Region 5 - Office of Regional Counsel

Name (I to L)

Kalamazoo River Superfund Site
A & R. Katz Management, Inc.
Illinois Cement Co,, ITT Industries-Bell & Gossett, Leland Engineering, Inc.,et al.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
ISG Indiana Harbor Inc.
Jessup Manufacturing
Kemira Chemicals, Inc.
Kerr McGee Chemical LLC (10/10/04)
Kerr McGee Chemical LLC (04/05/04)
Kokomo Management Company
Lesaffre Yeast Corporation
Lincolnshire West Apartments, Ltd.
Liquid Dynamics
Lubrizol Corporation
Lyon County Landfill
Lymtal International Inc.

DOJ enters into non-binding agreement in principle with Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC regarding four West Chicago NPL Sites and Region 5 enters into two consent agreements with Kerr-McGee. On October 10, 2003, on behalf of U.S. EPA and the Department of Interior, the Department of Justice entered into a non-binding agreement in principle with Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC to further efforts to resolve claims between the United States and Kerr-McGee relating to four radioactively contaminated National Priorities List (NPL) facilities in West Chicago and DuPage County, Illinois. Kerr-McGee previously conducted removals, pursuant to unilateral orders, at the Residential Areas Site and the Reed-Keppler Park Site. Kerr-McGee spent nearly $100 million removing thorium contamination from more than 670 properties and a public park. Following the acceptance of the agreement in principle, Kerr-McGee entered into two consent orders marking the first time Kerr-McGee has entered into any consensual agreement with U.S. EPA concerning the West Chicago NPL Sites. The two recently signed consent orders involve the Sewage Treatment Plant Site and Kress Creek/W. Branch Dupage River Site.

Within a week of signing the agreement in principle, on October 16, 2003, Region 5 issued an Administrative Order on Consent in which Kerr-McGee agreed to remove radioactive thorium from the West Chicago Sewage Treatment Plant Upland Operable Unit. Kerr-McGee immediately initiated the work and the removal and restoration will be completed in 2004. The remaining River Operable Unit of the Sewage Treatment Plant Site will be combined with the remedial investigation and feasibility study now underway for the Kress Creek/W. Branch Dupage River Site.

On November 21, 2003, Region 5 issued the second consent order in which Kerr-McGee agreed to conduct the remedial investigation and feasibility study for the Kress Creek/W. Branch DuPage River Site and Sewage Treatment Plant Site. Kerr-McGee agreed to characterize 4.5 miles of creek and river and to expand its investigation to include the two miles of river between the Warrenville and McDowell Grove Dams. Region 5 expects to issue RODs for the Kress Creek/W. Branch Dupage River Site and the Sewage Treatment Plant Site in Spring 2004. The agreement in principle also anticipates Kerr-McGee entering into a consent decree for the remedial design and remedial action for the Kress Creek/W. Branch DuPage River and Sewage Treatment Plant Sites and to resolve all outstanding claims regarding all four West Chicago NPL Sites.

Contact: Mary Fulghum, primary contact, 312-886-4683;
Additional contact: Rebecca Frey, Kress Creek/W.B. DuPage River 312-886-4760;
James Mitchell, STP 312-353-9537

Region 5 signs a Consent Agreement and Final Order with Kemira Chemicals. Region 5 initiated this enforcement action in August of 2003. On January 23, 2004, Region 5 signed a consent agreement and final order (CAFO) with Kemira Chemicals, Inc. of Kennesaw, Georgia to settle violations of Section 12(a)(1)(E) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. § 136j(a)(1)(E). The alleged violations arose out of the sale of Kemira’s pesticide product AMA-9 by supplemental distributor Hydro-Chem Corporation of Fairview Park, Ohio. The product was mislabeled with incorrect EPA Registration and Establishment numbers and failed to include the correct caution statement warning of flamability. Kemira Chemicals will pay a penalty of $4455, which represents the proposed penalty of $4950 reduced by 10% for cooperation.

