By JIM BUTLER

The calendar slips inexorably toward a court-imposed deadline for Dresser Industries’ plan for remediation of 229 acres near Tioga despoiled by a hazardous waste accident 24 years ago.

Public acknowledgement of the contamination occurred eight years later, prompting a rush of plaintiffs claiming damages as a result.

Last November U.S. District Judge David Joseph decided enough is enough, ordering Dresser, which claims it has spent upwards of $24 million correcting the environmental damage, to submit a final remediation plan by August 3.  

Available records do not reflect any such filing.

Joseph also set October 5 as deadline for plaintiffs to object or propose modifications to Dresser’s submission and December 7 for LA DEQ’s feedback, objections or modifications.

Following his order, records show, Joseph in December dismissed the claims of 15 of the large group of plaintiffs, previously ruled by the court not to constitute a class under class action requirements.

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