GETTY REALTY CORP /MD/ 10-Q

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS Please refer to “Item 3. Legal Proceedings” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and to Note 4 in “Part I, Item 1. Financial Statements” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, for information regarding material pending legal proceedings. Except as set forth therein, there have been no new material legal proceedings and no material developments in any of our previously disclosed legal proceedings reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, other than the following: Uniondale, New York Litigation In September 2004, the State of New York commenced an action against us, United Gas Corp., Costa Gas Station, Inc., Vincent Costa, Sharon Irni, The Ingraham Bedell Corporation, Richard Berger and Exxon Mobil Corporation in New York Supreme Court in Albany County seeking recovery for reimbursement of investigation and remediation costs claimed to have been incurred by the New York Environmental Protection and Spill Compensation Fund relating to contamination it alleges emanated from various gasoline station properties located in the same vicinity in Uniondale, New York, including a site formerly owned by us and at which a petroleum release and cleanup occurred. The complaint also seeks future costs for remediation, as well as interest and penalties. We have served an answer to the complaint denying responsibility. In 2007, the State of New York commenced action against Shell Oil Company, Shell Oil Products Company, Motiva Enterprises, LLC, and related parties, in the New York Supreme Court, Albany County seeking basically the same relief sought in the action involving us. We have also filed a third-party complaint against Hess Corporation, Sprague Operating Resources LLC (successor to RAD Energy Corp.), Service Station Installation of NY, Inc., and certain individual defendants based on alleged contribution to the contamination that is the subject of the State’s claims arising from a petroleum discharge at a gasoline station up-gradient from the site formerly owned by us. In 2016, the various actions filed by the State of New York and our third-party actions were consolidated for discovery proceedings and trial. We have entered into a settlement agreement with the State of New York and the other parties to this lawsuit, which includes mutual releases. This settlement is in the process of being funded by the defendants, following which a stipulation of discontinuance will be filed and the lawsuit will be dismissed. Our settlement contribution is consistent with the amount we accrued for this lawsuit as of June 30, 2021. Although we believe that this case will be resolved as contemplated by the settlement agreement, until funding is fully made and the stipulation of discontinuance is filed, this case cannot be considered fully resolved.