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EPA and DOJ Recover $2.5 Million In Cleanup Costs at New Hampshire Waste Site

Release Date: 08/08/2003
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1014

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice today announced that responsible parties have agreed to pay $2.5 million to reimburse EPA for costs incurred during the cleanup of the Johns Manville site in Nashua, N.H. Under a consent decree lodged in federal court in Concord, N.H., Johns Manville International, Inc., of Denver, Colo., and BNZ Materials Inc., of Littleton, Colo., will pay $1.25 million and Samuel Tamposi, Jr and Elizabeth Tamposi, both as individuals and trustees of Bridge Street Realty Trust, of New Hampshire, will pay $1.25 million.

The four-acre Johns Manville site in Nashua was used for over 80 years as an asbestos product manufacturing facility by the Johns Manville company and was later owned and operated by the Bridge Street Realty Trust and BNZ respectively. From 1995 through 1997, EPA performed a cleanup at the Johns Manville site that included demolishing two buildings and removing nearly 450,000 tons of asbestos contaminated debris and soil, at a total cost of $4.6 million. After the cleanup, the site was developed as a soccer field now owned by the City of Nashua.

Under federal law, owners and operators of a site who contributed to the contamination are liable for cleanup costs at the site. The settlement announced today resolves all liability for the site.

"This settlement puts as much of the cleanup costs as possible on the responsible parties instead of taxpayers, while avoiding long and expensive litigation," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office. "This closes the books on a successful cleanup that resulted in a valuable park for the residents of Nashua."

The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period, ending August 31.