U.S., Delaware settle with 21 parties on $41.6 million cleanup of Delaware Sand & Gravel Landfill Superfund Site

PHILADELPHIA (June 7, 2022) -- The United States and the State of Delaware have reached an agreement with 21 defendants on completing a $41.6 million cleanup plan for the 27-acre Delaware Sand & Gravel Landfill Superfund Site in New Castle County, Delaware, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

Between 1969 and 1976, approximately 550,000 cubic yards of industrial waste and construction debris, including at least 13,000 drums containing hazardous substances, were disposed of at the industrial waste landfill that was formerly a sand and gravel quarry.

EPA and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) confirmed the presence of several hazardous substances in the site’s soil and groundwater, and in 1981, EPA added the site to the “National Priorities List” of the most contaminated sites nationwide.   

“EPA’s Superfund program focuses on making a visible and lasting difference in communities by ensuring that public health and the environment are protected,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This settlement with the responsible parties ensures that ongoing work will continue at this Delaware site that was abused for years with the disposal of hazardous waste.”

EPA and DNREC have been working since 1983 with potentially responsible parties to clean up the site, located on Grantham Lane, about two miles southwest of the City of New Castle.  

The agreement -- a consent decree subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval -- was reached under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) – also known as the “Superfund” law – which requires landowners, waste generators and waste transporters responsible for contaminating a Superfund site to clean up the site, or reimburse the government or other parties for cleanup activities.

See https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/us-et-al-v-hercules-inc-et-al for link to consent decree and public comment information.

More information about the DS&G Site and its cleanup is available at:  https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.Cleanup&id=0300034#bkground  

For more information on EPA’s Superfund program, visit https://www.epa.gov/superfund  

The 21 settling defendants are:

  • The Chemours Company FC, LLC;
  • Hercules LLC (individually and on behalf of its former subsidiary, Champlain Cable Corporation)
  • Waste Management of Delaware, Inc.
  • SC Holdings, Inc.
  • Cytec Industries, Inc.
  • Zeneca Inc.
  • Bayer CropScience Inc.
  • BP Amoco Chemical Company (now known as INEOS US Chemicals Company)
  • Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
  • CNA Holdings LLC (as successor-in-interest to Hoechst-Celanese Corporation)
  • E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
  • Esschem, Inc.
  • FMC Corporation
  • The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
  • Honeywell International Inc. (as successor to AlliedSignal, Inc.)
  • Clarios LLC, successor to the former Johnson Controls, Inc. automotive battery business Johnson Controls Battery Group, Inc. (f/k/a Globe Union, Inc.)
  • KLHC, Inc. (as successor-in-interest to Ludlow Corporation)
  • M.A. Hanna Plastic Group, Inc. (as successor-in-interest to Cadillac Plastic Group, Inc.)
  • New Castle County
  • Occidental Chemical Corporation
  • Verizon Delaware LLC (as successor-in-interest to The Diamond State Telephone Company).