FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1996                        (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
  GE, NEW HAMPSHIRE CITY AGREE TO INNOVATIVE SUPERFUND CLEANUP
                                
              COULD SAVE MILLIONS ON FUTURE CLEANUPS

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The General Electric Company and the
city of Somersworth, New Hampshire will spend approximately $7
million on an innovative technology to clean up a contaminated
municipal landfill near Dover and Portsmouth, the U.S. Justice
Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced
today.  

     The agreement could save the parties close to $20 million
over traditional cleanup methods and may lead to dramatic cost
savings in cleaning up hazardous waste sites around the country.

     In an effort to promote the use of new technologies, the
Environmental Protection Agency agreed to pay up to half the cost
if the technique to be employed is unsuccessful -- the first time
EPA has been involved in underwriting such a project.  The
Somersworth site is one of 1,374 Superfund sites to which
priority attention has been devoted.  

     A consent decree, filed today by the United States and the
State of New Hampshire in a Concord federal court, resolves the
responsibility and liability of General Electric, Somersworth and
18 other parties who either contributed to or transported
business and industrial waste to the Somersworth municipal
landfill.  Hazardous substances, including, contaminated the
groundwater and at one time threatened a public drinking water
well.

     "This agreement makes good on this Administration's pledge
to clean up Superfund sites through new technologies and cost-
effective means," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney
General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources
Division.  "This federal, state and local effort has yielded a
good result for the parties and the people of New Hampshire, and
holds promise for other sites as well."
                              (MORE)
     General Electric and Somersworth will take the lead and
perform the cleanup using a chemical treatment wall that acts as
a filtration system.  The first step is to install a wall with
permeable and impermeable sections.  The impermeable sections
channel contaminated groundwater toward the permeable sections. 
The water is cleansed by a mixture of sand and reactive iron
filings as it flows through the wall.  

     The government estimates the price tag at about $7 million. 
A traditional ground water treatment remedy at this site could
run as high as $26 million.  If successful, the chemical
treatment wall technology could be adapted to other Superfund
sites.  In the event that the technology does not meet
expectations, the United States would reimburse General Electric
and Somersworth up to $3.5 million and the parties would
implement an alternative cleanup plan.

     "This agreement is what EPA-New England's Superfund reform
program is all about," said EPA Regional Administrator John
DeVillars.  "We're introducing an innovative technology and
backing up our commitment to bold, potentially more efficient,
cleanup remedies with EPA dollars.  At the same time, we are
getting the community increasingly involved in the process and
getting small parties out of the process.  This is a win-win
situation, and the primary beneficiaries will be the people of
Somersworth who live near this landfill."
         
     New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
Commissioner Robert Varney added, "The State of New Hampshire
appreciates EPA's commitment to an innovative and efficient
cleanup at the Somersworth site.  The citizens of the State and,
in particular, Somersworth, are the chief beneficiaries of this
agreement which reflects an important cooperative effort between
state and federal officials and affords protection to one of our
most valuable natural resources, our groundwater."

     The Somersworth landfill operated for nearly 50 years until
it was closed in 1981.  Shortly thereafter, the city discovered
that hazardous substances had contaminated the groundwater and
threatened a nearby public drinking water supply.  The 26-acre
site was added to the Superfund National Priority List in 1983. 


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