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TRENTON
-- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Department
of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Lisa P. Jackson announced today that the
state has entered into a settlement agreement
through which it will be paid $4 million
to settle cost recovery and natural resource
damage (NRD) claims associated with the
Florence Land Recontouring Landfill, a former
Superfund site in Burlington County.
Under terms of the settlement agreement,
more than 50 defendants will pay the state
a total of about $3.7 million to cover not
only past clean-up and removal costs at
Florence Landfill, but future site remediation
activity there as well. The payout ensures
funding that will enable the continued removal
and disposal of leachate generated by the
former landfill. In addition, the defendants
will pay DEP approximately $337,000 in natural
resource damages related to groundwater
and soil contamination at Florence, which
has included such volatile organic compounds
as methylene chloride and vinyl chloride,
and such heavy metals as arsenic, chromium
and lead.
Spanning 86 acres in Florence, Mansfield
and Springfield Townships, the Florence
landfill operated from approximately 1973
through 1981. It was once ranked among the
United States’ most contaminated and
dangerous hazardous waste sites. As a result
of DEP-led remediation efforts, the landfill
was removed from the federal government’s
national “priority” list in
2004, although future clean-up and removal
work will be required.
“This
settlement represents an important outcome
for the residents of New Jersey and for
our environment,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “Through this agreement,
we are recovering costs incurred by DEP
to clean up this toxic dump – one
of the nation’s worst -- and we are
obtaining compensation for damage to our
state’s precious natural resources.
Working with DEP, we remain committed to
using litigation to protect our environment.”
The
settlement announced today resolves litigation
filed by the Division of Law in December
2004 against parties suspected of contaminating
the Florence Landfill site. Filing of the
lawsuit on behalf of DEP followed years
of remediation work by state and federal
environmental agencies to address extensive
soil and groundwater contamination at the
site. DEP was, and remains, lead agency
for the clean-up project at Florence Landfill,
which is currently in its Operation and
Maintenance Phase.
A formal Consent Decree memorializing terms
of the settlement agreement was entered
by Superior Court Judge Michael J. Hogan
in Burlington County on October 30, 2008.
Under the Consent Decree, defendants in
the case are categorized in several different
groups including a commercial generator
group, a transporter group, an owner-operator
group and two governmental generator groups.
According to the Consent Decree, defendants
in the owner-operator group must pay the
DEP and the New Jersey Spill Fund a total
of $2.08 million. Defendants in the transporter
group are to pay a total of $720,000. Defendants
in the commercial generator group must pay
$600,000. Defendants in governmental generator
group one must pay a total of $150,000,
while governmental generator group two must
pay a total of $450,000.
By grouping, the settling defendants are
as follows:
Owner-Operator
Group: A&S Transportation
Co., Anthony Amadei (Estate of), John
K. Atkin, Alton W. Cross, Jr. (Estate
of), David Ehrlich, Florence Land Development
Co., Florence Land Development, Inc.,
Florence Land Recontouring, Inc., Jersey
Environmental Management Services, Inc.,
Jerome Kotzen, George Kudra (Estate of),
Ernest N. Sever (Estate of), Spectraserv,
Inc. and Richard Winn.
Transporter
Group: ACR, Inc., Almo
Anti-Pollution Services, BFI Waste Systems
of New Jersey, Inc., Delaware Valley Scrap
Co., Inc., Delorenzo Twin County Disposal,
Inc., Environmental Waste Control, Gorski
Trash Removal, Inc., Hems Brothers, Inc.,
J. Vinch and Sons, Inc., J.P. Mascaro
& Sons, Inc., J.R. Clark Disposal,
Joseph R. Clark, Mannor Care, inc., Northeast
Disposal, inc., Portfolio One, Inc., Mike
Spano and Sons, Inc., Roland Hems, T&L
Container Service, Inc., TDS Inc., The
O’Connor Corporation, Tinari Contractors,
Inc., Waste Automation and Waste Management
of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Commercial
Generator Group: EPEC
Polymers, Inc., Hercules Incorporated,
Occidental Chemical Corp and Public Service
Electric and Gas Co.
Governmental
Generator Group One: New
Jersey Department of Corrections, New
Jersey Department of Treasury and the
Borough of Palmyra.
Governmental
Generator Group Two: Beverly
Sewerage Authority, City of Bordentown,
Delanco Township, Delran Sewerage Authority,
Florence Township, Hamilton Township,
Maple Shade Township, North Hudson Sewerage
Authority and the Willingboro Municipal
Utilities Authority.
Deputy Attorneys General Carol Lynn DeMarco
and Brendan Ruane, assigned to the Division
of Law, handled the Florence Landfill matter
on behalf of the state. Former State Investigator
Hugh West and paraprofessional Bhavani Surendran
assisted with the case.
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