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EPA TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING THE BANKRUPTCY SETTLEMENT AT THE NORTH HOLLYWOOD DUMP SITE IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Release Date: 06/28/2002
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, EPA Media Relations, 404-562-8421

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public meeting regarding the bankruptcy settlement at the North Hollywood Dump site in Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday, July 2, 2002. The public meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Hollywood Community Center, 1560 Hollywood Street in Memphis. NWI Land Management assumed and FTL agreed to reimburse Velsicol's liability for the North Hollywood Dump Site as a condition of the management buy out of Velsicol in 1986. The City of Memphis and NWI Land Management, a subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom, have each paid half of all ongoing costs associated with the North Hollywood Dump Site since then. Payments by the City and NWI are deposited into a trust fund set up under the terms of the existing Consent Decree for the site. Site costs are drawn from this trust, which currently has a balance of approximately $500,000. The bankruptcy of Fruit of the Loom and its NWI subsidiary, has resulted in large environmental liabilities, including the 50% cost share at the North Hollywood Dump Site, reverting to Velsicol. Velsicol does not have the financial ability to cover these liabilities. Once the Settlement Agreement has been finalized, funds can be obtained from the Custodial Trust in order to pay for the continuing costs at the North Hollywood Dump Site. A motion to modify the Consent Decree for the Site will be filed to reflect this new arrangement. The North Hollywood Dump operated as a municipal landfill from the 1930s until the City closed it in 1967. A remedial action was taken at the Site and completed in 1996. The Site was deleted from the NPL in 1997. Ongoing monitoring and maintenance activities continue.