Showing posts with label HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES. Show all posts

Thursday, February 6, 2014

W.R. GRACE PAYS OVER $63 MILLION TO RESOLVE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP CLAIMS

FROM:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
W.R. Grace Pays Over $63 Million Toward Cleanup and Restoration of Hazardous Waste Sites in Communities Across the Country

W.R. Grace & Co, based in Columbia, Md., paid over $63 million to the U.S. government under its bankruptcy plan of reorganization to resolve claims for environmental cleanups at approximately 39 sites in 21 states, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

“Communities across the United States will benefit from this payment of present and future cleanup costs,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “The Justice Department is committed to holding polluters responsible for their environmental legacy, and won’t just walk away leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab.”

“Cleaning up toxic pollution in communities is the responsibility of the company that created it, not the American taxpayer,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.  “This money will be used to clean up contaminated sites and to make a tangible difference for local communities across the country.”

W.R. Grace’s payment includes approximately $54 million for the EPA.  The company agreed to pay another $9 million to other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Army.

W.R. Grace, a global supplier of specialty chemicals, and 61 affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in April 2001.  In 2003, EPA filed claims against the company to recover past and future cleanup costs at sites contaminated by asbestos and other hazardous substances.

Numerous agreements to resolve the agency’s environmental liability claims against the company and its affiliates were negotiated as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings between April 2008 and February 2013.  The company continues to be responsible for all of the sites it owns or operates and for any additional sites that were not known or resolved under the earlier settlements.

W.R. Grace’s liability for asbestos contamination in the town of Libby, Mont., was addressed in a separate June 2008 settlement that resulted in a payment of $250 million to EPA.  W.R. Grace continues to be responsible for addressing cleanup at the Libby Mine.

The approximately $54 million payment to EPA will reimburse the agency for cleanup costs or provide funds for future cleanup at the following Superfund sites:

Acton Plant - Acton, Mass.
Amber Oil - Milwaukee, Wis.
Aqua Tech - Greer, S.C.
Big Tex Site - San Antonio, Texas
Blackburn and Union Privileges - Walpole, Mass.
Cambridge,Plant, Cambridge, Mass.
Casmalia Resources - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Central Chemical - Hagerstown, Md.
Galaxy/Spectron - Elkton, Md.
Green River - Maceo, Ky.
Harrington Tools - Glendale, Calif.
Intermountain Insulation - Salt Lake City, Utah
IWI Site - Summit, Ill.
Li Tungsten - Glen Cove, N.Y.
Malone Services Co. - Texas County, Texas
Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) – Barnstable County, Mass.
N-Forcer Site - Dearborn, Mich.
Operating Industries, Inc. - Monterey Park, Calif.
R & H Oil/Tropicana - San Antonio, Texas
RAMP Industries - Denver, Colo.
Reclamation Oil - Detroit, Mich.
Robinson Insulation - Minot, N.D.
Solvents   Recovery Service of NE - Southington, Conn.
Vermiculite Exfoliation Site – Nashville, Tenn.
Vermiculite Expansion Site – High Point, N.C.
Vermiculite Intermountain - Salt Lake City, Utah
Vermiculite Northwest - Spokane, Wash.
Watson Johnson LF - Richland Township, Pa.
Wells G & H (Source & Central Areas) - Woburn, Mass.
Western Minerals Processing - Denver, Colo.
Western Minerals Products - Minneapolis, Minn.
W.R. Grace – Weedsport, N.Y.
Zonolite - Wilder, Ky.
Zonolite/W.R. Grace – Easthampton, Mass.
Zonolite - Prince George’s Co., Md.
Zonolite - Hamilton Township, N.J.
Zonolite - Ellwood City, Pa.
Zonolite - New Castle, Pa.
Zonolite Road – Atlanta, Ga.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

12 SITES ADDED TO EPA SUPERFUND'S NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST

FROM: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA Adds 12 Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List

Eight Other Sites Proposed To Be Added
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding 12 new hazardous waste sites that pose public health and environmental risks to the National Priorities List (NPL) for cleanup under the Superfund program. EPA is also proposing to add another eight sites to the list.

Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country. For each of the 20 sites announced today, EPA has received letters of concurrence from state officials supporting the NPL listing.

"Cleaning up contamination is vitally important to the health of America’s communities," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Putting clean land back into productive use leads to increases in property values, generates new jobs and creates a stronger local economy that will strengthen these communities for years to come."

Since 1983, 1,676 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 360 sites have been cleaned up resulting in 1,316 sites currently on the NPL (including the 12 sites added today). There are 54 proposed sites (including the eight announced today) awaiting final agency action.

Contaminants found at the sites include acetone, arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium, copper, dichloroethene (DCE), hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), pentachlorophenol (PCP), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethylene (TCE), xylene and zinc.

With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination at a site, and requires them to conduct or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding is required for these sites.

The following 12 sites have been added to the National Priorities List:

• Alabama Plating Company, Inc. (former electroplater) in Vincent, Ala.
• Cedar Chemical Corporation (former chemical manufacturer) in West Helena, Ark.
• Fairfax St. Wood Treaters (former wood treating operation) in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Bautsch-Gray Mine (former lead and zinc mine) in Galena, Ill.
• EVR-Wood Treating/Evangeline Refining Company (former wood treating operation) in Jennings, La.
• Leeds Metal (abandoned scrap metal facility) in Leeds, Maine
• Holcomb Creosote Co (former wood treating operation) in Yadkinville, N.C.
• Orange Valley Regional Ground Water Contamination (contaminated ground water plume) in Orange/West Orange, N.J.
• Peters Cartridge Factory (former ammunition manufacturer) in Kings Mills, Ohio
• West Troy Contaminated Aquifer (contaminated ground water plume) in Troy, Ohio
• Circle Court Ground Water Plume (contaminated ground water plume) in Willow Park, Texas
• U.S. Oil Recovery (former used oil recovery operation) in Pasadena, Texas

The following eight sites have been proposed for addition to the National Priorities List:

• Pike and Mulberry Streets PCE Plume (former dry cleaner) in Martinsville, Ind.
• Former United Zinc & Associated Smelters (former zinc smelter) in Iola, Kan.
• Creese & Cook Tannery (former tannery and finishing facility) in Danvers, Mass.
• Walton & Lonsbury Inc. (former chrome plating operation) in Attelboro, Mass.
• Matlack, Inc. (former chemical transportation business) in Woolwich Township, N.J.
• Riverside Industrial Park (former paint manufacturer) in Newark, N.J.
• Clinch River Corporation (former pulp and paper mill) in Harriman, Tenn.
• 700 South 1600 East PCE Plume (ground water plume) in Salt Lake City, Utah

EPA is also withdrawing its earlier proposal to add the Evergreen Manor Ground Water Contamination site in Winnebago County, Illinois to the NPL because remedial action has been completed. Affected residences have been connected to the public water supply, a county ordinance is in place which restricts the installation of private wells in the affected area, and contaminants of concern have remained below cleanup standards since 2006.

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