Pfizer Faces Cleanup Suit for Citric Acid Disposal in New Jersey

Pfizer Inc. should pay to clean up hazardous waste disposed at a superfund site in New Jersey, a chemical company alleged in a new suit.

Stepan Co. seeks costs that it has incurred from cleanup and removal of hazardous substances from the Maywood Chemical Co. Superfund Site, which was created after radioactive thorium waste was processed there until 1955. Stepan purchased Maywood Chemical Co. in 1959.

The chemical manufacturer says that Pfizer’s predecessor, Citro Chemical Co., generated gypsum waste from manufacturing citric acid, so Pfizer should be responsible for some of the costs associated with cleanup.

The suit was filed ...