A federal judge this week sought more specifics about plans to rehabilitate a Virginia river contaminated by a former DuPont plant.
The News Virginian reported that U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski asked government attorneys and the company to brief him on the overall costs — including a value on damaged natural resources in the area -- later this month.
State and federal officials last year reached a $42.3 million settlement with DuPont last year to address mercury that leaked from its Waynesboro, Va., plant into the South River from 1929 to 1950.
The settlement amount is expected to climb to about $50 million when the restoration of a nearby fish hatchery is factored in, but Urbanski sought additional information about lost natural resources.
“Complete funding of the projects in the restoration plan may not necessarily be the same thing as complete funding for projects necessary to restore all of the natural resources damaged by mercury contamination,” Urbanski wrote in this week's filing, according to the paper.
Waynesboro officials previously told the court that they hoped to use part of the settlement money to make additional improvements along the river. A proposal to introduce more trout into the river, however, was already rejected by trustees, the News Virginian reported.