FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   ENR
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1994                    DOJ           (202) 616-0189
                                                         TDD (202) 514-1888
                                               EPA (415) 744-1587
                                               USA (213) 894-6947



             MULTI-PARTY SUPERFUND SETTLEMENT WILL SPUR CLEANUP OF MONTEREY
                         PARK HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE

     SAN FRANCISCO -- In a landmark multi-party settlement that
will help restore a 190-acre hazardous waste site, 14 California
cities, Los Angeles County, the California Department of
Transportation and 18 waste haulers have agreed to contribute
more than $63 million to the clean up of a Monterey Park,
California landfill run by Operating Industries, Incorporated
(OII).  The settlement resolves a suit brought by 137 businesses
and public entities who have already contributed more than $200
million to the cost of cleaning up the site. 
     The consent decree was announced today by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of
Justice and filed by U.S. Attorney Nora Manella.  The settlement
will end a 1989 lawsuit brought by the parties for the disposal 


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of municipal solid waste at the OII site.  Although the United 
States did not originally bring a similar action, it played a key
role in resolving the dispute between the municipalities and the
private parties.  
     "The federal government's involvement and the agreement it
helped promote are two good examples of promoting environmental
cleanup over costly litigation," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant
Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources.  She
added that the United States become involved at the request of
the private parties.
     "This settlement once again demonstrates our strong
commitment to protecting the environment," said U.S. Attorney
Nora M. Manella.
     "By entering into this settlement, U.S. EPA turned a
contentious lawsuit between the industrial waste generators and
the cities into a win-win situation," said John Wise, deputy
regional administrator for U.S. EPA's western region.  "This
settlement should protect the municipalities from future legal
actions, and also ensures that the funds will be spent on cleanup
rather than legal fees."
     This is the fourth major settlement for the ongoing cleanup
of OII.  U.S. EPA, the state of California, and approximately 170
companies that disposed of industrial waste at the OII site
reached three earlier settlements valued at approximately $205
million for major portions of the cleanup.  With this latest
settlement, over $268 million have been dedicated to the cleanup
of the OII site.
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     OII was placed on the National Priorities List in May 1986. 
The NPL is U.S. EPA's list of hazardous waste sites potentially
posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and the
environment.
     The 190-acre landfill operated from 1948 through 1984. 
Throughout that period the landfill received residential and
commercial refuse, industrial wastes, liquid wastes, and a
variety of hazardous wastes.  An estimated 38 million cubic yards
of refuse, weighing between 22 and 31 million tons, were disposed
at OII as well as over 300 million gallons of liquid waste.
     Several groups of parties agreed to the consent decree,
which was filed at the federal district court in Los Angeles. 
The plaintiffs are the United States and State of California. 
The parties signing as defendants are the plaintiffs in the
original 1989 suit, who have already reimbursed the United States
and California for cleanup costs and agreed to undertake cleanup
measures, based on the amount of their waste brought to the OII
site.
     The defendants include 137 businesses and public entities,
and the defendants in the 1989 suit, including the California
Department of Transportation, 14 cities, the county of Los
Angeles; and six garbage disposal districts and their associated
waste haulers.  The fourteen cities that signed the settlement
are Alhambra, Monterey Park, Montebello, South Gate, Compton,
Lynwood, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City, Bell, Maywood,
Commerce, South Pasadena, and Cudahy.

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     A copy of the consent decree will be available, along with
other site-related documents, at the following local libraries:

Montebello Regional Library        Monterey Park Library
1550 W. Beverly Blvd.              318 Ramona Street
Montebello, CA                     Monterey Park, CA

                    Holfield Park Library
                    1060 S. Greenwood
                    Montebello, CA


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