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26-590: The creek rises in Java Lake in Wyoming County . In the village of Arcade it is joined by Clear Creek. It flows westward out of Wyoming County to the hamlet of Yorkshire , where the creek becomes the boundary between Erie County to the north and Cattaraugus County to the south. Near Springville , the creek is impounded by the Scoby Dam . From Springville to Gowanda , Cattaraugus Creek passes through

52-621: A former privately operated nuclear fuel reprocessing facility alongside Cattaraugus Creek north of the village of West Valley in Cattaraugus County. The DOE's Demonstration Project at the site transferred high-level nuclear waste into glass canisters. Reprocessing of spent fuel rods from military and civilian nuclear power plants between 1966 and 1972 resulted in burial of low-level radioactive waste (LLNW) on 22 acres (89,000 m) and burial of high-level radioactive waste on another 7 acres (28,000 m) there. The facility that created

78-478: A little over $ 1 million, the money immediately is invested in the case against Grace and Beatrice. The plaintiffs' case against Grace is far stronger for two reasons: (1) Schlichtmann has a personal testimony of a former employee of Grace who had witnessed dumping, and (2) a river between Beatrice's tannery and the contaminated wells makes Beatrice's contribution to the contamination less likely. The jury finds Beatrice not liable. Though Schlichtmann's firm anticipates

104-474: A much higher settlement, the dire state of its finances forces it to accept a settlement from W.R. Grace for $ 8 million. Schlichtmann disperses the settlement to the families, excluding expenses and attorney's fees (which resulted in approx. $ 375,000 per family). When some families think Schlichtmann had overbilled expenses, he acquiesces and surrenders more of his fee. Schlichtmann later files for bankruptcy after losing his condo and car; he lived in his office for

130-496: A time. Schlichtmann eventually practices environmental, civil, and personal injury law. A report from the Environmental Protection Agency (which later filed its own lawsuits against the companies based on new evidence) concludes from sludge removed from the site that both companies had contaminated the wells. In 1988, Schlichtmann attempts to reraise the case against Beatrice, but the judge dismisses

156-606: Is now known as the West Valley Demonstration Project , regarding LLNW, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated, "There is no intent to recover the wastes once they are buried." Java, New York Java ( / ˈ dʒ eɪ v ə / ) is an incorporated town in Wyoming County , New York . The population was 2,057 at the 2010 census. The Town of Java is on the western border of Wyoming County. The Town of Java

182-504: Is the border of Erie County . As of the census of 2000, there were 2,222 people, 807 households, and 590 families residing in the town. The population density was 47.2 inhabitants per square mile (18.2/km ). There were 1,035 housing units at an average density of 22.0 per square mile (8.5/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 99.14% White , 0.14% African American , 0.18% Native American , 0.09% Asian , and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.41% of

208-607: The Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area. This conservation zone is a favorite recreation area for fishing and rafting. The South Branch of Cattaraugus Creek, also known as Skinner Hollow, originates in East Otto and flows southwest into the village of Cattaraugus before veering northwest to Cattaraugus Creek along the Persia - Otto town line, joining the main creek just east of Gowanda, a village that straddles

234-504: The 1980s. The book became a best-seller. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. The case is Anderson v. Cryovac . The first reported decision in the case is at 96 F.R.D. 431 (denial of defendants' motion to dismiss). A 1998 film of the same name , starring John Travolta as plaintiff's lawyer Jan Schlichtmann and Robert Duvall as Beatrice Foods attorney Jerome Facher,

260-775: The State of New York, title owner of the entire site through its agency, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA,) and by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), successor to the Atomic Energy Commission. NYSERDA holds a license from the NRC, which has ultimate jurisdiction over high-level nuclear wastes. Getty Oil took over the site in the 1970s and continued receiving nuclear fuel rods and dumping nuclear waste there until 1976 when, after numerous releases to

286-407: The average family size was 3.21. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males. The median income for a household in the town

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312-496: The case, Schlichtmann finds evidence suggesting trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination of the town's water supply by Riley Tannery, a subsidiary of Beatrice Foods ; a chemical company, W. R. Grace ; and another company named Unifirst . In the course of the lawsuit Schlichtmann gets other attorneys to assist him. He spends lavishly as he had in his prior lawsuits, but the length of the discovery process and trial stretch all of their assets to their limit. Though Unifirst settles for

