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Federal Government Settles Cleanup Claims with Boomsnub Corporation of Vancouver, Washington

Release Date: 4/19/2000
Contact Information: Deb Yamamoto
yamamoto.debborah@epa.gov
(206) 553-7216

April 19, 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - 00-24


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement with the Boomsnub Corporation, a metal plating facility, and its owners for cleanup costs at the Boomsnub/Airco Superfund Site.

In a Consent Decree lodged in United States District Court in Tacoma, the Boomsnub defendants agreed to the following terms:

• Quarterly payments to EPA from the Boomsnub Corporation for 15 years with a balloon payment at the end of the 15 years. The total of these payments is expected to be $2,064,875.
• Payment to EPA of the proceeds from the sale of mutual fund shares and real estate belonging to the owners of the corporation, as well as seventy-five percent of the proceeds of any settlement with the Boomsnub Corporation’s insurance company.

According to Sean Carman, the Justice Department attorney who negotiated the settlement, “We recovered as much as we could from these parties. Although the settlement represents only a fraction of the costs the United States has incurred in cleaning up the site, it requires the responsible parties to pay as much as they possibly can.”

The Boomsnub/Airco Superfund Site is located near Vancouver, Washington. It was listed on the National Priorities List(NPL), which identifies sites most needing cleanup, on April 25, 1995, because of soil and groundwater contamination resulting from releases of chromium from the .75-acre Boomsnub facility and of volatile organic compounds from the nearby 11-acre BOC Gases facility. A plume of groundwater contaminated with both chromium and volatile organic compounds has migrated well beyond the boundaries of the two facilities and extends approximately 4400 feet to the northwest.

This settlement resolves the liability of the Boomsnub Corporation and its principals, Edward Takitch and the Estate of Jason Niblett. Boomsnub Corporation is the corporate entity that conducted chrome-plating operations at the site.

The Justice Department will be accepting public comments on this settlement through May 13, 2000, as described in a Federal Register notice published on April 13, 2000. Interested parties may examine the proposed Consent Decree at the Office of the United States Attorney, 1010 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. A copy of the proposed Consent Decree may be obtained by mail from the Consent Decree Library, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Enforcement Section, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611. Please refer to the referenced case and enclose a check in the amount of $8.50, payable to the Consent Decree Library.

Public comments on the settlement with Boomsnub should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530, and should refer to United States v. Boomsnub, DOJ Ref. #90-11-2-1018a.

EPA will also begin negotiations with BOC Gases in the near future to settle with that company for its share of past and future costs at the Site. To date, approximately $13 million has been spent on cleanup activities. Future cleanup activities, including pumping and treating contaminated ground water for 30 years, are estimated to cost $18 million.