FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1995                        DOJ (202) 616-0189
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                               EPA (202) 260-4361

     U.S., MINNESOTA AND PRIVATE PARTIES TO SPEND $20 MILLION
              TO CLEAN UP DULUTH-AREA SUPERFUND SITE

           INNOVATIVE SETTLEMENT ALSO FREES MORE THAN
           ONE HUNDRED SMALL PARTIES FROM LITIGATION 

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The federal government, the state of
Minnesota and fifteen private parties will contribute $20 million
to the cost of removing oily residues and carcinogens from a
northern Minnesota Superfund site, the Department of Justice and
the Environmental Protection Agency announced today.  More than 100
gas station owners and other parties that contributed smaller
amounts of waste oil will pay far smaller amounts and be freed from
further litigation.

     The settlement, which ends litigation over the cleanup of the
Arrowhead Refining Company site near Duluth, is part of a consent
decree lodged today in the United States District Court in
Minneapolis.

     Arrowhead operated a waste oil "re-refining" operation at the
site from 1961 to 1980, and local businesses like Armco and USX
disposed of their waste oil at the site.  Tons of thick sludge and
other by-products contaminated surface and groundwater -- some
carcinogenic.  As a result, water supplies for nearby residents had
to be rerouted, and local wildlife and fauna were killed by
exposure to the pollution.

     In 1989, the United States and Minnesota sued fifteen major
waste contributors, who in turn sued hundreds of other companies
and individuals who has sent smaller quantities of waste oil to the
site.  Some are individuals who operated gas stations during the
1960's and 1970's and are now living on limited financial means.

     The settlement lodged with the federal court today treats many
of these parties as "de minimis" settlors, permitting them to fully
resolve the claims against them by paying a designated share.  The
smallest contributors to the site will pay a fixed amount to the
defendants to resolve all claims against them.  Parties with
severely limited means were allowed to settle based on their
ability to pay.
                                 

     "This settlement frees up many small business owners and
retirees from costly litigation," said Lois J. Schiffer, U.S.
Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources. 
"The federal and state governments' 40% share of the cleanup costs
for the Arrowhead site is a fair price to pay to conclude this
case."

     Under the settlement, the private parties will pay about 60
percent of the total cleanup costs and the two governments about 40
percent.

     The 15 major defendants will excavate and remove all sludge
material from the site and treat the material using a new
technology that will render it essentially harmless -- at a cost of
approximately $12.5 million.  If the technology fails, the
defendants are required to incinerate the sludge.  The settlors
have already spent $6.4 million in other response activities at the
site.

     EPA will clean up other surface soils contaminated with oily
residues at a cost of about $6.35 million, and the State of
Minnesota will spend about $1 million to continue the groundwater
pumping and treatment remedy that the private parties already
began.  

     "The 'mixed funded' remedy in this settlement demonstrates our
commitment to using all the tools available to the United States,"
said Steven A. Herman, EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance.  "Concentrating on de minimis and small
party settlements such as this one is also an important part of our
effort to make the Superfund statute work fairly as well as
forcefully."

     The sludge to be cleaned up contains lead, polyaromatic
hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds and some carcinogens. 
In addition to threatening drinking water, the site also posed a
threat to forests and wildlife, with trees, birds and animals dying
after exposure to the oily soils and sludge spread across the ten
acre surface.  

     "Resolving the Arrowhead litigation by sharing responsibility
for the cleanup was an appropriate and effective settlement tool,"
said Valdas V. Adamkus, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 5. 
"When the federal and state governments work in partnership with
the private sector to achieve environmental benefits, all of us
should share the credit."

     "It took creativity and flexibility to craft a fair deal for
all parties," said David L. Lillehaug, United States Attorney for
the District of Minnesota.  "The people of the State of Minnesota
will no doubt welcome the cleanup of the site, but people across
the country also should salute the effort to use the Superfund to
finance settlements and avoid unecssary litigation."
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