Residents and businesses in Broome County, New York sued IBM over trichloroethylene (TCE) pollution alleged to have been discharged at a manufacturing facility IBM operated from 1924 to 2002. Exposure to TCE has been linked to various illnesses including cancer, heart defects and brain damage. The litigation eventually comprised nine consolidated lawsuits filed by nearly 1,000 people who claimed that TCE from the facility pooled underground and migrated to nearby homes and into the surrounding air. In February 2015, IBM and the plaintiffs reached an out-of-court settlement.