Notice of Potential Liability at Solvents Recovery Sep^Ice of New England in Southington, Connecticut (The "Sitep
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
/^A \ UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY V ^ J.F. KENNEDY FEDERAL BUILDING, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02203-2211 URGENT LEGAL MATTER — PROMPT REPLY NECESSARY CERTIFIED MAIL; RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED "'.•*• Alcort Sailboats, Inc. , —tLx..^ c/o Mary Flowers, Reg. Agent Coordinator H'^.^ JJ.^ Corporation Service Company ' 1013 Centre Road Wilmington, DE 19805 i;i|^: ; ihgo Re: Notice of Potential Liability at Solvents Recovery Sep^ice of New England in Southington, Connecticut (the "Sitep Dear Ms. Flowers: This letter serves to notify you of the potential liability which your company has or may have incurred under Section 107(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) with respect to the above-referenced site. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), by this letter, requests your voluntary participation in undertaking cleanup activities at the Site, and requests that you make restitution by payment of the costs incurred by the United States in its investigation and response activities at the Site. The Solvents Recovery Service of New England Superfund site is located on Lazy Lane in Southington, Connecticut approximately ten miles southwest of Hartford. Solvents Recovery Service of New England, Inc. (SRSNE) operated a treatment, reclamation, disposal, and storage facility for Hazardous Waste Management at the Site from 1955 to 1991. When the Site was placed on the National Priorities List in 1983, it became eligible for cleanup under the CERCLA program (also known as Superfund). To prepare for the overall remediation of the Site, EPA is conducting a Remedial Investigation to identify the nature and extent of the contamination at the Site and a Feasibility Study to analyze alternative cleanup strategies for the Site. NOTICE OF POTENTIAL LIABILITY AND REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION IN CLEANUP ACTIVITIES The United States Environmental Protection Agency has documented the release and threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants at the above-referenced site. EPA has spent and is considering spending additional public funds on actions to investigate and control such releases or threatened releases at the Site. t'H n^i ;•) tjtj Rt'",vc^EL' f'APFt' Under Sections 106(a) and 107(a) of CERCLA; Section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6973 (RCRA); and other laws, responsible parties may be obligated to implement the relief actions deemed necessary by EPA to protect the public health and welfare or the environment and they may be liable for all costs incurred by the government in responding to any release or threatened release at the Site. Such costs may include, but are not limited to, expenditures for investigation, planning, cleanup and enforcement activities. Responsible parties under Section 107(a) in CERCLA include current and former owners and operators of a site, persons who arranged for disposal or treatment of hazardous substances at a site or for transport of hazardous substances to a site, and persons who accepted any hazardous substances for transport to a site selected by such persons. During its investigation of the Site, EPA evaluated transactional documentation acquired from the owner/operator of the SRSNE facility, Mr. Carleton Boll, and hazardous waste manifests acquired from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP). Based on this documentation, EPA believes that you, as a party who has arranged for disposal or treatment of hazardous substances at the Site or for transport of hazardous substances to the Site, are a Potentially Responsible Party (PRP) with respect to this Site. By this letter, EPA notifies you of your potential liability as a Potentially Responsible Party and encourages you to reimburse EPA for response costs that have been incurred to date and will be incurred at the Site during performance of the Remedial Design, the Remedial Action, and the Operation and Maintenance of the selected remedy. DEMAND FOR PAYMENT OF COSTS INCURRED TO DATE In accordance with CERCLA and other authorities, EPA has undertaken response actions at the Site and incurred costs amounting to approximately 3.35 million dollars. These actions, among others, include performance of a Remedial Investigation, the taking of enforcement actions against the owner/operator of the Site, and the identification of other PRPs for this Site. The Agency anticipates expending additional funds for response actions at the Site under the authority of CERCLA and other laws, including those response activities described below. In accordance with Section 107(a)(4)(D) of CERCLA, demand is hereby made for payment of all past response costs and all interest authorized to be recovered under that Section or under any other provisions of law. Demand is also hereby made under these authorities for payment of all future costs and interest that EPA may accrue in regard to the Site. FORTHCOMING RESPONSE ACTIVITIES AT THE SITE EPA