Responsible Parties Reach $2.6 Million Settlement for Superfund Site Cleanup
On March 7, EPA Region 5 and U.S. Department of Justice announced a $2.6 million settlement for cleanup costs at the Sauget Area 2 Superfund site, in Sauget, Ill. A group of 21 companies will reimburse the government for cleanup work completed in April 2000.
"EPA removed and disposed of more than 3,700 drums and 24,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris from this site," said Region 5 Administrator Mary Gade. "But we won't be finished in Metro East until we've addressed the many remaining contaminated sites."
The cleanup covered 25 acres of a long-closed landfill along the edge of the Mississippi River known as Site Q. Hazardous materials in Site Q drums and soils included arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Currently, EPA's work is divided among the Sauget Area 1 and Sauget Area 2 sites. Both have been proposed for addition to the Superfund National Priorities List and contain numerous contaminated areas. Recent activity includes installation of a groundwater barrier wall at Site R in Area 2 as an interim remedy to prevent groundwater contamination from passing through parts of the site and affecting the river. A supplemental remedial investigation for Area 2, which includes the remaining contaminated portions of Site Q, has also been completed. This investigation will contribute to a final cleanup plan for Area 2 in the next few years.
More information on the Sauget Area 2 site can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/illinois/ILD000605790.htm.
The settlement consent decree, United States vs. Afton Chemical Corp. et al., was entered at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The document is at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.