EPA v. CAM-OR (ALCOA, ET AL) CONSENT DECREE (CERCLA)

Case summary

On March 28, 2011, Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana signed the U.S. v. Alcoa Aluminum, et al CERCLA consent decree(Civil Action no. 3:10-CV-00532). The Decree embodies a settlement with 13 Work Settling Defendants to perform the RD/RA clean-up, consisting of pump and treat to remove 1,4-dioxane and other hazardous substances from groundwater, removal and disposal of LNAPL, and on-site remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil. The estimated cost of the clean-up is $12 million. In addition, thirty days post-entry, these 13 Work Settling Defendants will provide financial assurance for the full cost of the remedy, and will pay into a Superfund special account a lump sum of $2.2 million for U.S. EPA’s future oversight costs. Once U.S. EPA spends that $2.2 million in oversight, the 13 Settling Defendants will pay 50% of any future costs exceeding $2.2 million. They also will pay $200 thousand in settlement of U.S. EPA’s other costs. These 13 Work Settling Defendants are performing work and paying costs representing over 90% of total Site response costs of more than $31 million. This consent decree, the fourth enforcement action for Cam-Or, is the culmination of 23 years of enforcement work at the Site, including a PRP-performed removal under a 1989 UAO, cost recovery litigation and a 1993 settlement recovering all of U.S. EPA’s $2.9 million Fund-lead removal costs performed in 1987, and an AOC for performance of the RI/FS and payment of U.S. EPA’s oversight costs. Cam-Or, purportedly the nation’s largest waste oil recovery and re-refinery, operated at the Site from 1937 until its closure and abandonment in 1987. The Settling Defendants are a group of CERCLA generators who sent waste oil to Cam-Or for treatment or disposal, and have been performing work and paying CERCLA response costs since 1989.

Defendants (13)

• Tennessee Gas Pipeline CompanyNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• United States Steel CorporationNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• ALCOA, INC.Named in settlement
• C. Stoddard & Sons, Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Rockwell AutomationNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Northern Indiana Public Service CompanyNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Ingersoll-Rand CompanyNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Imperial Oil Ltd.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Ford Motor CompanyNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• CSX Transportation, Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Consolidated Rail CorporationNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• ANR Pipeline CompanyNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• CAM-OR INC.

  SR 2 & US 421, WESTVILLE, IN, 46391

  Registry ID: 110071102249

Statutes cited

• CERCLA 107A — Cost Recovery
• CERCLA 106A — Imminent & Substantial Endangerment Order

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• CAM-OR (ALCOA, ET AL) CONSENT DECREE (CERCLA)entered 2011-03-28

  Primary law: CERCLA

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2010-12-13Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2010-12-22Complaint Filed With Court
• 2010-12-22Final Order Lodged
• 2011-01-06Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2011-03-28Final Order Entered