NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/talk/environm/4534

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-08 | 5.5 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Environmental Damage in Los Angeles: $45.7 Million Settlement Proposed
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Organization: R-node Public Access UNIX System (416-249-5366) 24hrs.
Date: Sun, 08 Nov 1992 00:03:25 GMT
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Here is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 Department of Justice Announces $45.7 Million Proposed Settlement
to Address Environmental Damage in Los Angeles

 Contact: U.S. Justice Department, Public Affairs, 202-514-2007

   WASHINGTON, Nov. 5  -- The U.S. Department of Justice,
in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), Department of the Interior (DOI), the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), said that the U.S. and the state of California today
filed a proposed consent decree to settle for $45.7 million a
dispute involving the liability of over 150 local government
agencies in the Los Angeles area of claims for natural resource
damages and Superfund cleanup costs resulting from DDT and PCB
contamination.
   The proposed agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles, requires $42.2 million to be paid over a period of four
years to federal and state trustee agencies for restoration of
injured natural resources.  In addition, a payment of $3.5 million
will go to the EPA for response costs associated with cleanup at
the Montrose Chemical Corp. Superfund site.
   At the discretion of the natural resource trustees, up to
$8 million of the natural resource damage settlement may be paid in
the form of cleanup services provided by the Los Angeles County
Sanitation Districts (LACSD), the major settling defendant in the
case.  The LACSD consists of a group of sewer districts throughout
Los Angeles County that discharge wastewater through an ocean
outfall into the San Pedro Channel near Los Angeles.
   The Department's Acting Assistant Attorney General for the
Environment and Natural Resources Division, Vicki A. O'Meara, said,
"This agreement represents the largest settlement ever obtained by
the United States for a non-oil spill natural resource damage
claim.  It shows that polluters, whether they are individuals,
corporations, or government agencies, must take responsibility for
their actions."  Acting Assistant Attorney General O'Meara praised
the teamwork of the federal agencies involved, as well as the state
of California.
   Thomas A. Campbell, general counsel of NOAA, stated, "The
proposed consent decree represents the largest settlement ever
obtained for an offshore chemical pollution case."
   The settlement seeks damages for injury done to natural
resources resulting from releases of DDT from the former Montrose
Chemical plant in Torrance, Calif., mainly through sewer
discharge and dumping into the San Pedro Channel near Los Angeles.
In addition, PCBs were released into those waters through sewer
discharge from plants operated by Westinghouse Electric, the
Potlatch Corp. and the Simpson Paper Co.
   U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Terree
A. Bowers said, "This significant agreement to address the
environmental damage to ocean resources off-shore of San Pedro and
Palos Verdes follows in the footsteps of our other major
environmental enforcement achievements this year, including two of
the largest Superfund settlements ever obtained to clean up
hazardous waste at the Stringfellow acid pits in Riverside County
and the Operating Industries site in Monterey Park.  Whether the
interest is in clean air, clean water or a clean, safe community
for Southern California, we are committed to enforcing the federal
environmental laws."
   The complaint, filed in June 1990 on behalf of NOAA, DOI, EPA
and three state trustee agencies, alleged that the DDT and PCB
releases, which began in the 1940s, injured marine sediments, fish,
marine mammals and birds, including endangered species such as the
bald eagle and peregrine falcon.
   Restoration of the natural resources could include removal or
treatment of contaminated underwater sediments, restocking fish or
installation of artificial reefs.
   Manuel Lujan, secretary of the interior, said, "This is another
example of the diligence that the Bush administration has
demonstrated in requiring those who damage wildlife and other
resources to pay for restoration.  The settlement is especially
important because it will help in the recovery of endangered
species under the interior department's jurisdiction in Channel
Islands National Park."
   In addition to the LACSD, the remaining settling parties are
cities, counties and other governmental agencies, including Los
Angeles, Long Beach, and Orange, Ventura and Los Angeles counties,
all of whom were brought into the lawsuit as "third-party defendants"
by corporate defendants named in the original 1990 lawsuit.
   The proposed settlement is the second to be reached in this
case, "United States and state of California vs. Montrose Chemical
Corp., et al."  An earlier settlement with Potlatch Corp. and
Simpson Paper Co. for $12 million was approved by the federal
district court in May 1992.
   Litigation is continuing against the remaining defendants,
Montrose Chemical Corp. of California; ICI American Holdings Inc.
and its subsidiaries; Rhone-Poulenc Basic Chemicals Inc.;
Chris-Craft Industries; and Westinghouse Electric.
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