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Settlement Locks In Funding for Clean-up of Beede Site in Plaistow, N.H.

Release Date: 11/20/2008
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. Nov. 20, 2008) - A comprehensive settlement agreement between the federal government, the state of New Hampshire and 101 potentially responsible parties will ensure the steady progress of clean up work at the 41-acre Beede Waste Oil Superfund Site in Plaistow, N.H.

The Consent Decree, lodged with the court last April and entered as a final order by the New Hampshire Federal District Court in July 2008, secures a commitment from the settling parties to finance and conduct a comprehensive clean up worth an estimated $48 million, provides $9 million to cover future federal and New Hampshire oversight cost, and secures $17 million raised through earlier settlements for payment of past costs.

The major settling parties, who collectively contributed roughly half of the known waste, will clean up the site under EPA oversight. Under the settlement agreement, a group of “de minimis” parties and federal agencies are also resolving their Superfund liability by contributing funds needed to help clean up and restore the site.

“We are very happy that this settlement will ensure that the Beede site will be cleaned up and restored for the benefit of the community,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “EPA looks forward to working with the settling parties and the community over the next several years to clean up the site.”

The Beede site is located in a residential Plaistow neighborhood that is served entirely by private drinking water supply wells. The facility was in operation from the 1920s through August 1994 as a waste oil storage and recycling facility. The site is contaminated primarily with waste oil that seeped into the ground from a variety of sources, including a former unlined lagoon, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, and numerous drums located throughout the property. The site was added to EPA’s National Priorities (Superfund) List in December 1996.

Under the terms of the consent decree, the settling parties are required to implement the January 2004 Record of Decision, which is the comprehensive clean up plan for the site. Specifically, the plan calls for the removal of contaminated soil and sediment for off-site disposal or treatment, the treatment of deeper soil through the use of soil vapor extraction technology, the extraction and treatment of contaminated groundwater with limited areas of natural attenuation, the long-term monitoring of groundwater and surface water, and the establishment of institutional controls.

Between 2001 and 2004, the Region completed four “cashout” settlements with 1,199 parties who contributed relatively small volumes of waste to the site (“de minimis” parties). These settlements raised over $17.3 million for site-related costs.


More information:

- EPA summary of Beede Superfund site (epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/beede)

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