Re: Rialto Reimbursement

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2004
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
WWW.EPA.GOV/REGION9


U.S ANNOUNCES AGREEMENTS WITH PROPERTY OWNERS AND TARGET CORPORATION TO
ASSIST ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP AND REDEVELOPMENT OF RIALTO, CALIFORNIA PROPERTY


WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency today announced two agreements valued at nearly $1
million to assist in the cleanup of the Denova Environmental Superfund
Site located in Rialto, California. In addition to providing for cleanup
and repayment of EPA cleanup costs, the agreements pave the way for
retailer Target Corp. to proceed with a project that will bring new jobs
to the area. 

Under the first agreement, an administrative order on consent, the
current owner of the 20-acre Denova Site will pay EPA $640,000 from the
proceeds of the sale of the property to Target, in settlement of the
United States' claim under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for recovery of its past
response costs at the Site. 

The second agreement, a prospective purchaser agreement (PPA) between
EPA and Target, will facilitate Target's purchase and redevelopment of
the Denova Site and adjacent property as a distribution center to serve
the southern California area. Target estimates the development will
create 1,000 temporary jobs, and the center will create 1,300 permanent
jobs with an estimated $40 million annual payroll. 

"These agreements show that cleaning the environment and facilitating
job creation are absolutely compatible," said Tom Sansonetti, Assistant
Attorney General of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural
Resources Division. "Not only does today's action help replenish the
Superfund, it also creates the possibility of future jobs for those
living near the Denova Site." 

"One of the EPA's overriding goals is to turn polluted properties into
properties that are a benefit to the communities they are in, and this
agreement with Target does just that," said Wayne Nastri, the regional
administrator of the EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional office in San
Francisco. "Jobs are being created, and simultaneously we are assuring
protection of human health and the environment." 

In the PPA, the United States agrees not to sue Target under CERCLA for
existing contamination at the distribution center property. In exchange,
Target will pay the EPA $100,000. 

Before redevelopment of the Site, Target will perform steps necessary to
complete cleanup of the Site. In all, the value of Target's cleanup work
and reimbursement from all parties is approximately $1 million. 

The Site was used during World War II by the Army for transportation and
temporary storage of ordnance-loaded railcars. From the mid-1980s
through May 2002, the Site was operated privately by two different
companies-first Broco Environmental Inc. and then Denova Environmental
Inc.-as a chemical and explosives storage and disposal facility. 

In May 2002, the EPA's Region 9 Emergency Response Section began an
emergency removal of hazardous materials and explosives abandoned at the
Site by Denova Environmental Inc. These hazardous materials and
explosives were located only 75 yards from the nearest residential
neighborhood. The removal took 11 months and cost $3 million, and
resulted in the cleanup of over 550,000 pounds of explosives, more than
three times the legal limit allowed to be stored at any one facility. 

EPA's response actions at the Site were assisted by the Marine Corps at
Camp Pendleton and Twenty-nine Palms; the San Bernardino County Fire
Department Hazardous Materials Unit; the San Bernardino County Bomb
Squad; the FBI and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives; the California Department of Toxic Substances Control; and
the Rialto Fire Department. 

The agreements are subject to a 30-day public comment period, which
began on June 22 when notice of the agreements was printed in The
Federal Register. 

  

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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