Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EPA: 617-918-1064

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1999

DOJ: 202-514-2008

ENR

TDD: 202-514-1888

23 PARTIES TO CLEAN UP SUPERFUND SITE IN VERMONT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Twenty-three parties have agreed to clean up the Pine Street Canal Superfund Site in Burlington, Vermont, under a settlement filed today in U.S. District Court in Burlington. The agreement resolves the claims in a complaint filed today under the federal Superfund statute.

The settlement resolves allegations that the parties are responsible for contamination at the site, a former manufactured gas facility. It requires them to clean up hazardous waste, reimburse the EPA $5.25 million for past costs, reimburse the state of Vermont for certain costs, and undertake a wetlands project to compensate for past wetlands loss and damage to natural resources. Three parties, Green Mountain Power Corporation, New England Electric System, and Vermont Gas Systems, will perform the work.

"Today's settlement means healthier communities and a cleaner environment," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources. "It is a good example of just how much we can accomplish when we work together at the federal, state and local levels. These are real results that will benefit this region and our country."

Specifically, the settlement requires the 23 settling parties to:

Of the $5.25 million to be paid for past cleanup costs, the United States will pay $500,000 on behalf of the General Services Administration and the Department of Commerce to resolve potential liability, based on their predecessor agencies' ownership and operation of a parcel at the Superfund site.

"This settlement ensures that the responsible parties will pay for an effective and sensible cleanup, and it compensates for the past damages to natural resources that were caused by poor management of hazardous wastes," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England administrator. "Equally important, it is a victory for common sense and community involvement."

The Pine Street Canal Site, a manufactured gas plant, operated from 1895 to 1966. The contamination at the site is from coal gasification wastes. In the 1970's, an oily substance was discovered in the wetlands adjacent to the barge canal. Investigations at the site conducted from 1989 to 1992 revealed extensive coal tar contamination in the soils and an oil-like substance in nearby waters. The Pine Street Superfund site was listed on the Superfund National Priorities List in 1983.

Since its formation in 1993, the Pine Street Barge Canal Coordinating Council, a group of local community members, environmental activists, potentially responsible parties and representatives from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the EPA, has examined technical data and evaluated cleanup options. In June 1998, the Coordinating Council overwhelmingly accepted the cleanup plan proposed, in contrast to a plan the EPA had offered before the formation of the Council.

The cleanup plan calls for the construction of an underwater cap in the canal to prevent exposure of aquatic life to contaminated sediments; land use restrictions to prevent migration of contaminants and exposure to contaminated groundwater; and long-term monitoring. Design work will begin this year, and construction of the cap is expected to begin in 2001.

The remedy selected by EPA to address contamination at the Pine Street site minimizes risks to public health, aquatic life, and birds by reducing potential exposure to site contaminants. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and metals are found in the site's groundwater, soils and sediments.

The settlement will be subject to a 30-day public comment period.

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