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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-12-07 City Council (10)TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL City of Palo Alto FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS DATE:DECEMBER 7, 1998 CMR:428:98 SUBJECT:NOTIFICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY FOR POTENTIAL LIABILITY FOR REMEDIATION OF CASMALIA RESOURCES HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY SUPERFUND SITE This is an informational report and no Council action is required. BACKGROUND On October 19, 1998, staff received a letter ~om the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) notifying the City of its potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as the Superfund law) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ~CRA) for a portion of the costs of remediating the Casmalia Resources Hazardous Waste Management Facility Superfund site in Santa Barbara County. Under CERCLA and RCRA, hazardous waste generators that contributed wastes to a Superfund site can be held liable for a portion of the costs for remediating the site. DISCUSSION After receipt of the notification from the USEPA, staff conducted a search of Citywide hazardous waste management records to ascertain whether the City had utilized the Casmalia Facility. During the period between 1987 and 1989, the City’s contract hauler for the Household Hazardous Waste program routinely transported waste to Casmalia for disposal. This contract hauler, however, is now no longer in business. Staff has found no other records indicating that any hazardous wastes generated by other City operations were sent to the Casmalia Facility. According to the USEPA notification, the City of Palo Alto has been classified as a "de minimis" generator, which means that the City contributed relatively small amounts of waste to the facility in comparison to the approximately 150 major waste generators. De minimis status allows the USEPA to offer special settlements that are not available to major generators. CMR:428:98 Page 1 of 2 The USEPA will be sending additional information in the coming months that will include a settlement offer to resolve the City’s potential liability associated with the Casmalia Facility. The USEPA estimates that de minimis generator iiabilities will range between $75,000 and $750,000. The actual amount ofPalo Alto’s liability will be dependent upon the amount of waste that the City shipped to Casmalia. The City’s records for the management of all hazardous waste are incomplete prior to 1990. The USEPA may have records of additional waste shipments from the City that cannot be verified through our own records. RESOURCE IMPACT The full extent of required resources is not known at this time. ATTACHMENTS Letter from the USEPA dated October 14, 1998 PREPARED BY: Chad Centola, Manager-Environmental Control Programs DEPARTMENT HEAD: /~~" ~ GLENN S. ROBERTS Director of Public Works CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: ,ON Assistant City Manager CMR:428:98 Page 2 of 2 0C?-22-~8 T~U 11:15 ~ Pal~ £1to City Attorney FAX ~0, 650 329 2646 P. 2 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL. PROTECTION AGENCY REGION IX 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, California 94’i0~.390’t October 14, 1998 Certified Mail No. Z245567?.33 ~’~~ RetLtrn Receipt Requested . o uFFIO~ Ariel Calonne, Esq. City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Pa[o Alto, CA 94301 Re:IMPORTANT LEGAL MATTER Prompt Attention Needed General Notice Letter to Potentially Responsible Parties Casmalia Disposal Site, Santa Barbara County~ CA Dear Sir or Madam: The United States Environmental Protection Agenry ("U.S. EPA" or "Agency") is remediating the Casmalia Disposal Site, formerly known as the Casmalia Resources Hazardous Waste Management Facility, in Santa Barbara County, California. The U.S. EPA is sanding this information to you because City of Palo Alto (hereinafter referred to as "your company or organization") was named as a waste g.snerator on one or more manifests for haz, a~dous wastes sent m the Casmalia Disposal Site. This letter is intended to rtotify