has determined the following studies and activities to be necessary at the Site: 1. continuation of a Remedial Investigation to define the nature and extent of soil, air, surface water and ground water contamination at the Site and to evaluate the risks they pose to human health and the environment; 2. initiation of a Feasibility Study to evaluate the feasibility of possible remedial actions to remove, treat or contain the hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants at the Site that pose risks to human health and the environment; 3. the design and implementation of the remedial action selected by EPA for the Site; and 4. operation, maintenance and monitoring as necessary at the Site. In addition to those activities enumerated above, EPA may, pursuant to its authorities under CERCLA and other laws, decide that other cleanup activities are necessary to protect public health, welfare or the environment. INFORMATION TO ASSIST RESPONSIBLE PARTIES PRP STEERING COMMITTEE EPA recommends that all PRPs join to form a PRP steering committee which will function as a group representing and pursuing the interests of all the PRPs in negotiations with EPA. The Agency would like to encourage negotiations between you and the Agency and among you and the other PRPs for the Site. Establishing a manageable group is a critical component of the negotiation process. EPA/PRP INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS To facilitate the formation of a steering committee and the negotiation process, EPA will conduct an informational meeting with the potentially responsible parties. This meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, 1992 in the Hynes Convention Center on 900 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts (Please see Enclosure E for Meeting Announcement Response Form and Area Map). Registration for the meeting will be from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. At this meeting, EPA will detail the existing knowledge about conditions at the Site, describe the response activities that have been taken at the Site to date, and discuss PRP participation in future Site cleanup activities. EPA will not negotiate with individual persons or companies, but will ask the potentially responsible parties to appoint a committee to represent them in future negotiations with the Agency. PRP-SPECIFIC INFORMATION In order to assist potentially responsible parties in their preparation and planning for the upcoming informational meeting and to facilitate the formation of a steering committee, EPA is providing you with the following information: 1. a list of the names and addresses of the potentially responsible parties to whom this notification is being provided. This list represents EPA's preliminary findings on the identities of potentially responsible parties. Inclusion on or exclusion from the list does not constitute a final determination by the Agency concerning the liability of any party for the hazard or contamination at the Site. (Enclosure A); 2. an alphabetical listing of the potentially responsible parties identified at the Site and the volumes of the substances associated with each party. Under the terms of Section 122(e)(3)(C) of CERCLA, this list shall not constitute an apportionment or other statement by EPA on the divisibility of harm or causation in connection with the Site; nor shall the list be admissible as evidence in any proceeding. (Enclosure B); 3. a ranking of the PRPs by volumes of the substances sent to the Site. (Enclosure C); and 4. an example of the transactional documentation provided by Solvents Recovery Service of New England, Inc. and/or the CT DEP showing your company's involvement at the Site (Enclosure D). ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD In accordance with Section 113(k) of CERCLA, EPA has established an Administrative Record containing the documents to be used by EPA in selecting the appropriate response action for the Site. This Administrative Record is open to the public for inspection and comment at the EPA Records Center on 90 Canal Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The Records Center is open to the public, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to noon and 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. For further information, you may call the Records Center at (617) 573-5729. Another copy of the Administrative Record is available near the Site in the Southington Public Library on 255 Main Street in Southington, Connecticut. Please call the Library at 203-628-0947 for viewing hours. Also accessible to you at the EPA Records Center, is a collection of other documents related to the Site which are not subject to exemption under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552. TRANSACTIONAL DOCUMENTATION A complete record, on microfiche, of all SRSNE and CT DEP documents used to compile the above mentioned PRP lists will be available at the EPA Records Center, the Southington Library, and with the prospective Steering Committee. Also prepared for you at the EPA records Center, in hard copy, will be a packet containing all the documents used by EPA to establish the waste volume attributed to you.