Great Neck North Water Authority plans appeal after judge dismisses lawsuit against Northwell Health 

The Water Authority of Great Neck North preserved its right to appeal after a state judge dismissed a lawsuit over its allegation that Northwell Health contaminated groundwater with the chemical Freon 22.

In a February 2024 lawsuit, the water authority alleged that Northwell's air conditioners had caused Freon 22 to leak from a facility on Lakeville Road in New Hyde Park.

The leak caused the chemical to mix with groundwater “and enter public drinking water supply wells within the Authority’s system, resulting in a substantial interference with the public’s right to clean drinking water,” lawyers for the water authority said in a court filing. Great Neck North sought funding, in part, to reimburse the cost of removing Freon 22 from the water supply.

Lawyers for the water authority filed a notice of appeal on Friday, which preserves their right to continue the court case. 

Nassau State Supreme Court Justice Danielle M. Peterson dismissed the suit in April. She said the water authority's request was "barred by the applicable statute of limitations."

In October 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation that allowed water authorities more time to sue polluters over "emerging contaminants" if the statute of limitations had lapsed. Peterson sided with Northwell's arguments in her decision, writing that New York State does not consider Freon 22 an "emerging contaminant." 

Freon 22 is a refrigerant commonly used in air conditioning systems and is considered an ozone-depleting substance, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Existing EPA regulations allow for limited production and consumption of the chemical until 2030. 

John Lamson, communications director for Sher Edling LLP, the San Francisco-based law firm representing Great Neck North, declined to comment.

"Northwell is pleased the court recognized the validity of our position and granted our motion for dismissal," Northwell Health spokesman Joseph Kemp said in an emailed statement. "The Water Authority of Great Neck North is free to pursue an appeal of the court’s judgment; Northwell intends to present a thoughtful and vigorous response."

Lawyers for the water authority argued that Northwell had known since at least 2004 that "Freon-22 releases" had contaminated groundwater and "could pose health risks."

The water authority filed the lawsuit to "recover the substantial costs necessary to protect the public and restore its damaged drinking water supply wells," according to a court filing. The district used "expensive wellhead treatment" to contain what it described as a "subsurface Freon-22 plume."

Northwell filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in July 2024, arguing that the levels of Freon 22 found in the district's untreated water supply "have never exceeded any action level or maximum contaminant level, and are not anticipated to do so."

Lawyers for Northwell wrote that the health system in 2004 removed a "chiller serving a groundwater-based air conditioning system ... when nitrogen pressure testing indicated the system was leaking Freon-22."

Kemp told Newsday in July that the authority's lawsuit had "no merit."

"Any traces of Freon-22 in the water are removed by a water treatment system" that had been installed more than a decade ago, he said last year. "Even without that treatment the traces of Freon-22 are at levels that are safe and legal."

New York State caps concentrations of Freon 22 in drinking water to five parts per billion, Newsday previously reported. Authorities that provide water to customers in Nassau County, including in Jericho, Glen Cove and Hempstead Village, have worked to treat Freon 22 contamination in recent years.

The Water Authority of Great Neck North serves approximately 32,400 people in Nassau and operates 834 fire hydrants, according to court filings.

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.