The proposed action follows a 2004 lawsuit against Exxon by environmental group Riverkeeper, as well as at least two suits on behalf of residents and homeowners in the area. One of those suits, filed by New York law firm Napoli Bern Ripka LLP, is asking for more than US$50 billion in damages from the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he also intended to sue BP Plc, Chevron Corp., utility KeySpan Corp. and mining company Phelps Dodge Corp. over contamination in the creek.

"This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation, larger than the Exxon Valdez and slower in the cleanup," Cuomo, who has only been serving as New York's top lawyer since Jan. 1, said in a statement. "Exxon Mobil must and will be held accountable."

Greenpoint, a waterfront neighborhood that is a longtime home to many of New York's Polish immigrants and more recently to hipsters, was an industrial hub for shipbuilding, iron making and refining before World War II.

Exxon's property on the creek was the site of one of the earliest refineries of original US oil giant Standard Oil, but most of the refinery structures were decommissioned and demolished after 1969.

Mobil Corp., acquired by Exxon in 1999, used some of the property for bulk storage operations until 1993.

Exxon spokeswoman Prem Nair said the company was working to clean up the spill. She said Cuomo's statements that the company has done as little as possible to address the dangers caused by the contamination were "totally inaccurate."

"We take our environmental responsibility very seriously," she said. "This site has been used for heavy industrial purposes for two centuries, so we don't believe that we are solely responsible for the seepage into the creek. Yet we've been aggressively remediating the site."

She said Exxon Mobil and other companies had recovered more than 9.3 million gallons of petroleum products to date at the site.

BP spokesman Scott Dean said the company "vigorously disagrees with the State of New York's decision to lump BP into a group it is notifying that it intends to sue regarding environmental issues at Newtown Creek."

BP said it is cleaning up the pollution underneath its property, which it dates back to the period the land was owned by Mobil.

"BP has and continues to remediate product underneath our 10-acre property that is attributable to the former Mobil refinery," he said.

Chevron said its Texaco unit also is working to clean up the site of a seepage at a property on the creek it operated more than 40 years ago. It said it will be more than happy to meet with Cuomo to discuss its progress and any additional measures the state recommends.

Phelps Dodge spokesman Peter Faur said he was disappointed with the possible legal action since the company has cooperated with the state and spent US$20 million cleaning up after its copper smelter and refinery in the area closed in 1984.