your company or organization of its potential liability under Superfund and RCRA for the costs ofremediating the Casmalia Disposal Site. Superftmd is a ~e.deral program administered by the U.S. EPA. The Supeffund program is designed to clear up hazardous substances that may pose a threat to human health or the environment, The full name of the Superfund law is the Comprehensive Er~vi~onmsntal Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or "CERCLA." RCRA stands for the Resource Co~erv~ion and Recovery Act, which is the federal law that provides for the management of solid and hazardous wastes. Under CERCLA and RCRA, the U.S. ~..PA has the authority to take actions at the Casmalia Disposal Site to protect human health and the environment. The Agency also may ~equire potentially responsible parties or"PP,.Ps" that contributed waste to remediate the Site. In addition, the U.S. EPA has the authority to enter into settlements requiring parties to pay mmediation costs in lieu of performing the reme.diation work.themselves. City of Pain Alto October 14, 1998 Page 2 of 5 Designating a Brimarv contact to.recall0 future correspondence The U.& EPA is proparing a package of additionaI information to send to you or the primary contact whom you identify on the enclosed Primary Contact D~ignstion Fom~. Please u,e the enclosed form to designate the most appropriate individual to receive all further correspondence on this minter on b~half of your companyor orgaai2ation. Due to the large number ofpartiesinvolved in this matter, the U.S. EPA can only send correspondenc~ m~d materials to a single contact, designated on the form. Please mail us the completed form within ten (I0) days of your ~eeipt of~ lettor~ using ~e enclosed eavelop~ The U.S. EPA will ~ntinus to ~nd co~espondea~ to you until the form is rammed. ~o_tiee_ o.f,p 0,t ,ential iiabili~ Endties that may be responsible for the w~te at Superfund sites are often referred to as "pot~atia!ly r~sponsible parties" or "PRPs." Potentially r¢,pomible parties include individuals, businss~, goverrunental agenci~, and other types of organizatiom. The four oategories of pot~ttially rospoasible parties are the following: ¯The current owner(s) or operators(s) ofth~ site; . The former owner(s) or operator(s) of the site during the period that hazardous substances were dispos~ at the site; Partie~ that arranged for the treatment, dispo.~d, or transportation of hazardous substan~s to the sito (referred to as "generators"); and Parties *at seIectexi the site a~ s plae~ m disposo ofhazardous substaaces and transported these substances to the site (referred-to as "transporters"). The U.S. EPA has determined that your company or organimtioa is a potemially r~por~ible party at the Casmalda Disposal Site, This determination is ba~ed on facility records that indicate your company or organization is named as the generator on one or more manifests for hazardous waste disposed at the Site. 68/£’8" cl 68~_..6 E~£8 0G9 ¢~0 S>I SdO S>~IOFI 3 I-IflFId #’Z~ : ~’~ 866"I:-b’O-(’,,ON OCT-22-98THU II’16 ~ Pale Alto City Attorney FAX RO, 650 329 2346 P, 4 City of Pa[o Alto October 14, 1998 Page 3 o~" 5 D e m in’~mJs"" ~,,~t t[emen ts The U.S. EPA has designated potenfinily respo~ible parties who contributed less than 2,843,000 pounds of waste to the Casmalia Dispo~l Site as !’de .mi~imis" w~te generators. This designation applies ~ ~I of ~e r~ipien~ o~ later who m~t ~e 2,843 million ~und eligibility cut-off for ~ ~ ~te generarors, ~e Agency h~ designat~ c~~n p~ as de minimis w~ste generators became ~e. ~o~t of waste ~ch of~e parties con~i~ted to the Casmalia Disposal Site is sm~l ~mparcd to ~e ~oun~ orate ~ntribut~ in~viduMl~ by ~e approximately 150 "major" w~m generato~, Under the Superfund law, the U.S. EPA may offer special settlements to de ~ parties. These special settlements provide sigtajfieant benefits including benefits not generally available to major waste generators. The enclosed b~ochure entitled "Superfund and Sma|| Waste Contributors" describes many of these important benefits. A settlem.#nt offe;r.w.illbema_i!