[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 91 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 26222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10141]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA R9-2021-02; FRL-10021-96-Region 9]


Notice of Proposed Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order 
on Consent With De Minimis Parties at the Omega Chemical Corporation 
Superfund Site in Los Angeles County, California

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement; request for public comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (``CERCLA''), notice 
is hereby given that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has 
entered into a proposed settlement, embodied in an Administrative 
Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (``Settlement Agreement''), 
with twenty-six parties that sent between one and three tons of waste 
and one party that sent just over four tons of waste (the ``Settling De 
Minimis Parties'') to a solvent and refrigerant recyling facility that 
operated between 1976 and 1991 in Whittier, California, called the 
Omega Chemical Corporation. Under the Settlement Agreement, the 
Settling De Minimis Parties agree to pay EPA $1,222,328.66 to resolve 
their liability for both past and future costs associated with the 
cleanup of the Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund Site (``Omega 
Site'') in Los Angeles County California.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 14, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please contact Keith Olinger at [email protected] or 
(415) 972-3125 to request a copy of the Settlement Agreement. Comments 
on the Settlement Agreement should be submitted in writing to Mr. 
Olinger at [email protected]. Comments should reference the Omega 
Site and the EPA Docket Number for the Settlement Agreement, EPA R9-
2021-02. If for any reason you are not able to submit a comment by 
email, please contact Mr. Olinger at (415) 972-3125 to make alternative 
arrangements for submitting your comment. EPA will post its response to 
comments at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0903349, EPA's web page for the Omega Site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Olinger, Enforcement Officer 
(SFD-7-5), Superfund Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 
San Francisco, CA 94105; email: [email protected]; Phone (415) 972-
3125.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of this proposed Settlement Agreement 
is made in accordance with the Section 122(i) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 
9622(i). The Settlement Agreement is a de minimis settlement agreement 
pursuant to Section 122(g) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622(g), whereby the 
Settling De Minimis Parties, which are identified below, collectively 
agree to pay EPA $1,222,328.66. The Settlement Agreement resolves the 
Settling De Minimis Parties' liability for both past and future 
response costs at the Omega Site and provides the Settling De Minimis 
Parties with a site-wide covenant not to sue pursuant to Section 
122(g)(2) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9622(g)(2). Groundwater contamination 
extends approximately four-and-one-half miles south, southwest from the 
former Omega Chemical Corporation facility, where the Settling De 
Minimis Parties sent hazardous waste. Much of the plume of groundwater 
contamination at the Omega Site lies beneath a large commercial/
industrial area where chemicals released at other facilities have 
commingled with the contamination originating at the former Omega 
Chemical facility. Pursuant to a Consent Decree entered on March 31, 
2017, Docket No. 2:16-cv-02696 (Central District, California), between 
the United States and other potentially responsible parties (``PRPs'') 
at the Omega Site, EPA is obligated to share seventy percent of the 
money collected from certain Settling De Minimis Parties under this 
Settlement Agreement with certain PRPs that have incurred significant 
costs cleaning up contamination at the Omega Site and will continue to 
incur cleanup costs in the future. As of January 1, 2021, EPA had 
incurred more than $45 million in costs related to the Omega Site and 
EPA had recovered more than $35 million of its costs.
    EPA will consider all comments received on the Settlement Agreement 
in accordance with the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of this Notice and 
may modify or withdraw its consent to the Settlement Agreement if 
comments received disclose facts or considerations that indicate that 
the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.

Parties to the Proposed Settlement

    Aaron Spelling Productions, Inc.; Air Distribution Technologies, 
Inc.; City of Montclair; Denso Products and Services Americas, Inc.; 
Eco-Air Products, Inc.; FAA Stevens Creek, Inc.; Fairway Chevrolet Co.; 
Grove Auto Body; Haddick's Towing, Inc.; Hawthorne Machinery Co.; Lacey 
Collision Center; Materion Precision Optics and Thin Film Coatings, 
Inc.; Meggitt Defense Systems, Inc., as successor to Southwest 
Aerospace Corp.; Metal Surfaces International, LLC; Microsemi Corp.; 
National Oilwell Varco, as successor to Varco International, Inc.; New 
Bedford Panoramex Corp.; Ontario Nissan; Orion TV Productions, Inc.; 
Pierce Pacific Manufacturing, Inc.; Puregro Company, successor to Brea 
Agricultural Service, Inc.; Roberts Consolidated Industries, Inc.; 
Rocliff Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a United Truck Dismantlers; Shoreham 
Towers Homeowners' Association; Tom Holmes, Inc.; Wells Fargo Bank, 
National Association; Western Allied Corporation.

    Dated: May 7, 2021.
Enrique Manzanilla,
Director, Superfund Division, EPA Region 9.
[FR Doc. 2021-10141 Filed 5-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P