The city of Rochester has agreed to drop its lawsuit seeking control of a key property in the former Vacuum Oil complex along the Genesee River.
The contaminated, defunct industrial site is an imposing blight on the riverway and the Plymouth-Exchange Neighborhood south of downtown.
City officials agreed to discontinue the lawsuit as part of a settlement with the property's owner, Exxon Mobil. In return, the company agreed to enroll 5 Flint St., and its distinctive warehouse building, in the state's Brownfield Cleanup Program. The state program provides tax credits to firms that clean up industrial sites where pollution, or the perception of it, has hampered redevelopment.
The settlement ensures that cleanup work that has been stalled for years proceeds so that the property can be developed.
The city filed suit in 2023 after a judge ordered the property's former owner, DHD Ventures, to sell 5 Flint St. and another parcel at 15 Flint St. as part of a mortgage foreclosure case.
DHD had bought the properties in 2008 with the stated intent of cleaning up and redeveloping the parcels. But nothing happened for 15 years, prompting the city to initiate legal action to take 5 Flint St.
The city owns 18 acres surrounding the two Flint Street properties that it wants to see redeveloped. That is more likely if 5 Flint St. is incorporated into the cleanup plans, city officials have said. They also want control of the property to carry out the planned replacement of the adjacent Genesee River wall.
Exxon Mobil bought the properties a few months after the city filed its lawsuit, paying $280,000 for 5 Flint St. and $995,000 for 15 Flint St. A judge had previously ruled that the oil giant was liable for the contamination at the sites, since Vacuum Oil was a predecessor to Exxon Mobil.
A consultant hired by Exxon Mobil to carry out clean-up work had already submitted cleanup applications for the property before the city formally dropped its case. The state approved a brownfield cleanup agreement on Oct. 10.
Exxon Mobil's consultant has also enrolled 15 Flint St. in the Brownfield Cleanup Program.
