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COMPANIES AGREE TO RECORD $600,000 FINE FOR CLEAN UP DELAY AND EROSION VIOLATIONS AT THE BEACON HEIGHTS SUPERFUND SITE

Release Date: 02/28/1997
Contact Information: Jim Murphy, Community Involvement, (617) 918-1028

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice today anounced that four companies responsible for the cleanup of the Beacon Heights Landfill Superfund Site in Beacon Falls, Conn. have agreed to pay $600,000 in penalties for failure to complete the hazardous waste cleanup on time, and for failure to implement essential erosion and stormwater controls during site cleanup work in 1993 and 1994.

This settlement represents the largest penalty ever imposed in New England for a party's failure to comply with the requirements of a federal environmental consent decree, a legally binding document which details a timetable for cleanup work. The penalty was assessed because the completion of the site remedy was delayed for several years, and inadequate erosion and storm water controls failed to prevent surface erosion at the site during heavy seasonal rainfall in 1993 and 1994.

The agreement, which was filed today in Federal District Court in New Haven, Conn., requires The B.F. Goodrich Company, Uniroyal Chemical Company, Inc., The Upjohn Company, and Reynolds Aluminum Building Products Company, to pay the penalty within 30 days.

"This penalty sets a new benchmark for environmental enforcement in New England, and should act as a potent reminder that EPA will enforce the agreements it signs with companies," said John P. DeVillars, administrator for EPA New England. "At the same time, I am pleased that the companies responsible for the cleanup are addressing the violations of the consent decree in an active and productive way. Cleanup work at the site is now nearly complete - a direct and tangible benefit to the citizens of Beacon Falls."

"Those responsible for cleaning up Superfund sites must carry out their obligations properly," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division. "The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing Superfund cleanup agreements because human health and a clean environment depend on it."

The four companies paying the penalty are among thirty-two parties that signed an agreement with the EPA in 1987 to clean up the Beacon Heights Superfund Site. That agreement, called a consent decree, was subsequently reviewed and entered by the Federal District Court in New Haven. The agreement required payment of "stipulated penalties" for failure to comply with the mandated remedial actions and schedules. The four companies assumed responsibility for conducting the cleanup work at the site.

In late 1993 and early 1994, the EPA issued nine separate notices of noncompliance. The notices cited the companies for failure to substantially complete the construction phase of the cleanup by September 1993, and for failure to control soil erosion and runoff during the fall and winter of 1993 and 1994. While the erosion and storm water violations were corrected by late March 1994, reconstruction activities to replace previous substandard construction work are just now being completed.

The 83-acre Beacon Heights Landfill Superfund Site is atop a ridge within the lower Naugatuck Valley. The landfill site is approximately two miles east of the intersection of Routes 8 and 2 in Beacon Falls, Conn. Hockanum Brook, located one-half mile northwest of the landfill, flows into the Naugatuck River two miles to the west of the site.

The Beacon Heights Landfill received municipal and industrial wastes from the 1920s to 1979. A preliminary investigation conducted by the EPA in 1982 found groundwater impacted by the landfill.

The EPA added the site to its Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983.

In 1984, bottled water was provided to local residents after benzene was detected in two residential wells. Subsequently, many area homes have been hooked up to public water. In 1985, the EPA signed a record of decision, which is the official EPA record of cleanup remedy decided on for the site. The decision was amended slightly in 1990

The design of the remedy selected in 1990 was completed during 1992. Construction of the remedy began during 1993, and completion of all construction activities is anticipated during 1997. Following final construction, the site will be monitored and maintained.