Source: Dow Jones News Service, August 3, 2011
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
–Filed settlement might help to clean up century-old pollution
–Companies involved include W.R. Grace, which will pay when it exits Chapter 11
–Proposed settlement calls for $300,000 in groundwater projects and $575,000 in other fish and wildlife projects
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Massachusetts officials filed a $1 million settlement proposal to help clean up more than a century of pollution from companies including a predecessor of chemicals-maker W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA).
Factories around the 22 acres of land and water in the state’s Blackburn & Union Privileges Superfund Site contaminated the area with asbestos, arsenic, lead and other hazardous substances, state officials said.
The latest proposed settlement for restoration of the Walpole, Mass., site follows a roughly $13 million agreement last year with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It calls for $300,000 to help fund state-run groundwater- restoration projects and $575,000 for other projects with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A W.R. Grace spokesman said the company agreed to the proposed settlement and will contribute to the projects once it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
The decree is subject to a public comment period and court approval.
A predecessor firm of W.R. Grace manufactured asbestos brake linings and clutch linings at the property from 1915 to 1936, the state said. A predecessor of another party in the settlement, Tyco Healthcare Group LP, later ran a textile factory at the site from 1946 to about 1983 that used caustic solutions. The property’s current owners are also parties to the settlement.