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Industrial Excess Landfill update: consent decree entered, Ohio EPA recovers costs, sampling scheduled

Release Date: 5/19/2005
Contact Information:

CONTACT:
(U.S. EPA) Mick Hans, (312) 353-5050
(Ohio EPA) Mike Settles, (614) 644-2160
(DOJ) Ben Porritt, (202) 514-2007

For Immediate Release
No. 05-OPA067

CHICAGO (May 19, 2005) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 said today that a consent decree to recover nearly $19 million in past costs to the federal government and the state of Ohio for their involvement at the Industrial Excess Landfill Superfund site has been entered in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio.

The U.S. Department of Justice lodged the consent decree with the court on EPA's behalf in June 2004, and sought the court's approval after a public comment period. Judge John Manos approved the settlement and formally entered the consent decree as a judgement in April 2005.

Specifically, the consent decree requires the rubber companies to implement the site remedy at the former landfill, which operated from 1965 to 1980. This process is continuing under EPA and Ohio EPA supervision. The remedy includes natural recovery of the ground water through selective planting of trees and other vegetation, and required monitoring of the ground water for years to come. Sampling for volatile organic compounds in the ground water is scheduled for August and November.

Of the total settlement, $18 million will be used to compensate EPA for past research, hazard containment and oversight at the IEL site dating back two decades. The state of Ohio will receive $875,000 in reimbursement for Ohio EPA's costs, which will be used to investigate and cleanup up other contaminated sites. The rubber companies have also agreed to take over the operation and maintenance of the landfill's methane gas venting system, which the state had previously paid for.

The settling defendants are: Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Goodyear Aerospace Corp., Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., B.F. Goodrich Co., and Gencorp Inc. The government's suit had alleged that these companies arranged for the disposal of hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid wastes at IEL.