September 10, 2025
New York Issues New Orders in 11-Year Philips Factory Cleanup
New orders target lingering groundwater contamination from mercury and PCBs at former lamp factory
For decades, the 75-acre lighting plant in Bath, New York — first operated by Westinghouse, later by Philips Lighting — produced a diverse mix of lamps, components and contamination in various measures. After Philips Lighting, a division of Netherlands-based Philips NV, shuttered the facility in 2014, the buildings were demolished, and the site was turned over to a lengthy environmental cleanup process.
Now, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has issued its most conclusive report yet: the final Remedial Investigation Report (RIR), published this summer, shifts the cleanup from a period of interim action to one of formal, enforceable remediation. And it confirms what the data has hinted at for years — trichloroethene (TCE), mercury, PCBs, and other industrial remnants are still present in ways that warrant new intervention.
Persistent Contaminants, New Requirements
The 2025 RIR identifies multiple areas where soil, groundwater, vapor, and sediment contamination persist despite nearly a decade of mitigation work. Groundwater monitoring wells continue to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including TCE, in both perched and regional aquifers. The shallow soils east of the site — tied to historical stormwater discharge — exceed state cleanup objectives.
Most notably, the report designates AOC-8 (an area with buried debris and contaminated soil) as a continuing source of groundwater contamination. The state has now required a formal evaluation of remedial alternatives in these areas, signaling that additional excavation or in-situ treatment may be ahead.
A Decade Later, Still Not Finished
The original promise after demolition was relatively simple: remediate the land, confirm environmental safety, and turn the page. But ten years after the plant’s closure, the story remains open-ended. Cleanup of contaminated soils is largely complete in visible areas, but the subsurface narrative has proven more stubborn.
This next phase marks a regulatory inflection point. The state has finished its investigation. What comes next is design—engineered remedies, budgets, oversight plans, and, eventually, a determination of whether this land can ever be safely redeveloped.
The Broader Context: A European Company Playing by Stricter Rules
Signify, the global lighting company that spun off from Philips and now owns the environmental liability, operates under some of the strictest environmental reporting regimes in the world. Based in the Netherlands, it is subject to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which mandates detailed disclosures on emissions, supply chain risks, and environmental harm—audited annually and punishable by fines.
By contrast, its American competitors can choose if and how to disclose certain environmental impacts. The result is a paradox: Signify has arguably one of the most advanced ESG programs in the industry, yet remains tied to a U.S. cleanup site that exemplifies the slow grind of post-industrial accountability.
What It Means for Lighting Industry Stakeholders
For most lighting people, a former factory in Steuben County may seem far removed from product launches, distributor visits or specifier meetings. But the Bath site carries broader significance: it shows how long the environmental tail can be for legacy manufacturing.
The final remedial design process won’t generate splashy headlines. It won’t appear in quarterly earnings calls. But for those tracking environmental risk and ESG compliance in the lighting space, it’s a telling example of what it takes to close the books, fully, on a manufacturing era that partially defined the industry’s past.
