EPA reaches settlement to clean dump site

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached a $1.2 million settlement with 49 small parties, called de minimis parties, for the Casmalia Resources Superfund Site (CRSS) – a former California hazardous waste disposal facility that accepted approximately 5.6 billion pounds of waste from nearly 10,000 generators between 1973 and 1989.

This is the fifth in a series of de minimis settlements at the site. To date more than $110 million has been collected toward cleanup from generators of hazardous waste disposed of at the site and from the site’s former owner-operators.

The agreement requires the 49 parties to pay a proportionate share of the estimated $284 million total cost of cleaning up the site and resolves their liability for the more than 13 million pounds of waste they collectively sent to CRSS. The settlement includes cleanup costs and potential natural resource damage claims by various government agencies including threats to endangered species and other habitats. As part of the agreement, EPA will collect a total of over $1.2 million, equal to approximately $0.09 per pound of waste that the parties sent to the site.

EPA assumed the role of the lead regulatory agency in 1992 after the facility’s owners and operators abandoned efforts to clean up the site. EPA undertook emergency response action activities, while concurrently seeking participation in site work by former customers of the facility. The site was placed on the National Priorities List in September 2001.