FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1997 (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 JOINT U.S., NEW JERSEY ACTION REAPS $30 MILLION SETTLEMENT TO CLEAN UP GEMS LANDFILL SUPERFUND SITE IN GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY Settlement Designed To Avoid Further Costly, Time-Consuming Litigation WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The federal government and the State of New Jersey today reached a $30 million settlement with nearly 300 responsible parties for cleanup activities at the GEMS Landfill Superfund site in Gloucester Township, New Jersey. Today's settlement includes 252 de minimus parties whose contribution of hazardous substances to the site was small. Through this settlement, the largest de minimus settlement in New Jersey history, the two governments have provided these small parties with an effective means of avoiding costly litigation, while addressing their share of the responsibility. The site includes a 60-acre former municipal landfill. Industrial wastes, including asbestos, solvents and heavy metals, were dumped at the GEMS Landfill from 1969 to 1980, contaminating groundwater, surface water and sediments. GEMS was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites in 1983. "This settlement and other recent agreements are examples of how this office, working with DEP, the federal government and the landfill users, has been able to save New Jersey taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in cleanup costs," said New Jersey Attorney General Peter Verniero. "This settlement is the culmination of four years of intensive negotiations with hundreds of defendants. I commend the hard work and dedication of the lawyers in the Attorney General's Office who helped shape this agreement." "This is a landmark settlement for New Jersey. As a result of state and federal efforts, New Jersey will have cleaner water and air. It's a banner day for New Jersey's environment," said Bob Shinn, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. "We now begin the final phase of a major clean-up project that was complicated by several legal and environmental issues, due to the number of parties involved and the presence of rare plants which now will be permanently protected." EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox called the settlement another example of how Superfund benefits the public. "Actions like this help extend resources of Superfund by making the polluter pay. Because private parties are footing the bill, money from the program's trust fund can now go to fund cleanups at sites where viable responsible parties have not been found." "Today's settlement is an example of the effective Superfund administrative reforms at work, helping us clean up sites like the GEMS Landfill while charging those responsible for the contamination instead of the American taxpayer," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Superfund settlements save all parties involved -- the government, defendants, and especially the American taxpayer -- the expense of costly and time-consuming litigation." "This settlement brings to a close a significant chapter in the Superfund clean-up effort at a major landfill site in New Jersey," said Faith Hochberg, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. "Today's settlement, which will insure the proper cleanup of the GEMS Superfund site without burdening the taxpayers, is a result of the cooperative efforts of the State of New Jersey, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office. We are committed to working with EPA to continue the cleanup of all New Jersey Superfund sites for the benefit of future generations." The consent decree was filed today by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey on behalf of New Jersey, U.S. EPA, and the U.S. Department of Interior. The group of responsible parties is a broad spectrum of large and small companies, municipalities and municipal agencies. The settlement creates a privately-financed trust of $16.5 million to pay for the construction of a groundwater extraction and on-site pretreatment system under EPA oversight. It will fund the operation and maintenance of the system for the first ten years. It also reimburses EPA $3.275 million for past cleanup costs at the site. The settlement reimburses the state over $5 million for its past cleanup costs and for the loss of millions of gallons of potable groundwater beneath the site. An additional $4.1 million will fund New Jersey's operation of the groundwater remedy after the first ten years. A previous settlement with private parties, worth approximately $32 million, paid for the proper closing of the landfill and the installation of a gas collection and treatment system , which was completed in August 1995. Today's announcement of further cost recovery, and assurances that the remaining future work will be privately financed, means that 95 percent of the total cost of the site cleanup will be borne by the responsible parties. Additionally, the settlement satisfies the joint federal and state governments' natural resources damage claims with a payment of $488,000. These funds will be used by the state for the management of an approximately 100-acre preserve to protect Swamp Pink, a species of plant listed as endangered under New Jersey's Endangered Species Act, and listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. ### 97-001