Settlement reached for N.J. Superfund site

NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A multiparty settlement has been reached to ensure a highly polluted landfill site in New Jersey is cleaned up, federal officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that the agreement involving the federal government, the state of New Jersey and about 300 other parties will mean continued funding of cleanup efforts at the Combe Fill South Superfund site in Morris County.

Honeywell International Inc., Warner-Lambert Co. (doing business as Pfizer), the Colgate-Palmolive Co. (as a successor to The Mennen Co.), Mars Inc., and Waste Management are among the corporate parties possibly responsible for contamination of the site, the federal authorities said.

Under the consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., the defendants will pay at least $61 million in past costs with interest running from Dec. 8, 2007. There will be up to an additional $8 million as other municipal defendants sign on.

In addition, the defendants will pay more than $3.2 million for natural resource damage claims to be used for restoration projects and finance a $27 million annuity paying $900,000 a year for 30 years for ongoing cleanup work, the department said.

The site is contaminated with chemical wastes and refuse from its use as a sanitary landfill from the early 1950s until it was closed in 1981. Contaminants found in the ground and surface waters include benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and chlorethane.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day federal comment period and a statutory state comment period, as well as final court approval.