Hercules Inc. Pays $12.95 Million for Cleanup Costs at W.Va. Site
Hercules
Inc., a former defense contractor, has agreed to pay the federal
government nearly $13 million toward the cleanup of the Allegany
Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) site in Rocket Center, W.Va., according to
a settlement reached on Oct. 31 with the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ), the U.S. Department of the Navy and EPA.
This is the first settlement in which DOJ has recovered
environmental cleanup costs from a contractor on behalf of the Navy.
The consent decree was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of West Virginia.
The agreement provides that Hercules, which operated the Navy-owned
ABL site from 1945 to 1995, will pay a substantial portion of the costs
needed to clean up the site pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The money recovered
by the Navy from Hercules will largely go toward further environmental
cleanups on Navy-owned land.
The Navy is performing the ongoing cleanup at ABL in consultation
with EPA and the state of West Virginia. ABL was placed on EPA's
National Priorities List (NPL) in May 1994. Under the agreement, EPA
will recover a portion of the $12.95 million, which will go towards its
expenditure in overseeing the cleanup of this NPL-listed facility.
In a complaint filed simultaneously with the consent decree, the
federal government charged that Hercules' activities at ABL, including
the manufacture of rocket motors and fuel, led to releases of hazardous
substances, including organic solvents, explosives, propellants and
metals.
"This settlement reflects our commitment to ensure that defense
contractors pay their appropriate share of costs arising from
environmental cleanups at military facilities," said Ronald J. Tenpas,
acting assistant attorney general for DOJ's Environment and Natural
Resources Division. "This settlement is part of an expanding
enforcement partnership between the Department of Justice and the
Department of Defense, the goal of which is to secure an appropriate
contribution to overall cleanup costs from the contractors who operated
these facilities."
The agreement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and
final court approval. A copy of the consent decree is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
Additional information about the ABL cleanup program is available at http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/WV0170023691.