FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1997                          DOJ (202) 514-2008
                                               EPA (617) 565-3392
                                     U.S. ATTORNEY (203) 773-2108
                      CT ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE (860) 566-8239
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
      UNITED STATES AND CONNECTICUT MOVE TO SHIELD STRATFORD
           HOMEOWNERS FROM LAWSUITS BROUGHT BY RAYMARK


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States and the State of
Connecticut today moved to protect neighboring homeowners from
Raymark Industries' efforts to offset the costs of cleaning up
contamination the company caused at its Superfund site in
Stratford, Connecticut.
  
     Under a settlement filed today in U.S. District Court in
Hartford, 58 Stratford, Connecticut homeowners whose property was
contaminated with hazardous waste from the Raymark plant, will
each pay $1 and will be shielded from third party claims Raymark
brought against them in an attempt to recover the costs of
cleaning up the contamintion from its plant.  Under the federal
Superfund statute, a party who settles its potential liability
with the United States or a state cannot be sued by third
parties.

     "This agreement is one more example of the steps we're
taking in the Superfund program to stop unecessary and unfair
litigation by polluters who try to avoid their obligation to
clean up the sites they have contaminated," said Lois Schiffer,
Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's
Environment and Natural Resources Division.

     On January 7, 1997, the United States and Connecticut each
sued Raymark to recover cleanup costs incurred at the Raymark
Industries Superfund Site, which includes the Raymark plant and
the residential properties, along with commercial and municipal
localities.  The state and federal complaints also named the
Trustee of the Stratford Trust as a defendant because Raymark
attempted to transfer its ownership of the contaminated plant to
the Trustee immediately after EPA notified Raymark that a
Superfund lien would be placed on the property.  Raymark, which
created the Stratford Trust, maintains that the Trust, and not
the Company, now owns the contaminated plant.

     Raymark and the Trustee responded to the governments'
lawsuits by filing so-called third-party claims against 65
residents of the Stratford community on whose property hazardous
waste from the Raymark plant had been disposed as fill.  The
United States and the State obtained an immediate "stay" of those
proceedings from the District Court to protect the homeowners
from incurring legal costs.  During that time the governments
worked with them to prepare the agreement filed today by the
Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the State of Connecticut.

     "This consent decree should put a stop to Raymark's unfair
and irresponsible end run to divert cleanup cost responsibility
away from itself and onto the homeowners," said John DeVillars,
Regional Administrator for EPA Region I, New England.

     From 1919 to 1989, Raymark manufactured friction products,
such as brake pads, for the automobile industry, disposing of
wastes containing lead, asbestos, PCB's and other hazardous
substances at its Stratford manufacturing plant.  Raymark dried
the waste material and then made it available to the Stratford
community as fill material for lawns, playgrounds, and
schoolyards.  As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
are working to clean up the contamination Raymark left at its
plant and at other locations in Stratford.  The cleanup costs for
all of Raymark's contamination may exceed $200 million.  EPA has
already completed its cleanup of the contaminated residential
properties. 

     "I hope this agreement finally persuades Raymark to
voluntarily withdraw its claims against individual homeowners in
Stratford," said Christopher F. Droney, U.S. Attorney for the
District of Connecticut.

     "This agreement reflects the State's firm commitment to
overcome any Raymark tactics aimed at further harming the
Stratford community," said Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Attorney General.

     Subject to a 30-day period of public notice and comment, the
United States and the State will ask the District Court to enter
the agreement, known as a consent decree, as a final judgement,
giving the homeowners the legal shield they need against the
third-party claims.

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