~ to you or your primary contact Within the next several months, the U.S. EPA will send the pa~kag~ ot’additlonal information to YOu or your designated primary contact. This package will include a setdement offer io resolve your company or organization’s liability under CI~RCLA and RCRA for disposing waste at the Casmalia Disposal Site, Ir will also include lhe U.S, EPA’s assessment of the-volume of waste attributable ~o your company or organization as well as yo~r company or organization’s cost to join the settlement The settlement will be in the form of an Administrative Order on Consent, pursuant to CI~RCLA Section 122(g)(4), 42 U,S.C. § 9622(g)(4). A copy oflhe proposed Administrative Order on Consent will be included in the package. Your company or organization will have sixty (60) days from receipt of the package to review the offer and return a signature page and payment demonstrating it’s willingness to settle its CERCLA and P,,CILA liabilities for the Casmalia Disposal Site, if your company or organi~tion agrees t~ join the settlement during the sixty (60) day period, the Administrative Order on Consent will become final after a public notice and comment period and approval by the Attorney General of the United States. The terms of the settlement ¯ m~d the steps in the settlement process will be more fully explained in the packag~ we will be’ settding to you or your desigrteted primary contact. We expect that the package will answer most, if not all, of your questions. In addition, if your company or organization agrees to join the settlement in principle, but believes that paying the total settlement amount would place it in severe financial jeopardy, you 0¢T-22-98 TKU [I:I?AM Pale Alto City Attorney FAX¾0. 650 329 2646 P. 5 City of Pa|o Alto October 14, 1998 Page 4 of 5 will have an opportunity to reques[ that the U,S. EPA evaluate your company or organization’s ability to pay the settlement amount. Finally, if your company or organizntion agrees to join the ~¢ttlem~nt in principle, but believe~ that the total volume of waste attributed to it is incorrect, you will have a limited oporta~ty ~o request that the U.S. EPA ~view your company or organization’s volume assessment. After the U.$. EPA completes thes~ determinations, your company or organization will be eligible to participate in the s¢ttlement at the initial or a revised payment amount. We estimate that l:~’ties re~iviag this letter will have to pay in the range of $75,000 to $750,000 to enter the settlement. We r~li~ ~at such s~s ofmo~y may not s~m "~ ~" to ma~y of you. ~ese ~o~ ~e relatively small, however, ~mpar~d to ~ted total cost ofremediafing the C~m~ia Disposal Site. As discussed above, the. U-S. I~PA can offer beneficial settlement t~rms to glg ~ parties who have contributed a small percentage of the total waste at a site. Thee settlement termsare considered beneficial, b~eaus~ the os~ to the settlir~g party is smal~ compared to the total cost of remediating the site ,’tad the s~ttling party is freed from future liability at the sit~, for an EPA informational meeti!~ "~he U.S. EPA will off~ dj ~ parties the opportunity to attend an informational m~ttng to learn more about the Casmalia Disposal Si~.e and the d~ ~ settlement offer. Representatives from the U.S. EPA and the U.& Department of Justice will b~ present to moot v4th you and to imzwer questions which you may have. Informalion about the meeting will be provided in the package, we wilt be sending to you or your designated primary contact. Further information_aho_ut t~he Casmalia Disl~osal Site and the de minimis settlement The U.S. EPA encourages you to learn more about the Casmalia Di@osal Site and the de roirfimis settlement process by reading the enclosed informatio~ If you have any questions about this letter, you may call the following tdephone.number: (800) 394-2670 Due to the l~ge number of parties receiving this letter, we may not b~ able to respond to your telephone inquiries immexliately, but we promise to m~ke every effort to zespond as quickly as possible. Your company or organ~zatiort may also wish to contac[ the Casmalia Resources Site Steering Committee (¢gS$C) for their views on tl~ Casmalia Disposal Site ~d its progress. The 60/S0"d 6,8~6 ~£8 0S9 dO S~ SdO S>l’dOM 3IqSFId £E:~ 866I-bO-AON City Attorney FAX NO, 650 929 2646 P, 6 City of Pa[o October.14, 1998 Page 5 of 5 CRS$C is a group of ntajor wasm generators which is currently performing site work under a consent decree entered in federal district court. Please direct any questions you may have for the CRSSC to Jim Dragna, Esquire, of McCutchen, Doyle, B#own & Enersen, LLP, at (213) 6400, or Dan Hcmker, or" Chevron rcmsearch & Technology Company, at (510) 242-2149. Participating in the upcoming settlentent opportunity for d~e ~ parties may well be in your company or organization’s best interest. We look forward to Zeceiving your Pdmary Cnntact Designation Form shortly, and to keeping the person you designate apprised o~" further developmenUs in this d_.te m[nhnis settlement process. Thank you fo~ you~ cooperation. ~nclosures: Very truly youzs, ARLENE KABEI Associate Director ¯ Waste Management Division Primary Contact Designation Form -- Please complete and return this form within. ten (10) days of your receipt of this letter. Envelope for rerarning, the Ptintary Contact Designation Form to the U.S. EPA U.S. EPA Fa,’t Sheet:"Superfund and Small Waste Contributors" U.S. EPA Fact Sheet:"Casmalia Disposal Site" PRIMARY CONTACT DESIGNATION FORM CITY OF PALO ALTO PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN THIS FORM WITHIN TEN CALENDAR DAYS OF RECEIPT Please provide the following information for the one person who will be the recipient’s contact with United States Environmental Prate, orlon Agency regarding the Casmslia Disposa] Site, and who should re~ive all further related correspondence:. Compan~ Name: (If different from above) Name: Lacy/Consulting Firm Name: (if applicable} City, ~tate & Zip: T~|~phone Number: Fax Number: E-Mail Address." Ifyot! believe the recipient was notified in error, please checkone of the following: The recipient has never h~d any co~rtectton whatsoever to the person/~ompany named. 01her (please explsin below): Name and address of the pe~sort or entky you believe should have been named, if any: Return to:U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Alia: Casmalia Case Team (’WST-2) 7~ H~wthome Stzeet San Francisco, CA 94105 Pl~ass use the enclosed pre-addressed envelop~ to rsturn th~s form. Th~nk you for your ooperation. 60/E~’d 68~J5 ~S8 0S9 dO SM SdO S>I’dOM DIqSRd 9~:#T 866T-bO-AON 0C~-22-98 THU I1"19 AM Pile Alto City Attorney ~AI NO, 65O 329 2646 ?, 8 EPA FACT SHEET CASMALIA DISPOSAL SITE DISPOSAL SITE Betw~e.n 1973 and 1989, the Casmalia Disposal Site took more than four billion pounds of waste material. Formerly called the Casmalla Resources Hazardous Waste Management Facility, this Sit, is an inactive eomm,r¢ial hazardous wast, disposal faciliw boated h Santa Barbara County, California. It includes six landfills, numerous surface impoxmdmems, disposal trer~heso inj~tion wells, wast, spreading area~, and tar~k treatment systems. The &diary’s owner/operators ace,proM a wid~ variety of industrial and comm,rdal wast, s including pesticid,s, solvents, acids, metals, cyanide, non-liquid PCBs, and P, CRA-~egulate, d wastes. Facility r~ord$ show that mot, than 10,000 parties disposod o~ wast, material ~t th~ Casmalia Disposal Sit,. Fa~ing muidple enforcement a~tioas, the facility’s owner/operators stopped taking waste material in 1989. In the early 199.0’~, th~ owner/operators abatxdoned efforts to properly close ~ad rein,dante the Casmalia DLspo~al Site. ~ owner/operators are unable or unwilling to pay for the costs of closing ~md rea’nediating the Sit,. These costs are exp,~ted to b~ close to $500 million. When the ovmer!operators stopped managing the Site, the facility’s threats to’the sttrrotmding community and tim environment worsened. In lPPR, the State of Califorrda asked the U.$. EPA to respond to deteriorating site conditions. The U.