EPA v. BROWN ST FURNITURE SITE

Case summary

EPA signed a Settlement Agreement under which Respondent Reginald C. Abbott, current owner of the property in Whitefield, New Hampshire, will perform Superfund cleanup work. The Settlement Agreement, entered into under Sections 104, 106(a), 107 and 122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (?CERCLA?) provides for the performance of a removal action by Respondent at 87 Brown Street, Whitefield, New Hampshire, with EPA oversight. The response work will include characterization and disposal of hazardous substances stored in drums and containers left in and around a commercial building on-site. The property was formerly used to operate a sawmill in the early 1900s, and more recently, to manufacture furniture. The former Nuroco Woodworking, Inc., also known as Brown Street Furniture, Inc., owned and operated at the property until about 2012, when the Town of Whitefield foreclosed for non-payment of property taxes, after which Respondent purchased the property at a liquidation auction ?as is,? in July 2013. NHDES has a long history of enforcement activity at the property, and requested EPA Region 1 CERCLA Emergency Response (Removal) Program assistance in September 2015. In early 2016, EPA conducted an investigation at the property and determined that a removal action is warranted due to the risk of fire or explosion as well as the threat of release due to the Volatile Organic Contaminants (Acetone, Toluene, and Benzene) and ignitable, reactive and corrosive chemicals (paints and stains) abandoned on-site in the unmaintained and unsecured buildings, which is documented in a September 2016 Action Memorandum for the Site. The EPA Removal Program thereafter issued a CERCLA Notice letter to Respondent in October 2016, and the case team negotiated the above-referenced Settlement Agreement for performance of the cleanup work. After Respondent completes performance of the removal action, the Site will be turned back to oversight by NHDES. EPA will recover oversight costs under the AOC, too.

Defendants (1)

• Reginald C AbbottNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• BROWN STREET FURNITURE INC.

  87 BROWN ST., WHITEFIELD, NH, 03598

  Registry ID: 110057582931

Statutes cited

• CERCLA 106A — Imminent & Substantial Endangerment Order

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• BROWN ST FURNITURE SITEentered 2017-07-20

  Primary law: CERCLA

Timeline (2 milestones)

• 2017-07-20Final Order Issued
• 2017-10-03Enforcement Action Data Entered