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U.S. EPA, DOJ announce $3.87 million settlement for cleanup work at OII Superfund site

Release Date: 04/01/2010
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244 1815, cell (213) 798 1404, arcaute.francisco@epa.gov

Over $600 million now dedicated to cleanup

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice today announced that 12 parties have agreed to pay a $3.87 million settlement for their share of cleanup costs related to the Operating Industries, Inc. (OII) Superfund site in Monterey Park, California.

The settlement, which was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, addresses 12 companies’ liability for past and future cleanup work and other costs at the OII Superfund site. According to EPA, each of these companies contributed more than the equivalent of 110,000 gallons of commercial, liquid waste to the OII Superfund site.

The 12 settling companies are: Ameron International Corporation; B&C Plating Company; California Dairies, Inc.; Casex Co., a Partnership; Energy Production & Sales Co.; Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (on behalf of four generators); International Extrusion Corporation; Jaybee Manufacturing Corporation; Luxfer, Inc.; Princess Cruises Limited (on behalf of two generators); Thompson Drilling Company; and YRC, Inc. (on behalf of four generators).

"With this latest settlement at the Operating Industries Inc. Superfund site, more than $600 million have been dedicated to the cleanup of this site," said Jane Diamond, Superfund Division Director for EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. "EPA has used the Superfund law’s ‘polluter pays’ provision to ensure that hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs for the OII Superfund site will be paid by the corporations responsible for the contamination, and not by the taxpayers."

A190-acre landfill, Operating Industries Inc. operated between 1948 and 1984, during which time the landfill received residential and commercial refuse, liquid wastes, and a variety of hazardous wastes. More than 300 million gallons of liquid hazardous wastes, and approximately 38 million cubic yards of refuse were disposed of at the Operating Industries, Inc., site.

Operating Industries Inc. was placed on the National Priorities List in May 1986; this list tracks hazardous waste sites potentially posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and the environment.

For more information, please visit: www.epa.gov/region09/operatingindustries