Source: http://www.santamariasun.com, June 29, 2016
By: David Minsky
On June 27, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it’s seeking public comment for a new installment in a settlement reached years ago between the agency and the companies that used a location in Northern Santa Barbara County formerly owned by Casmalia Resources as a site for hazardous waste disposal.
The new settlement calls for a payment of $1.7 million to be paid out to the EPA for cleanup of the site, which is ongoing. More than 10,000 companies across the United States—including Hershey Foods Corporation, IBM, FedEx, Target, McClatchy Newspapers, the Orcutt Unified School District, the city of Beverly Hills, and some pharmaceutical companies—sent more than 5.6 billion pounds of toxic waste to the site between the years of 1973 and 1989.
The last settlement reached was $1.4 million in April 2015. The latest settlement is intended to resolve the liabilities of 171 companies that formerly used the site for hazardous waste disposal, requiring them to collectively pay $1.7 million toward the estimated $284 million it will cost to clean up the site.
So far, the EPA has collected more than $116 million toward cleanup in nine other settlements, but details for the actual cleanup itself have yet to be worked out.
Nahal Mogharabi, an EPA press officer, previously told the Sun that the public will get an opportunity to comment on a proposed cleanup plan at a future date.
The public comment period for this proposed settlement ends on July 27. The deadline for requesting a public meeting on the settlement ends on July 11. To request a meeting, send an email to Russell Mechem at mechem.russell@epa.gov. For more information on submitting a public comment, go to www.federalregister.gov.