New York sues PepsiCo in effort to hold it responsible for litter that winds up in rivers

New York state sued PepsiCo on Wednesday in an effort to hold the soda-and-snack food giant partly responsible for litter that winds up in bodies of water supplying the city of Buffalo with drinking water.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court by Attorney General Letitia James, accuses the company and its Frito-Lay subsidiaries of creating a public nuisance by making a huge number of plastic bottles and wrappers, some of which inevitably fall or blow into the Buffalo River when they are discarded.

Simply by making so much plastic, the company is hurting the environment, the lawsuit argues.