Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia LLC, successors to Monsanto Company, will complete the cleanup of four former landfills and waste lagoons in Sauget, Illinois.
Contaminated groundwater from these areas have leached into the nearby Mississippi River.
The settlement will require the companies to reimburse U.S. EPA $700,000 in past costs spent at the sites and take responsibility for implementing EPA’s cleanup plan estimated to cost $17.9 million, reported the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
“This settlement is one in a series that requires the industry that polluted Sauget and Cahokia, Illinois, to clean up their mess,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce S. Gelber of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement demonstrates the Justice Department’s and EPA’s continuing efforts, together with our state partners, to ensure that polluters, not the American public, pay for the investigation and cleanup of Superfund sites.”
Under the settlement, Solutia and Pharmacia will be required to implement the remedy selected by EPA. This will encompass over 270 acres designated as Sauget Area 2 Sites O, Q, R and S, according to the DOJ.
The sites were used by area industries to dispose of hazardous and other wastes, including toxic substances and known carcinogens (PCBs, dioxin, lead, cadmium, benzene and chlorobenzene).
According to the DOJ, the industrial area is not readily accessible to the public, but the remedial actions required under this settlement will prevent exposure to these contaminants for workers, anglers or others who gain access to the sites.
The cleanup will entail placing engineered caps over waste areas, conducting vapor intrusion mitigation and controlling access to the sites. This is one of various lawsuits and settlements involving the cleanup of these former landfills, which date back 15 years.
