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EPA reaches agreement with potentially responsible parties at Arizona Superfund Site

Release Date: 8/30/2005
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, (415) 947-4248, chavez.wendy@epa.gov

Parties to begin facility investigations

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached agreements with eight more potentially responsible parties suspected of causing soil or groundwater contamination that may have contributed to the contamination at the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site in Phoenix, Ariz.

The EPA signed agreements with the Salt River Project; Arizona Public Service Company and Pinnacle West Capital Corporation; ArvinMeritor; AdobeAir; Cooper Industries; BDR Liquidating; and Phoenix Newspapers Inc. to investigate and identify potential sources of chlorinated solvents, such as trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), and trichloroethane (TCA) at their respective facilities.

The companies also agreed to pay the EPA costs for oversight of the investigation and past costs incurred for studying their facilities.

"In the end, this is about protecting and restoring the groundwater," said Keith Takata, the EPA's Superfund Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "These settlements will help us to identify whether there are other sources of contamination that may have contributed to groundwater contamination and help us close out the investigation phase and focus more on cleanup."

The Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site contains an area of groundwater contaminated with TCE, PCE and TCA.

Motorola, now Freescale Seminconductor, has operated a groundwater treatment plant at 52nd St. since 1992, and Freescale and Honeywell have operated a groundwater treatment plant at 20th St. since 2001. Soil and groundwater at the Honeywell 34th St. facility have been under investigation since the early 1990's.

Groundwater at the site, ranging from 40-90 feet below ground surface, is not used for drinking water. The city of Phoenix supplies drinking water primarily from surface water sources to water users living within the site. Drinking water is tested by the city to ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

In September 2003, the EPA identified a group of parties that the agency believed were potentially responsible for causing contamination at the site due to potential or actual chlorinated solvent contamination at their facilities. The EPA sent special notice letters to parties associated with these facilities requesting they conduct investigations.

The EPA is in the process of completing the potentially responsible party search, and additional notice letters may be issued to more parties in the future.

The EPA and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality plan to complete the identification of additional potentially responsible parties before the end of the year, complete the source area and groundwater investigations, and select a final cleanup plan for the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site in a few years.

For more information on the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/sfund/index.html and http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/waste/sps/phxsites.html#mot52a