[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 153 (Friday, August 8, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42791-42792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20978]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5871-7]
De Minimis Settlement Under Section 122(g) of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980
(CERCLA), as amended, Peerless Industrial Paint Coatings Site, City of
St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri; Notice of Request for Public
Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entered into a
de minimis administrative settlement to resolve claims under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of
1980 (CERCLA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9622(g). The settlement is
intended to resolve the liability of Westinghouse Electric Corporation
(Westinghouse) for the response costs incurred and to be incurred at
the Peerless Industrial Paint Coatings Site, City of St. Louis, St.
Louis County, Missouri.
DATES: Written comments must be provided on or before September 8,
1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the Regional Administrator,
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, 726
Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101 and should refer to: In the
Matter of the Peerless Industrial Paint Coatings Superfund Site, City
of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri, EPA Docket Nos. VII-97-F-
0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Denise L. Roberts, Assistant Regional Counsel, United States
Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, 726 Minnesota Avenue,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101, (913) 551-7559.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Westinghouse Electric Corporation
(``Westinghouse'' or de minimis party''), the settling party, is a de
minimis generator of hazardous substances found at the Peerless
Industrial Paint Coatings Site, which is the subject Superfund Site. On
April 21, 1997, Region VII entered into a de minimis administrative
settlement to resolve claims under Section 122(g) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C.
9622(g).
The Peerless Industrial Paint Coatings Site (the ``Site'') is
located in St. Louis at 1265 Lewis Street, St. Louis, Missouri,
approximately \1/4\ mile north of downtown St. Louis in an industrial
section of the city. The de minimis party, Westinghouse, is a
corporation that operated a facility in Manor, Pennsylvania from 1937
until July 1995 which manufactures and sells paints and resins to
commercial customers. Westinghouse sold polyester resins and alkyds to
Peerless Industrial Paint Coatings (``Peerless''), a St. Louis
corporation, at very low prices. Westinghouse admitted that it sold
secondary coatings or materials to Peerless at very low prices, which
were less than the costs of disposal for hazardous wastes at an
authorized permitted facility. Peerless was a manufacturer of paints
and magazine coatings that purchased large quantities of paint
materials at low prices and accumulated more materials on-site than
could be used. In June 1993, the EPA began a removal action at the
site. Approximately 3500 drums of hazardous substances that
demonstrated the characteristic of ignitability were removed from the
facility at the cost of $1,089,062.71.
The settlement has been approved by the U.S. Department of Justice
because the response costs in this matter exceed $500,000.00. The EPA
estimates the total past and future costs will be approximately
$1,342,357.05. Pursuant to the Administrative Order on Consent, the de
minimis party is responsible for its attributable share of 1.71 percent
of the hazardous substances removed from the Site. Westinghouse had
agreed to pay a total of $27,920.07 which is further detailed as
follows: $17,720.07 is its attributable share of past costs, $5,100.00
is its attributable share of anticipated future costs; and $5,100.00 is
a premium of 100% for future cost overruns. The EPA determined these
amounts to be the de minimis party's fair share of liability based on
the amount of hazardous substances found at the Site and contributed by
the settling party. The settlement includes contribution protection
from lawsuits by other potentially responsible parties as provided for
under section 122(g)(5) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622(g)(5).
The de minimis settlement provides that the EPA covenants not to
sue the de minimis party for response costs at the Site or for
injunctive relief pursuant to Sections 106 and 107 of CERCLA and
section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1980, as
amended (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6973. The settlement contains a reopener
clause which nullifies the covenant not to sue if any information
becomes known to the EPA that indicates that the parties no longer meet
the criteria for a
[[Page 42792]]
de minimis settlement set forth in Section 122(g)(1)(A) of CERCLA, 42
U.S.C. 9622(g)(1)(A). The covenant not to sue does not apply to the
following matters:
(a) Liability for failure to meet a requirement of the
Administrative Order on Consent;
(b) Liability resulting from any future arrangement for disposal or
treatment of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant at the
Site after the effective date of the Administrative Order on Consent;
(c) Criminal liability; or
(d) Liability for damages or injury to, destruction of, or loss of
the natural resources.
The de minimis settlement will become effective upon the date which
the EPA issues a written notice to the party that the statutory public
comment period has closed and that comments received, if any, do not
require modification of or EPA withdrawal from the settlement.
William Rice,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-20978 Filed 8-7-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M