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U.S. Reaches Settlement with Responsible Parties for $20 Million Long-Term Cleanup of Federal Superfund Site Near Binghamton

Release Date: 05/01/2001
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(#01048) NEW YORK, N.Y. — The federal government has reached an agreement that calls for over forty parties deemed responsible for the chemical contamination at the Tri-Cities Barrel federal Superfund site near Binghamton, New York to perform the $20 million, long-term cleanup of the contaminated soil, sediments and groundwater at the former drum reconditioning facility. It is expected to take about 6 months, from the time the work gets started, to clean up the contaminated soils and sediments and decades to clean up the groundwater. The agreement is embodied in a Consent Decree, which was lodged today in Federal District Court in Albany by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It will become final when it has been entered by the Court after the public has the opportunity to comment on the settlement. The consenting parties agreed to carry out the cleanup plan EPA selected for the site last March, which, in the words of Acting EPA Regional Administrator William J. Muszynski, will "permanently remove the source of the problem, ensure the improvement of local groundwater and fully protect public health and the environment, while making the site safe for unrestricted future use." Mr. Muszynski noted, "With this settlement, the important cleanup work will move forward." "This agreement is a good example of how the Superfund program works to restore contaminated land," said Daniel J. French, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. "The federal government has achieved great results and this district will continue to give priority to restoring our remaining superfund sites," added the U.S. Attorney. Under the final plan, approximately 50,000 cubic yards of soil and sediments contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals and pesticides will be removed and transported to a licensed off-site facility for treatment/disposal. The plan calls for the installation of wells and a treatment unit to extract and treat the contaminated groundwater, which will then be discharged as clean, treated water to surface waters in the area. The plan also involves long-term monitoring of the groundwater underlying the site to evaluate ongoing water quality improvements after the contaminated soils and sediments have been removed and while the groundwater treatment system is operating. Although private drinking water wells in the vicinity of the site area have not been affected by the contamination, EPA’s plan also calls for monitoring of the local groundwater beyond the site to ensure that it remains uncontaminated. Under a previous agreement with EPA, a group of parties deemed responsible for the contamination completed some cleanup work at the site in January 1997. This work included the proper disposal of containers, tanks and drums located on the site, as well as the decontamination and demolition of the buildings and structures on the property, followed by the off-site disposal of the debris. EPA has already recovered $l.26 million of its past cleanup costs in previous settlements with private responsible parties. All drum reconditioning operations at the site stopped in 1992. The process involved cleaning and reconditioning drums, which were brought to the site from numerous sources. The drums typically contained residues of a variety of chemical compounds used in industrial or commercial operations. The property is presently zoned residential/agricultural; the industrial use of the property was a nonconforming use (the drum reconditioning facility was permitted to continue operating after a zoning ordinance prohibiting such use had been established for this area). A list of the consenting private parties is attached. List of Settling Defendants Agway, Inc. Agway Energy Products LLC (f/k/a Agway Petroleum Corporation) Amphenol Corporation Amphenol Interconnect Products Corp. Ashland Inc. Atofina Chemicals, Inc. Azon Corporation BASF Corporation BMC Industries, Inc. Borden, Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Bronstein Container Company, Inc. Carrier Corporation Champion International Corporation Chemcoat, Inc. Cooper Industries, Inc. Crash's Auto Parts and Sales, Inc. (d/b/a C.A.P. Surplus & Metals) Daimler Chrysler Corporation Drake Oil Company, Inc. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company EJ Footwear LLC. Emerson Power Transmission Corp. General Electric Company General Motors Corporation Honeywell International Inc. (f/k/a AlliedSignal Inc.) Inmont Corporation International Business Machines Corporation International Paper Company Jones Chemicals, Inc. Kaplan Container Corporation Malchak Salvage Company, Inc. Masonite Corporation Newton Falls, Inc. Potter Paint Co., Inc. PPG Industries, Inc. Rome Cable Corporation Schenectady International, Inc. Sonoco Flexible Packaging, Inc. (d/b/a The Morrill Press) Tri-Cities Barrel Co., Inc. Underwood Industries of New York, Inc Wainwright Oil Co., Inc. Francis Warner Gary F. Warner