From: Nigel.Allen@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Michigan: G&H Industrial waste landfill site settlement
Organization: Echo Beach
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 22:22:37 GMT

Here is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
 
 United States Reaches Environmental Cleanup Settlement for G&H
Industrial Landfill Site
 To: National Desk, Environment Writer
 Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, 202-514-2007

   WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 -- The Department of Justice said today 
that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached
settlements with 16 companies -- including Ford Motor Co.; Chrysler
Corp.; General Motors Corp.; TRW Inc; and Reichhold Chemicals Inc.
-- to clean up the heavily contaminated G & H Industrial Landfill
Site in Shelby Township, Macomb County, Michigan.
   Two separate consent decrees describing the terms of the
settlement were filed last Thursday in the U.S. District Court in
Detroit under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA).
   The decrees stipulate completion of a major environmental cleanup
of the site at an estimated cost of over $40 million, reimbursement
of the more than $5.5 million in past costs and interest incurred by
the federal government in responding to contamination at the site,
and a commitment for reimbursement of the federal government's future
costs concerning the site.
   A third settlement with the Estate of Leonard Forster, the owner
of the site, was also filed Thursday.  That agreement provides full
access to the site for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the companies performing the cleanup, and requires payment by the
Estate of over $200,000 for past costs incurred by the federal
government.
   Altogether, the three settlements provide for the performance of
all remedial action currently contemplated at the site and payment of
all EPA's past and future costs associated with the site.
   The G & H site contains approximately 100 acres near the Clinton
River, which provides a habitat for several important fish species
and other aquatic life.  Michigan's Rochester-Utica Recreation Area,
used for hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities, borders the
G & H Site on the south.  The recreation area includes wetlands and
woodland areas which support numerous species of migrating birds and
other wildlife.
   From about 1955 to 1973, a landfill operated at the G & H site,
which received both residential and industrial wastes over the
course of its operation, millions of gallons of hazardous wastes were
dumped at the landfill, including solvents, paint wastes, and waste
oils.  As a result, the soil and groundwater at the G & H site are
contaminated with numerous pollutants, including polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals such as barium, nickel, chromium,
arsenic and mercury, and volatile organic compounds such as benzene,
toluene and xylene.  Several of these pollutants are known or
suspected human carcinogens.
   EPA and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources consider the
G & H Site to be one of the most heavily contaminated areas in the
state.
   Under the first of the two settlements, 14 companies including
Ford, Chrysler, TRW, and General Motors -- will perform the remedy
selected by EPA for the G & H site at an estimated cost of over $40
million.  These companies also have agreed to pay the United States
$2.6 million in reimbursement of past costs incurred by the United
States for enforcement, technical studies, and risk abatement actions
at the site.
   They have also agreed to reimburse the United States for future
costs it incurs at the site.  The remedy to be performed at the G & H
site includes capping the areas of the site where the landfill was
located, installing a system of groundwater extraction wells and
trenches, adding subsurface barriers to prevent migration of
contaminants away from the site, excavating and disposing of
PCB-contaminated soils and sediments, connecting local residences and
businesses to the municipal drinking water supply, and ongoing
monitoring, reporting, and site maintenance.
   Under the second settlement, Reichhold Chemicals Inc., and PPG
Industries Inc.; will pay the United States more than $3 million,
which represents the balance of the federal government's past costs
incurred at the site plus interest.
   Other defendants include: Browning-Ferris Industries Inc.;
Browning-Ferris Industries of Michigan Inc.; BFI of North Metro Inc.;
Cadbury Beverages Inc.; General Oil Co. Inc.; Minnesota Mining and
Manufacturing Co.; The Sherwin-Williams Co.; The Uniroyal Goodrich
Tire Co.; Unisys Corp.; and the Warner-Lambert Co.
   The consent decrees are open for public review and comment for
30 days and must be approved by the court.
 -30-

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