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Seventy-Three Companies Sign On With EPA To Complete Comprehensive Study of Passaic River

Release Date: 05/08/2007
Contact Information: David Kluesner (212) 637-3653, kluesner.dave@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y.) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has reached agreement with 73 companies considered potentially responsible for contaminants in the lower Passaic River to pay for the completion of a comprehensive study of the river, relieving the burden on taxpayers. The agreement, contained in an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), calls for the parties to complete an ongoing study of contamination in 17 miles of the lower Passaic River and possible cleanup approaches, which is currently being conducted by EPA. Under the agreement, the companies will also pay for EPA’s costs in overseeing the study. The cost of the work to be performed under this agreement is estimated at $37 million, plus the costs associated with EPA’s oversight.

“This agreement shows that Superfund is working and that polluters are footing the bill for past contamination,” said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “EPA will oversee the comprehensive 17-mile study, while we continue to consider a variety of early cleanup actions that could be taken well before the long-term study is completed.”

The study focuses on a 17-mile stretch of the Passaic River in New Jersey, from the Dundee Dam in Garfield to its confluence with Newark Bay. The ongoing study, formally called a remedial investigation and feasibility study, is examining the nature and extent of contamination in this stretch of river and assessing various alternatives to address the problems. Hazardous waste cleanups and the environmental studies that must precede them are routinely conducted by potentially responsible parties, with EPA oversight, at Superfund sites all across the country. Every step of the work to be performed by the companies will be closely monitored by EPA in consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Jersey Department of Transportation, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that all protocols are being met. EPA is committed to continuing this long-standing partnership with these agencies to ensure that the comprehensive study of the river produces solutions for the contamination and for the restoration of the river habitat.

This settlement adds 31 companies to a group of companies (referred to as the Cooperating Parties Group) that had previously signed an agreement with EPA to provide the Agency more than $10,750,000 to start the study. The agreement announced today will build on work already performed by EPA and its partners.

For more information about the Passaic River cleanup efforts and a copy of the agreement, visit https://www.epa.gov/region2/passaicriver/. A list of parties subject to this agreement is attached.

07-054

1 Alliance Chemical, Inc. on behalf of itself and Pfister Chemical, Inc.
2 Arkema Inc.
3 Ashland Inc.
4 Atlantic Richfield Company
5 BASF Corporation, on its own behalf and on behalf of BASF Catalysts LLC
6 Belleville Industrial Center
7 Benjamin Moore & Co.
8 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
9 CBS Corporation, a Delaware corporation, f/k/a Viacom Inc., successor by merger to CBS Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation, f/k/a Westinghouse Electric Corporation
10 Celanese Ltd.
11 Chemtura Corporation and Raclaur, LLC as current and former owner of the property f/k/a Atlantic Industries
12 Chevron Environmental Management Company, for itself and on behalf of Texaco, Inc.
13 Coltec Industries
14 Conopco, Inc. d/b/a Unilever (as successor to CPC/Bestfoods, former parent of the Penick Corporation (facility located at 540 New York Avenue, Lyndhurst, NJ))
15 Covanta Essex Company
16 Croda Inc.
17 DiLorenzo Properties Company on behalf of itself and the Goldman/Goldman/DiLorenzo Properties Partnerships
18 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
19 Eden Wood Corporation
20 Elan Chemical Company
21 EPEC Polymers, Inc. on behalf of itself and EPEC Oil Company Liquidating Trust
22 Essex Chemical Corporation
23 Flexon Industries Corp.
24 Franklin-Burlington Plastics, Inc.
25 Garfield Molding Co., Inc.
26 General Electric Company
27 General Motors Corporation
28 Givaudan Fragrances Corporation (Fragrances North America)
29 Goodrich Corporation on behalf of itself and Kalama Specialty Chemicals, Inc.
30 Hercules Chemical Company, Inc.
31 Hess Corporation, on its own behalf and on behalf of Atlantic Richfield Company
32 Hexcel Corporation
33 Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. on its own behalf, and on behalf of its affiliate Roche Diagnostics
34 Honeywell International Inc.
35 ISP Chemicals LLC
36 ITT Corporation
37 Kao Brands Company
38 Leemilt’s Petroleum, Inc. (successor to Power Test of New Jersey, Inc.), on its behalf and on behalf of Power Test Realty Company Limited Partnership and Getty Properties Corp., the General Partner of Power Test Realty Company Limited Partnership
39 Lucent Technologies Inc.
40 Mallinckrodt Inc.
41 Millennium Chemicals, Inc. affiliated entities MHC, Inc. (on behalf of itself and Walter Kidde & Company, Inc.), Millennium Petrochemicals, Inc. (f/k/a Quantum Chemical Corporation) and Equistar Chemicals LP
42 National-Standard LLC
43 Newell Rubbermaid Inc., on behalf of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Goody Products, Inc. and Berol Corporation (as successor by merger to Faber-Castell Corporation)
44 News Publishing Australia Ltd. (successor to Chris-Craft Industries)
45 Novelis Corporation (f/k/a Alcan Aluminum Corporation)
46 NPEC Inc.
47 Occidental Chemical Corporation (as successor to Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company)
48 Otis Elevator Company
49 Pfizer, Inc.
50 Pharmacia Corporation (f/k/a Monsanto Company)
51 PPG Industries, Inc.
52 Public Service Electric and Gas Company
53 Purdue Pharma Technologies, Inc.
54 Quality Carriers, Inc. as successor to Chemical Leaman Tank Lines, Inc., its affiliates and parents
55 Reichhold, Inc.
56 Revere Smelting and Refining Corporation
57 Safety-Kleen Envirosystems Company by McKesson, and McKesson Corporation for itself
58 Sequa Corporation
59 Sun Chemical Corporation
60 Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc. (f/k/a A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company, including its former division Staley Chemical Company)
61 Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. (f/k/a Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.)
62 Teval Corporation
63 Textron Inc.
64 The BOC Group, Inc.
65 The Hartz Consumer Group, Inc., on behalf of The Hartz Mountain Corporation
66 The Newark Group
67 The Sherwin-Williams Company
68 The Stanley Works
69 Three County Volkswagen
70 Tiffany and Company
71 Vertellus Specialties Inc. f/k/a Reilly Industries, Inc.
72 Vulcan Materials Company
73 Wyeth, on behalf of Shulton, Inc.