$. EPA initiated emergency actions in 1992 undm-the Superfund removal progrem to stabiliz, site conditions at the Casmalia Disposal Site. Due to poor site conditiom and teelmical difficulties, the government spent over $17 m!llion in taking emerg~r~y actions to stabilize the Sit,. The O.S. EPA has dooum~nted the release and threaten,d release of organic and inorganic compounds into the soil, groundwater, and air a~ ~e Site. These eexly U,S. EPA effozte were ~ start of a complex and multi-fold process of remediating one of the largest hazardou~ waste sites in the country. FINDING A LONG-TEELM SOLUTION The U.S. EPA’s mission is to find a long- term solutionat the Casmalia Disposal Site that is protective of public h,alth and the Super[bred is aied~[ p-~’~a~ ~d~nist~red by ~e U.S. ~e Superf~nd ~o~am is ~sign~ to ~l~a up ha~dous sub~~ ~at may p~ a ~t to human heai~ or en~mea~ ~e fall n~e of~he Su~nd taw itCompr~heodv~ £nvi~en~l R~ponse, Comp~sation, Liab~i~y Ac~ or "CERCLA." RC~ s~nds for the provid~ for the m~ag¢ment of solid ~d ha~Mous Under C~CLA ~d ~C~, the O.S. gPA h~ ~e authority to ~e a~tom at ~ ~malia Die,at Site to ~o~t human b~Ith ~d t~e en~ironm~ Under &es~ au~orities, the U.S. EPA may also r~uire potentially re~omble ~rti~ or that ~n~ibated wa~e to remeOia~ the Site. 60/80"d 68~6 ~S8 0S9 dO S~ SdO S>~OM OlqSnd 9~:bT 866T-bI~-AON environment. The government is ~.L~ing a Sup~rfurid decision making pro~ss, ~elying on CEKCLA ~emo~l ~d remedial autho~ties, ~d promote a RC~ p~p6w remedy (i.e., on~olling. movemen~ of~n~ted ~ou~water ~d ~n~ng ~ ~n~ina~d l~d m~se~). This ~tr~~ pm~ is desired to t~e edv~tago of the l~g~ body of existing site ch~¢tefi~don ~ gro~dwatcr mo~todng da~ res~t~ in lo~r overall site In an effort to achieve a long-term solution at the C~malia Disposal Site, the U,S, EPA initial{y negotiated a settlement with a group ofapproxim~.tely 54 waste generators. The settling waste generators constitute e. broad spectrutla Of private and public entities iri Califotrda. In 1997, ~ f~deral district court granted the United States’ motior~ to enter the consent de~ree.with the settling parties (formally titled United Stat~.s~x~ ABB V~tco ~v,/n.c,). The settlirtg partite are called the ’Casmalia Resour~s Site Steering Committee’ or the CP, SSC. This settlexaent is an irmov~.tiv~ approach to managing multi-gen,rator, large-volume Sulmrftmd sit~s. Known as the ’Casmalia Consent Decry0’ the agreement establishes a comprehensive enforcement frmrmwork in which site work will b~ financeA and performed by potentially responsible parties. Under the ~ettlement, the settling generators agree to pal, for m~d implement certain site work. The consent decr~ provides that all monies received fzom ~hird parties, including funds recovered as a result of third party litigation brought by th¢ CR$SC, will bs placed in an escrow account to fund the rem~iM~xg site work. Finally, the settlement establishes a coordinated enforcement recovery program under which the U.S. EPA and theCR$SC will work togeth,r to obtain contributions from th, facility’s ownerlop~mtors and the r~maining waste generators. These e.o~dlnated enforcement efforts may htolttd, litigation against non-settling pard~s. The U.S. EPA and the CRSSC have already filed suit in federal district court ~gainst the owner/operators. D~ing the 16 years in which the facility operated, thousan~ of private businesses and public entiti~ throughout California s~nt waste material to the Casmalia Disposal Site. The U.S. EPA is continuing its efforts to create an equitable enforcement process to en_cure that each of these parties pays its fair share of total site costs. The government has begun to offer cashout settlement opportunid~ to a portion oft.~ remaining waste generators. According to ~e consent decry, the CRSSC agrees not to bring third party litigation for a limited period of time to allow the gov,rnment first to offer cashout settlement opportunities to the remaining potentially responsibl~ parties. This arrangement sr, ks to r~duc¢ litigation costs normally associated with large, muiti-pm’ty hazaxdous waste sites, Recoveries from the~e e~shout settlements, ¢oupled with those from other sources includitlg the owner/operators, will help to pay for critical site work. ADDFrIONAL INFORMATIOI’~ If you would like additional information about the Casmali~ Disposal Site or the cashout settlement process for de minimis eontrlbutors, call 1-g00-394-2670 to i~av~ a recorded message. A representative from the Uo$. EPA will r~tum your e.~ll as soon as possible.