EPA ISSUES PROPOSED SETTLEMENTS TO POTENTIALLY RESPONSIBLE PARTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHEROKEE OIL SUPERFUND SITES IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 1996--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has issued de minimis settlement offers to approximately three hundred ninety (390) potentially responsible parties (PRPs) associated with the Cherokee Oil Superfund sites in Charlotte, North Carolina. De minimis settlements are those that will resolve the liability of PRPs whose involvement with the sites is minimal. Additionally, the settlements include protection from litigation and cleanup cost responsibility for more than 1,000 de micromis parties, those identified by EPA having contributed negligible amounts of hazardous waste to the sites. The settlements, when final, will reimburse the Superfund program for monies spent by EPA, while fairly and efficiently allowing the affected PRPs to fully resolve their liability for site costs.

The settlements exemplify EPA Region 4's commitment to implementing initiatives outlined in the Agency's Administrative Reform Initiatives of October 1995. As it seeks to recover cleanup costs from PRPs, EPA Region 4 is committed to enforcement fairness and the reduction of government and private transaction costs. Therefore, by entering into these settlements, small volume generators will resolve their proportionate liability for total site costs and will avoid the expense of protracted negotiations with the major generators and the expense of costly litigation.

The settlements also will provide protection for de micromis PRPs, those whose contribution of waste to the site is so small that the transaction costs for settlement would outweigh their fair share of cleanup costs. A condition of the Cherokee Resources settlements requires the settling generators to agree not to pursue these generators for contribution. A similar provision will be included in any settlement agreement that EPA enters into with the major generators of waste at the Cherokee sites. This approach allows EPA to protect from suit those parties that EPA would not normally pursue and it does so without imposing any transaction costs on contributors of negligible amounts of hazardous waste.

To assist the parties in understanding the settlement offer, EPA will hold an informational meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 1996. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Charlotte.

Cherokee Resources, owner/operator of the sites operated an oil recycling facility on Berryhill Road in Charlotte. A corporate affiliate of the company leased a neighboring parcel of property on Summit Avenue as a waste materials storage area. After investigations at the Summit Avenue site in 1991 and the Berryhill Road site in 1994, EPA concluded that the conditions at the sites posed immediate threats to nearby residents and the environment. EPA conducted emergency response actions at both sites and, to date, has expended $6.5 million.

Information regarding the list of PRPs may be obtained by contacting Peter Raack, Office of Regional Counsel, U.S. EPA, Atlanta Federal Center, 100 Alabama Street, S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303 [phone].

CONTACT: Carl Terry, Press Office, 404/562-8325