FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       ENR
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1997                            (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
           LOS ANGELES AREA LOCAL MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS
     TO PAY MORE THAN $45 MILLION TO INVESTIGATE CONTAMINATED
          COASTAL WATERS AND RESTORE FISH AND WILDLIFE  

    Settlement Resolves All Liability for Local Municipalities
               in Montrose Chemical Superfund Case

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Los Angeles County Sanitation District
(LACSD) and 155 other area municipalities today agreed to pay $45.7
million to investigate ocean environment contaminated with DDT and
PCB's off the coast of Los Angeles and to restore fish and wildlife
populations damaged by the contamination, the United States
announced.

     The settlement, filed today in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles, is part of a Superfund case brought against several
organizations, including Montrose Chemical Corporation of
California, which owned and operated a DDT manufacturing plant in
Los Angeles County near Torrance.

     In a 1990 lawsuit brought under the federal Superfund law, the
United States alleged that Montrose released hazardous substances
into the environment, including the now-banned pesticide DDT.  Los
Angeles County Sanitation District No. 2 was named as a defendant
in the government's lawsuit, and the 155 municipalities were sued
by Montrose and other defendants in the case.  Today's settlement
resolves all liability for the named municipalities in this case. 

     "With this settlement, we can continue to focus our efforts on
addressing the contaminated areas and restoring natural resources
essential to the health of L.A.'s coastal waters," said Lois
Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice
Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.  

     The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is
the lead federal trustee for natural resources at this Superfund
site.  "This settlement represents a major milestone toward our
goal of cleaning up the largest-ever deposit of DDT in the Nation's
coastal waters and restoring natural resources harmed by exposure
to these contaminants," said acting NOAA Deputy Administrator Terry
D. Garcia.  "The agreement demonstrates that existing authorities
provided under the Superfund Act can be effective in addressing a
large-scale contaminant release that has affected all parts of the
ecosystem, from bottom-dwelling prey species to the bald eagle."

     Under today's agreement, LACSD and the municipalities will pay
$21.86 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
$140,000 to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control
to address the ocean sediment contamination on the Palos Verdes
shelf.  In addition, the municipalities will pay $23 million in
damages to federal and state trustees for natural resources injured
by DDT and PCB exposure.

     In its lawsuit, the United States alleged that the Montrose
plant property, as well as soils, groundwater, stormwater channels,
and the local sewer system downstream from the Montrose plant were
all contaminated with DDT.  The lawsuit further alleged that DDT-
contaminated wastewater from the Montrose plant, and PCB-
contaminated wastewater from other companies in the Los Angeles
area, were discharged into the local sewer system and flowed into
the Pacific Ocean contaminating ocean sediments on the Palos Verdes
shelf.  The chemical contamination damaged natural resources,
including fish and birds that live in and around the City's coastal
waters.  The government's case against Montrose and the other
defendants is still pending.

     This settlement is an amended version of an earlier settlement
approved by the District Court that was returned to the lower court
for further consideration, by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in
March 1995.

     DDT, or dichloro-diphenyl trichloroethane is a pesticide that
has been banned from domestic use since 1972.  DDT production in
the United States ceased in 1982.  PCBs, or polychlorinated
biphenyls, were widely used in a number of industrial applications,
including as a flame retardant in electrical equipment until it was
banned in the late 1970's.

     The Interior Department, also a federal natural resource
trustee in this case,  carries out numerous natural resource damage
assessment and restoration activities because of its
responsibilities for managing more than 400 million acres of public
lands and the resources they support.  The Interior Department's
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for conserving
migratory birds, endangered species, inland fisheries, and certain
marine mammals.  The Service has more than 50 years of expertise in
pesticide and other contaminant research, and has the only federal
program specifically for identifying and preventing harmful
contamination of fish and wildlife. 
    
     The proposed settlement, known as a consent decree, will be
published in the Federal Register.  Any person may submit written
comments concerning the proposed decree during the 30 day comment
period to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530.

     A list of the settling municipalities is attached.
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