Thirty-six companies allegedly responsible for hazardous contamination of soil and groundwater at the Breslube-Penn Superfund Site in Coraopolis, Pa., have agreed to cleanup up the site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.
According to the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania, the companies have agreed to fund and/or complete a $12 million cleanup at the seven-acre site. The settling companies have also agreed to reimburse EPA $3 million in past costs at the site, and to pay for EPA’s future costs, which include oversight of the cleanup.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which has also signed the consent decree, will be reimbursed $41,000 for its past enforcement costs and will also recover future response costs. The United States has collected more than $4.2 million in prior settlements with other parties, bringing the total value of the judicial settlements involving this site to more than $19 million.
According to EPA and the Commonwealth, industrial activities at the site contaminated soil and groundwater with volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, PCBs, metals, and cyanide.
The settling companies include nine (AK Steel, Alcoa, Inc., CBS Corporation, Elliot Company, Exxon Mobil Corp., Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Hussey Copper Ltd., and United States Steel) that have agreed to conduct the EPA-approved cleanup.
Under the settlement, these nine companies will remove oil and other pollutants and then install a cap and slurry wall containment system to prevent the release of any additional contaminants. These companies will also remediate the groundwater outside the containment area. The remaining defendants have agreed to help fund the cleanup.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public notice and comment period, and final court approval. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
Additional information about the Breslube-Penn Superfund Site is available at http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/PAD089667695/index.htm .
Kentucky Insurance and Environmental Matters 
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