United States v. Glens Falls Newspapers

An industrial landfill in the Town of Moreau, New York (defendant), used by General Electric (GE) (defendant) and others for waste disposal, contaminated the local aquifer with carcinogenic chemicals. The EPA sued the Town and GE, and litigation over remediation and public water access dragged on for nine years while the parties negotiated a complex, expensive settlement. Fearing that public disclosure would chill negotiations, the parties obtained a consent confidentiality order from the district court. The Post Star newspaper sought the sealed settlement documents through New York's freedom of information law and then tried to intervene in the federal suit to have the confidentiality order rescinded; the district court denied intervention, finding any public right to access settlement talks was minor at best and outweighed by the strong policy favoring settlement.