EPA v. Arkema Inc. et al.

Case summary

On September 30, 2022, Region 2 signed an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (Settlement Agreement) directing eight Respondents to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for the Helen Kramer Landfill Superfund Site , located in Mantua Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. In 1993, EPA completed construction of the remedy selected in EPA?s 1985 Record of Decision and then turned over responsibility for operation and maintenance of the remedy to the State of New Jersey. In 1998, the Respondents (or their predecessors), among other defendants, entered into a consent decree with the United States (Federal Consent Decree) in which they agreed to make a payment of $95 million to EPA/Department of Justice for past and future response costs, and to conduct studies and investigations requested by EPA in support of EPA?s five-year reviews. On January 19, 2022, EPA notified the Respondents that sampling data collected during operation and maintenance of the remedy, performed by the Respondents under a separate settlement with New Jersey, showed that hazardous substances in groundwater and leachate were escaping the slurry wall constructed for the remedy and that such conditions and data constitute conditions at the Site, previously unknown to EPA and information, previously unknown to EPA for purposes of the Federal Consent Decree?s reopener provision, and that based on such conditions and/or information EPA determined that the Remedial Action as defined in the Federal Consent Decree was not protective. EPA notified the Respondents that it would therefore designate the groundwater, surface water and sediment as a new Operable Unit 2 (OU2) for the Site, and that an RI/FS must be undertaken to evaluate the nature and extent of the Site-related contamination in those media and the associated risks, and to evaluate remedial alternatives. Under the Settlement Agreement, the Respondents will perform the OU2 RI/FS and pay EPA?s oversight costs.

Defendants (8)

• Corteva Agriscience LLCNamed in settlement
• Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.Named in settlement
• Carpenter Technology Corp.Named in settlement
• Arkema Inc.Named in settlement
• Cytec Industries, Inc.Named in settlement
• ExxonMobil Oil CorporationNamed in settlement
• Quality Carriers, Inc.Named in settlement
• Rohm and Haas CompanyNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• HELEN KRAMER LANDFILL

  JESSUP MILL ROAD, MANTUA TOWNSHIP, NJ, 08051

  Registry ID: 110064314344

Statutes cited

• CERCLA 122A — Agreement to Perform Work Under 104B

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Arkema Inc. et al.entered 2022-09-30

  Primary law: CERCLA

Timeline (3 milestones)

• 2022-09-30Final Order Issued
• 2022-09-30Enforcement Action Closed
• 2022-10-03Enforcement Action Data Entered