Ira Rennert, a Sagaponack resident and the 59th richest man in America according to Forbes, is being blasted by environmental advocacy groups who say he lets his companies go bankrupt to avoid liability for environmental damage.
The New York Post reports that it goes back to 2001, when Rennert’s magnesium mining company declared bankruptcy after being slapped with a $900 million fine from the EPA.
Five years after that bankruptcy, the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. threatened to confiscate Rennert’s Sagaponack estate — said to be the the largest single-family residence in the United States — rather than be stuck with $189 million in pension liabilities, The Post reports.
Then on May 31 of this year, another Rennert company declared bankruptcy, just one year after he bought the steel company and assumed about $650 million environmental liabilities, according to The Post. However, The Post notes than an RG Steel spokesman says the company is in compliance with its environmental commitments.
Learn more at nypost.com.