338-596: The case, citing testimony from Beatrice's soil chemist. However, due to the lawsuits brought forward by the Environmental Protection Agency, W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods are eventually forced to pay for the largest chemical cleanup in the history of the Northeastern United States at that time, which cost about $ 68 million. The New York Times wrote that "Harr does not overdramatize individual scenes, but he does depict

364-411: The dam. The dam's removal could also allow Cattaraugus Creek's steelhead populations to become more self-sustaining as they gain access to suitable spawning habitats available above the dam. Currently, the steelhead fishery is maintained only through annual stocking of fish. Critics of the project have raised concerns about impacts on resident brown and rainbow trout populations above the dam, and

390-470: The epicenter." Yorkshire-Pioneer Central School District covers the majority of Java Town. Other districts which cover parts of Java Town include Attica Central School District , Holland Central School District , and Warsaw Central School District . A Civil Action A Civil Action is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr about a water contamination case in Woburn , Massachusetts , in

416-464: The ground and atmosphere, public concern over contamination led the DEC to withdraw its permit for discharges into Buttermilk Creek. This, together with more stringent federal regulations and greater economic competition for nuclear waste disposal led NFS to shut the plant down, leaving New York State with the property. Although cleanup of some high-level nuclear wastes began in the 1990s and continues at what

442-607: The healthiest watersheds in the area." Potential threats to the creek's ecosystem include deforestation of the surrounding area, overdevelopment of the Zoar Valley, and invasive species . Nuclear waste has contaminated Cattaraugus Creek and other areas around West Valley, New York . Although almost all of the high-level nuclear waste has been removed, according to the Department of Energy (DOE), nuclear and hazardous wastes are still buried in unlined trenches on two sites at

468-412: The installation of a fish ladder would allow steelhead to move into an additional 44 miles (71 km) of Cattaraugus Creek and its tributaries. The $ 6.6 million ( USD ) project would allow anglers to seek steelhead at an additional 34 miles (55 km) of public stream access, a large increase over the current four miles (6.4 km) of the stream that is currently publicly accessible for fishing below

494-403: The lower course of Cattaraugus Creek to take advantage of the annual steelhead trout runs. Currently, the extent of steelhead migration up Cattaraugus Creek is limited by the Scoby Dam near Springville. However, a proposal to lower the currently 38-foot (12 m) dam by about 30 feet (9.1 m) was put forth by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2014. If approved, the dam's lowering and

520-601: The main stem of the creek and is thereby in two counties. Along its lower course Cattaraugus Creek flows past the hamlet of Versailles , on the south bank of the creek in the Cattaraugus Reservation. For its final miles, the creek forms the border between Erie County and Chautauqua County , then flows into Lake Erie by Sunset Bay in the town of Hanover in Chautauqua County. Each year around October to November, thousands of anglers descend on

546-547: The nuclear waste there closed in 1972, and was begun in 1961 by Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS), a subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co. (the focus of the book and film A Civil Action ) and American Machine & Foundry, on 3,345 acres (13.54 km) of land leased from the State of New York. The Atomic Energy Commission reported in 1966 that 5 million US gallons (19,000 m) of liquid radioactive wastes were discharged into on-site streams and Cattaraugus Creek, into which on-site streams flow. These activities were authorized by

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572-406: The population. There were 807 households, out of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and

598-450: The possibility of introducing invasive species such as the sea lamprey into stretches of the creek currently free of such organisms. The USACE proposal includes barriers that are intended to restrict the movement of sea lamprey beyond the dam. The creek is prone to rapid flooding, and two significant floods hit the creek in 2009 and 2014. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation describes Cattaraugus Creek as "one of

624-513: Was $ 43,708, and the median income for a family was $ 47,120. Males had a median income of $ 35,703 versus $ 24,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 18,398. About 3.9% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line , including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over. In 2017 Jon Campbell of the Democrat & Chronicle wrote that the county "is solid Trump Country" and that Java Town "is

650-409: Was based on the book. After finding that her child is diagnosed with leukemia , Anne Anderson notices a high prevalence of leukemia, a relatively rare disease, in her city . Eventually she gathers other families and seeks a lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, to consider their options. Schlichtmann originally decides not to take the case due to both the lack of evidence and a clear defendant. Later picking up

676-688: Was founded in 1832 from part of the Town of Arcade (then the Town of China). It was named after the island of Java . According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 47.3 square miles (123 km ), of which 47.1 square miles (122 km ) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km ) (0.47%) is water. The largest body of water in Java is Java Lake, which is the headwaters of Cattaraugus Creek . The west town line

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