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Settlement Ensures Cleanup of Contaminated Soil at Coventry R.I. Great Lakes Container Site

Release Date: 07/14/2010
Contact Information: David Deegan, 617-918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – July 14, 2010) – Twenty-six parties have agreed to help clean up the Great Lakes Container Corp. Site in Coventry, R.I.

Under the settlement with EPA, the settling parties will further investigate and remove soil contaminated with hazardous substances at a cost of about $2 million. The parties will also reimburse EPA $200,000 for its site investigation costs, and pay EPA for all of its costs to oversee the soil removal work. The cost reimbursement portion of the settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period, ending on July 19.

The 27-acre Site, located at 592 Arnold Road, is bordered by Lake Tiogue, undeveloped woodlands, residential properties and Coventry Landfill. From about 1961 to 1980, a series of companies ran a drum reconditioning business at the Site. The drum reconditioning companies accepted drums containing waste chemical and oil residues. During the reconditioning process, the companies cleaned drums of the residues and disposed of them at the Site.

Between 1982 and 2005, EPA investigated the Site and confirmed the presence of volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, metals, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The agreement went into effect June 8.

The 26 settling parties include: Akzo Nobel Coatings; Avnet.; BP Products North America; Chevron Environmental Management Company; CNA Holdings; Cooley, Inc.; Cytec Industries; Development Associates; Drake Petroleum Company; Eastern Color & Chemical Company; Electric Boat Corporation; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Greenhill, Inc.; Hubbard Hall; Invesys; John H. Collins & Sons Company; John R. Hess & Company; Mallinckrodt; National Grid; Northeast Products Co.; Ross & Roberts; Shell Oil Company; Sunoco; Uniroyal Holding; Whittaker Corporation, and Zeneca.

More information on the settlement and how to comment on cost reimbursement: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-14651.pdf

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