.Y. — Erie County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Walker has determined that a lawsuit involving the owners of the former Bethlehem Steel site, and a business that was occupying the space at the time of the 2016 fire, will go to trial in June.
Justice Walker's 20-page decision, released on March 17, outlined several reasons Great Lakes Industrial Development, LLC, and Industrial Materials Recycling, LLC will be going to trial.
The main issue during the trial will be whether the former steel factory needed a sprinkler system.
"It shall be for the jury to decide whether a sprinkler system was required; and whether the lack of one caused and/or exacerbated Plaintiffs' damages," Justice Walker said in his decision.
According to the decision, August 9, 2014, a City of Lackawanna code enforcement officer conducted and inspection of the then vacant former factory with a representative of Great Lakes Industrial Development.
The code enforcement officer said because no tenants were occupying the space at the time, no sprinkler system was needed.
However, depending on the type of business that would eventually lease the space, a sprinkler system may need to be installed, according to the officer.
The City of Lackawanna maintains that they were never notified that Industrial Materials Recycling was using the space to process and store plastic.
The code enforcement officer said "with the change in use from steel to plastic, a fire suppression system with adequate alarms and sprinklers was needed."
"They tried to claim they were grandfathered in," attorney Jeanne Vinal said.
Vinal represents 75 plaintiffs in the case. She says many are suffering lingering health problems from the smoke that drifted over Blasdell, Hamburg, and other Southtowns.
According to an analysis by the EPA, particles from the Bethlehem Steel fire drifted as far as Virginia in the days following.
"I think when they originally said that plastic recycling, people thought someone's sorting cans and stuff," Vinal said. "No, it was truckloads of plastic coming in and being ground into pellets or into flakes."
The Buffalo Fire Department marshal said the cause of the fire was undetermined. Attorney's for Great Lakes Industrial Development and Industrial Materials Recycling argued that because of that determination they aren't liable.
Justice Walker pointed out, and mentioned it was a detriment to the defendants, that their arguments failed to acknowledge that the marshal's report "leaves open the possibility (if not likelihood) that one of IMR's bulbs exploded, causing the fire."
The trial is set to begin June 12.
2 On Your Side reached out to attorneys representing Great Lakes Industrial Development and Industrial Materials Recycling but did not get a response.