The Department of Environmental Protection has named a third
responsible party in the contamination of the ground near drinking
water sources in Lewis Run.
The Control Chief Corp. signed the agreement that it will pay a
total of $110,000 to the state’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act Fund
that settles their liability in the contamination.
Freda Tarbell, Northwest Regional Office community relations
coordinator, said Thursday the company will pay $22,000 each
January beginning in 2008 to the cleanup fund.
According to a DEP press release, Control Chief maintains that
its activities were not a source of the hazardous substances
released to the soil and groundwater.
This is the third company the DEP has reached settlements with –
the others are McCourt Label and Tronox, formerly known as
Kerr-McGee.
McCourt Label was ordered to pay more then $100,000 over a
20-year period, plus 2 percent of the company’s net profit between
the years 2014 and 2033 to resolve its liability for the site.
The company was also told to implement an environmental
management plan at the Lewis Run facility.
Tronox was ordered to pay $18,150 to the Hazardous Sites Cleanup
Fund. Tronox was found to be a “de minimis” responsible party, or
minimally responsible. At this time, a public comment period is
available and the DEP is waiting to hear if there are additional
comments indicating that Tronox has more responsibility to the
contamination.
The agreement for Control Chief will also have a 60-day public
comment period.
“After several years, we now have an agreement that addresses
Control Chief’s legal responsibilities for contamination on
property in Lewis Run that the company previously owned,” DEP
Regional Director Kelly Burch said. “The department, through the
Hazardous Sites Cleanup program, has spent more than $1.2 million
investigating and addressing the contamination at one of the wells
in Lewis Run’s water supply system. Control Chief’s contribution
will help offset some of these costs.”
From 1978 to 1998, Control Chief, which has its headquarters in
Bradford, owned property in Lewis Run and operated an electronic
equipment manufacturing facility.
When another company bought the property and an environmental
assessment was conducted, chlorinated solvents typically used as
degreasing agents were found in the soil and groundwater. The
chemicals included tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene
(TCE) and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene.
The situation has resulted in the borough having to hook up to
Bradford City water to supply its residents with safe drinking
water.
Tarbell said the DEP is not actively pursuing additional
responsible parties at this time.
The DEP release also states the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund is
one of the commonwealth’s most important tools when responding to
environmental threats, protecting the public’s safety and
revitalizing Pennsylvania’s communities. The program faces an
uncertain future, however, because it lacks a dedicated funding
source. A one-time allocation of $50 million from the Environmental
Stewardship Fund under Growing Greener II will soon be
depleted.
Gov. Edward G. Rendell proposed a $2.25-per-ton increase in
municipal waste disposal fees in his fiscal year 2007-08 that would
be dedicated to the cleanup fund. Rendell’s proposal will generate
$50.2 million each year to continue the critical cleanup and
emergency response activities supported by the cleanup act.
If a new funding source is not in place by June 30, the state
must cease current or planned operations at approximately 150
sites. It also means that nearly 230 hazardous waste site
investigations would no longer be initiated each year, and that DEP
would be without a valuable resource that allows it to respond to
immediate hazardous waste emergencies.
Tarbell said, “After June 30, the DEP will continue operations
on projects of imminent public health threats – those that pose a
real health threat.”
She added that the DEP would scale back on everything else and
prioritize projects until the monetary problems area resolved.
