Opinion ID: 201206
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Groundwater cleanup

Text: 12 In 1987, the United States began developing a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) with respect to the groundwater at the Picillo site. By September 1993, the United States called for a groundwater cleanup. On March 30, 1994, the United States issued a special notice letter to twenty PRPs, including the Capuanos and R & H, demanding they implement a groundwater remedy and reimburse the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the costs related to the RI/FS and enforcement costs. In response to the United States's letter, two groups of PRPs made settlement offers. The Capuanos joined neither group. R & H joined one of the groups making a settlement offer. As a result, R & H began incurring cleanup costs in late 1994. R & H was expelled from the settlement group, however, in March 1995 because it could not agree with the group regarding R & H's contribution. Without R & H, a group of PRPs settled with the United States and agreed to implement a groundwater remedy. 13 In 1998, R & H entered a consent decree with the United States to pay $4,350,000 to compensate the United States for direct response costs related to groundwater cleanup, plus $110,000 towards oversight costs, and $69,000 towards natural resource damage. The consent decree was approved in October 1998.