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EPA, DOJ reach $2.6 million settlement with Sauget, Ill., Superfund responsible parties

Release Date: 03/07/2007
Contact Information: William Omohundro, (312) 353-8254, [email protected] Mick Hans, (312) 353-5050, [email protected] (DOJ) Cynthia Magnuson, (202) 514-2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 07-OPA35

CHICAGO (March 7, 2007) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 and U.S. Department of Justice today announced a $2.6 million settlement for cleanup costs at the Sauget Area 2 Superfund site, near St. Louis. 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 Regional 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 PCBs. Organized landfilling activities at the site stopped in the 1970's.

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 ground-water barrier wall at Site R in Area 2 as an interim remedy to prevent ground-water 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.

The settlement consent decree, United States v. 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.