Syracuse, N.Y. -- Honeywell, on the hook for an estimated $500 million for the cleanup of Onondaga Lake, has sued petroleum giant Exxon Mobil Corp. to recoup some of its costs.

In a federal lawsuit filed this month, Honeywell claims that Exxon Mobil and the Buckeye Pipeline Co. allowed petroleum products to leak from Oil City, the area at the southeast end of the lake now occupied by Destiny USA, into the lake. Oil and a variety of chemicals from Oil City contaminated the lake bottom and were also dredged and dumped on shore, the lawsuit says.

Honeywell had to clean up that mess, the lawsuit says, and wants Exxon and Buckeye Pipe Line Co. to split the cost.

The lawsuit estimates that Honeywell will spend at least $484 million on the cleanup, not counting inflation. Costs will continue to mount, the suit says, as Honeywell monitors the lake cleanup, works on the contaminated Murphy's Island tract near the mall and builds trails and other projects.

The suit says Exxon Mobil and Buckeye should "contribute their equitable share" of cleanup costs, but doesn't ask for a specific amount.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation sued Allied-Signal in 1989 to force the company to clean up the mess. That suit led to a 2006 federal court order specifying the details of the cleanup.

Allied-Signal bought Honeywell in 1999 and changed the Allied name to Honeywell.

Honeywell dredged about 2.2 million cubic yards of dirt from the bottom of Onondaga Lake, much of it polluted by mercury and other chemicals dumped by Allied-Signal Inc.

Earlier this year, the lawsuit notes, the federal Department of Justice said in a court filing that "Honeywell alone agreed to take responsibility for performing extensive and expensive cleanup work at the site."

Under federal law, however, any company that contributed any pollution to a Superfund site can be held responsible for the cleanup. It's common practice for companies forced to clean up a site to file suit against other companies to share in the cost.

The suit says Honeywell has tried but failed to reach a deal with Exxon Mobil and Buckeye.

"Despite five years of intensive negotiations," the lawsuit says, "defendants have denied or unreasonably minimized their liability."

Representatives from Exxon Mobil and Buckeye did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

The first court date on the lawsuit is set for Sept. 4.