Saturday, March 06, 1999
Polluters, communities dispute cleanup costs
Federal judge orders talks to continue
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Years after one of the Tristate's biggest environmental messes was cleaned up, local governments and the site's biggest polluters are still battling over who should pay for the work.
Millions of dollars are at stake — the cost of cleaning up the Skinner Landfill in Union Township, Butler County — used for decades as a dumping ground for everything from yard waste and construction debris to creosote and other toxic substances.
Six companies — identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as Skinner's worst polluters — filed suit in federal court in 1997 to force 85 smaller users, including 13 Tristate cities and villages, to share the $9.1 million cost of the cleanup, finished in June 1996.
Since the suit was filed, the parties involved have been negotiating through what is called alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The talks have led to agreements with half of the defendants, and on Friday, the six plaintiffs — Dow Chemical Co., Ford Motor Co., General Electric Aircraft Engines, Morton International Inc., PPG Industrial Inc. and Velsicol Chemical Corp. — ar gued in federal court that it's time to end the process. But U.S. District Court Judge Herman J. Weber denied the motion, and the talks will continue.
This is the first time the ADR process has been used in Cincinnati to reach agreements before a trial. The outcome could help set a nationwide policy for dealing with landfill disputes, said Sherry L. Estes, an EPA assistant counsel in Chicago.
Two years ago, Ms. Estes invited the former Skinner Landfill customers to help decide how to split the cost through the process. It had been successful in Chicago a dozen times, she said.
The process involves an “allocator” who gathers information on who dumped at the site, how much and what was dumped. The allocator, John M. Barkett, a Florida lawyer, recommends how much each firm should pay. His recom mendations are not binding, however.
Only five small villages and cities out of 13 on the list have accepted settlements. Most are opting for another process EPA created last year for municipalities, known as the municipal settlement policy.
Ms. Estes said this process treats the non-toxic yard trimmings, mostly dumped by small municipalities, different ly from the hazardous toxic chemicals dumped by major polluters. Companies that dumped small amounts may negotiate privately under ADR. Both processes may allow defendants to get out of the court case if settlements are reached and EPA enters into a consent decree approved by the court.
“EPA has determined that in most cases, the small villages and municipalities are not dumping toxic waste, ...” she said.
According to court documents, Fairfield, Montgomery, Reading and Silverton and the village of Glendale were among 43 Skinner Landfill participants that have accepted settlement offers through the ADR process. No settlement amount was released.
Deer Park, Blue Ash, Mason, Hamil ton, Madeira, Sharonville, Lincoln Heights and Monroe have not settled.
The closed landfill is on 78 acres in an unincorporated area in Union Town ship off Cincinnati-Dayton Road. The landfill itself occupies only 12 acres. It operated from 1934 to 1990.
Complaints about what appeared to be contaminated water near the site led to an investigation by EPA, which determined that the site contained hazardous waste. It was placed on the national priorities list in 1983, which qualified it for EPA's Superfund cleanup program.
Dumping was halted there in 1986. The site was fenced, covered with a waterproof plastic and topped by soil and grass. No long-term environmental damage was reported by EPA.
A system to pump contaminated water from under the landfill into a sewer leading to the Upper Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment plant was installed.
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