Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/17/2014

Perma-Fix Environmental Services and Philotechnics, Ltd. reached a settlement late last week in a lawsuit over the handling of leftover waste containers. Terms of the settlement are not known, and Perma-Fix declined to comment this week beyond confirming that a settlement has occurred. Philotechnics could not be reached for comment. The three parties involved in the case— Perma-Fix, Philotechnics, and Dupont— filed a joint motion last week informing the court of their settlement. “The parties announce to the Court that they have resolved their claims against one another through the execution of a Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release, and that said Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release calls for the dismissal all claims, counter claims, and third-party claims or any other claims however denominated or characterized asserted in this matter, with full prejudice,” the three parties said in their motion.

The lawsuit originates from an alleged breach of contract by Philotechnics for failing to remove drums of legacy waste left at Perma-Fix’s Northwest facility after Perma-Fix bought the facility from Philotechnics in 2007. Part of the problem with the legacy waste revolved around the question of where to move it. Philotechnics could not return the waste to the original customer, DuPont, and Philotechnics did not want to bring it to their Oak Ridge facility. The lawsuit, initiated by Perma-Fix, was asking for Philotechnics to either remove the waste, pay for the additional cost of storing and maintaining the waste, or pay for the waste to be treated and disposed of.