After a lengthy legal back and forth, ExxonMobil has been ordered to clean up a Rochester Brownfield site.
The spot, 5 and 5 Flint Street, used to be the site of the Vacuum Oil Refinery. It's a history Alan Knauf knows well.
"John Rockefeller came to Rochester, bought a process to refine oil using a vacuum from a man in Rochester who invented it in the 1860s, and he opened a refinery, and now you know the company as ExxonMobil."
Knauf is an attorney representing DHD Ventures, a development company who bought the former refinery site, a slice of land along the west bank of the Genesee River.
Knauf says there's a lot of petroleum contamination on the site which has been preventing the development of the area.
"This particular site would just be such a great development for the city of Rochester, because it's near the U of R, and it's in a neighborhood that really needs some economic development."
After a ruling by the State Supreme Court this week, Exxon may be forced into action. Judge Ann Marie Taddeo has ordered Exxon to clean the site, but Knauf says that doesn't mean there will be an immediate resolution. He says he anticipates the company will appeal the decision.
A spokesperson from the company made the following statement:
"ExxonMobil’s predecessor company has not operated at this site for more than 80 years, while others have. Questions about the remediation of the property should be addressed to DHD Ventures."
