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U.S. EPA ENTERS INTO CASMALIA ACCORD WITH 49 COMPANIES

Release Date: 9/17/1996
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

    (San Francisco)-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) today announced that a settlement has been reached
with 49 public and private entities that sent millions of pounds
of hazardous waste to the Casmalia Resources Hazardous waste
disposal facility near Santa Maria, Calif.

     "This settlement sets into motion the work that will resolve
the longstanding environmental problems at the Casmalia
facility," said Julie Anderson, U.S. EPA's Waste Management
Division director. "By reaching agreement with the parties
responsible for contamination at the facility, U.S. EPA has
assured that crucial work will be immediately undertaken at the
site."

      Kenneth Hunter, Jr. and his business interests, the owners
and operators of the Casmalia facility, were not part of the
consent decree, which is expected to be lodged with the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of California today.
U.S. EPA will continue to pursue Hunter and his companies to
obtain additional funds to pay for the long-term control of
contamination at the 252-acre site.

     According to the decree, the 49 entities, known as the
Casmalia Steering Committee (CSC), will begin work within a week
of lodging of the consent decree. U.S. EPA will oversee, review,
and make final decisions on all site work.
   
     In the first phase of work the CSC will continue with and
improve the stabilization and control of the site through a
number of measures. This work, which will be paid by the CSC, is
estimated to cost $30 million and take several years to complete.

     While this work is being performed, U.S. EPA will notify the
thousands of other responsible parties that also sent waste to
the site and will seek financial contributions from these
companies to fund the later phases of site work, including the
site's long-term operation and maintenance.

     If there is not enough money to pay for the later phases of
site work, the U.S. EPA can obtain the shortfall from the CSC to
pay for this work.

     Funds for the long-term maintenance and control of the site
will also be funded by a $10 million trust fund set up while the
facility was in operation to pay for closure of the facility.
Although U.S. EPA does not have an estimate of the cost of all
site work, sites of similar size and complexity to Casmalia
typically cost in excess of $100 million.

     The first phase of work will be started immediately by the
CSC. This work includes:  

     * collection, treatment, and disposal of contaminated      
       liquids;  
     * design and construction of a cap for the
       pesticides/solvents landfill;
     * design of caps for the remaining landfills;
     * additional investigation and evaluation of site
       conditions to enable U.S. EPA to determine the
       appropriate final remedy for the site;
     * design of the final remedy selected by U.S. EPA;
     * performance of routine site maintenance, groundwater
       monitoring, and community/public information support;
     * funding a $50,000 technical assistance grant to a        
       qualified community group or groups.      

     The second phase of work will include the construction and
operation of a final remedy determined by U.S. EPA. Throughout
this phase, routine site maintenance, groundwater monitoring, and
community/public information support will continue. The public
will have an opportunity to comment on a future remedy proposed
by U.S. EPA.  

    The Casmalia Resources Hazardous Waste facility is an
inactive hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility
which accepted billions of pounds of commercial and industrial
wastes from 1973 to 1989, which were then placed in landfills and
surface impoundments at the facility. Since 1992, the U.S. EPA
has worked to stabilize the site.

A copy of the consent decree can be reviewed at the following
locations:

University of California            Cal Poly State University
Davidson Library                    Kennedy Library
Government Document Unit            Government Document Dept.,
Santa Barbara, Calif.                Map Section (3rd Floor)
                                    San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Santa Maria Library                 U.S. EPA, Region 9
420 South Broadway                  Superfund Records Center
Santa Maria, Calif.                 95 Hawthorne St.
                                    San Francisco, Calif.
                           
Office of the U.S. Attorney         Consent Decree Library
Central District of California      1120 G St., NW, 4th floor
300 North Los Angeles St.           Washington, DC
Los Angeles, Calif.


                       List of Settling Defendants
                                   
ABB Vetco Gray Inc.                 Pacific Offshore Pipeline Co.
Aerochem Inc.                       The Proctor & Gamble          
Aerojet General Corp.                Manufacturing Co.            
Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO)   Reynolds Metals Co.
Caspian Inc.                       R.G.G.L. Corp.
Chevron Corp.                       Rhone-Poulenc Inc.
City of Oxnard                     Rockwell International Corp.
Clairol Inc.                       Rohr Inc. (formerly Rohr
Coastal Oil & Gas Corp.              Industries Inc.)
Conoco Inc.                         Romic Environmental
Deutsch Co.                          Technologies Corp.
The Dow Chemical Co.               Shell Oil Co.
Everest & Jennings                 Shipley Co. Inc.
 International                     Southern California Gas Co.
Exxon Corp.                         Southern Pacific
Gemini Industries Inc.               Transportation Co.
General Dynamics Corp.             Square D Co.
General Electric Co.               Teleflex Inc.  
General Motors Corp.               Texaco Inc.                
Hughes Aircraft Co., and its       Todd Pacific Shipyard Corp.
 subsidiaries                       Union Oil Co. of California  
Lever Brothers Co.                   Inc., dba Unocal          
Lockheed Martin Corp. (merged       Union Pacific Resources Co.
 entity for Lockheed Corp. and     Union Pacific Railroad Co.
 Martin Marietta Corp.)             USPCI for Solvent Service
McDonnell Douglas Corp.             Zeneca Inc.              
Mobil Oil Corp.                     Zycon Corp.
New VICI Inc. (for Gonzales/      
 Monterey Vineyard)                
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Oil & Solvent Process Co., a subsidiary
 of Chemical Waste Management Inc.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

 
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