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EPA Recovering Its Cleanup Costs at National Oil Services Site in CT

Release Date: 06/19/2001
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, 617-918-1064

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week sent notice letters and settlement offers to approximately 750 businesses, municipalities and government agencies who sent waste oil to National Oil Services Inc., in West Haven, CT, for recycling and/or disposal. Most of the entities receiving letters were from Connecticut, with some from Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. National Oil Services Inc. was a waste oil storage, treatment, transfer, recycling and disposal facility in operation from 1982 to 1997.

EPA spent approximately $1.5 million cleaning up the site. A number of companies that EPA would have sought to recoup costs from are either insolvent or defunct. EPA will pay this $275,000 portion of the cleanup costs.

Each settling party will pay 8.5 cents per gallon for each gallon of waste oil sent to the site. Based on hazardous waste manifests documenting shipments made, approximately 93 percent of the parties are being asked to pay no more than $3,000. The agency will protect settling parties from other lawsuits seeking to recover government costs.

An estimated 1,300 additional parties contributed less than 1,000 gallons each to the site, which represents approximately 3 percent of the waste oil received at the site. EPA will not seek to recover costs from these small contributing parties. The agency will, however, actively protect these parties from other party lawsuits.

"With EPA paying a portion of the cleanup costs - absorbing the costs from the smallest contributors and those companies now out of business -- the remaining costs are significantly reduced and are shared by a large number of contributors," said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "The settlement being offered avoids expensive and lengthy legal action while protecting parties from future liability for EPA's cleanup costs."

EPA has a dedicated Hotline to assist notice letter recipients. A voice mail box is available to leave a message outside of operating hours or if the Hotline is busy. Individuals should allow up to three business days for a response due to the expected large volume of calls.

• Toll Free Hotline: (888) 372-7341 extension 2236. The Hotline will be staffed Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. by informed staff to respond to all requests for information.
  
• World Wide Web: https://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/natoil/17103.pdf
  
  The Web site provides a volumetric ranking list of all parties who sent oil waste to the site.
  
• Information is also available at: City Hall, Town Clerk's Office, 355 Main Street, West Haven, CT (203)937-3535 and the EPA Records Center, 1 Congress St., Boston, Mass. (617) 918-1440.

A 1997 investigation determined that the site posed a threat to human health and the environment and therefore warranted an EPA short-term cleanup action. Hazardous substances found at the site included: methylene chloride and other halogenated solvents in waste oils; sulfuric acid; hydrochloric acid; nitric acid; chromic acid; and sodium hydroxide and ether. To date EPA, has spent about $1.5 million at the site. Cleanup actions included the disposal off-site of:

• 104,000 gallons of contaminated waste oil;
• 140,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater;
• 485 tons of contaminated sludge;
• 45 drums of contaminated oil and process chemicals;
• at least 200 small-volume laboratory chemicals; and
• 30 cubic yards of contaminated debris.