All News Releases By Date

COURT APPROVES $2.5 MILLION IN MONTROSE SUPERFUND CASE

Release Date: 6/24/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant

Settlement will fund future investigation and cleanup

     SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Justice along with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board announce today a $2.5 million settlement with Montrose Chemical Corporation for future investigation and cleanup at Montrose Superfund site in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles.  

     Under the settlement, EPA, DTSC and RWQCB will receive approximately $2.5 million to fund future investigation and cleanup work at the Montrose Chemical Superfund Site.  Montrose Chemical will also conduct certain work at the Montrose Plant Property related to the DDT contaminated soil removed by EPA from nearby residential properties last year.

     Today's decision settles two of the remaining issues in this case related to past releases of the pesticide DDT from the Montrose DDT Plant in Los Angeles County to surrounding residential areas and a stormwater pathway to Consolidated Slip in Los Angeles Harbor.  The lone remaining issue before the District Court involves the Superfund liability of one of the Montrose Chemical Corporation of California's parent companies, Chris-Craft Industries (now part of News America, Inc.).

     The United States v. Montrose case first went to trial before Judge Manuel Real in October 2000.    Settlements previously approved by Judge Real have resolved the other significant issues in the matter.  The most significant prior settlement provided $73 million for future cleanup and natural resource restoration for the Palos Verdes Shelf, off the coast of Los Angeles, where an estimated 100 tons of DDT remain in ocean sediments.  To date Montrose Chemical Corporation and related responsible parties have paid more than $156 million towards the DDT cleanup and restoration efforts.

     Montrose Chemical Corporation of California manufactured DDT  from 1947 until 1982 at a plant located at 20201 Normandie Avenue, Los Angeles, near the City of Torrance. The 13-acre former plant property located in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles was named a federal Superfund site in 1989.

     DDT was one of the most widely used pesticides in the world until 1972 when its use was banned in the United States for most purposes.  Because of this use, DDT continues to be found at low levels throughout the California and the LA area.