Primary contact: Erik Olson, 312-886-6829;
Additional contact: Joe Lukascyk, 312-886-6233

Region 5 enters a CERCLA Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) for a PRP-lead removal action to address soil contamination at a former liquid hazardous waste treatment site on the South Side of Chicago. Under a recently finalized AOC, 42 companies that had generated wastes sent to the former Liquid Dynamics hazardous waste treatment facility on the South Side of Chicago, have agreed to implement a non-time-critical removal action to address residual soil contamination at the site. The site is adjacent to residential areas in the Pullman Historic District and has been subject to two prior removal actions in 1983 and 1990. The current remedy is estimated to cost $1 million. It includes excavation and removal of contaminated soil, fill and debris on the entire 2 acre site, removal of two large concrete foundation pads, and installation of a clay and soil cap site-wide. In addition, the PRPs paid an additional $36,400 to fund U.S. EPA’s oversight costs. Work on the project is nearly complete. Primary contact:

Reginald Pallesen at 312-886-0555;
Additional contact: Denise Boone 312-886-6217

Region 5 enters a TSCA Administrative Order requiring Kokomo Management Company, Kokomo, Indiana, (Respondent) to comply with section 409 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2689, (TSCA), section 1018(b)(5) of Title X, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, 42 U.S.C. § 4851 (the Disclosure Rule), and to pay to the Treasurer, United States of America, a civil penalty in the amount of $5,775.00. On February 10, 2004, Region 5, U.S. EPA filed an Administrative Order alleging Respondent leased apartments to lessees, but failed to provide U.S. EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlets, failed to provide a Lead Warning Statement, failed to disclose the presence of known lead-based paint hazards in the apartments, failed to provide a list of any records or reports available regarding lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards, failed to complete a statement affirming receipt of the information articulated by the regulatory provisions at 40 C.F.R. § 745.113(b)(2) and (b)(3) and the Lead Hazard Information Pamphlet, and failed to provide its signature and lessees’ signatures certifying to the accuracy of their statements, to the best of their knowledge, along with the dates of signatures, in violation of the regulations at 40 C.F.R §§ 745.107(a)(1), 745.113(b)(1), 745.113(b)(2), 745.113(b)(3), 745.113(b)(4), 745.113(b)(6), respectively, and section 409 of TSCA, 15 U.S.C. § 2689, pursuant to section 1018(b)(5) of the Disclosure Rule, 42 U.S.C. § 4851.

Primary contact: Jeffery M. Trevino, 312-886-6729;
additional contact: Terence Bonace, (312) 886-3387

Region 5 Issues Complaint and CAFO to A & R Katz Management, Inc., Northbrook, Illinois, For Failure to Provide to Lessees Information Required Under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act.  On February 13, 2004, a delegated complainant of the Administrator filed an Administrative Complaint against Respondent A & R Katz Management Inc., (Katz), of Northbrook, Illinois, and, at the same time, filed a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) resolving the action against Katz. Between November 2001 and May 2002, Katz leased several residential apartments in a complex collectively known as the Shagbark Apartments, located in the 3900 to 4100 blocks of Washington Road, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to various parties, without providing to the lessees the Lead Warning Statement; a statement disclosing it knowledge of whether lead was present in the apartment being leased; available records regarding any lead in the apartment being leased, or a statement that it had no such records; a statement of lessee acknowledging receipt of lead related information; and a certification of the accuracy of any statement made by Katz.  The Complaint proposed that the Administrator assess a penalty in the amount of $31,460 for the violations.

The Administrator’s delegated complainant has agreed to accept a penalty of $2,200 in consideration of Katz’ cooperation in addressing its obligations under the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act; its agreement to resolve this matter prior to the completion of the pre-hearing exchange; and, in October 2003, its having undertaken and completed, under the requirements of the 1997 Revision of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing, a lead-based paint inspection conducted by Assurance Inspection Services, LLC, a company certified by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, that found the residential units in the Shagbark Apartments to be lead-based paint free.

Contact: Richard R. Wagner 312-886-7947

EPA enters Consent Agreement and Final Order with Jessup Manufacturing resolving self-disclosed violation of the Clean Air Act.  On February 3, 2004, the Regional Administrator signed a Final Order resolving self-disclosed violations of the Clean Air Act (the Act) by Jessup Manufacturing (Jessup) at its Lake Bluff, Illinois facility. Specifically, Jessup performed environmental audits at its facilities in Lake Bluff and McHenry, Illinois. Violations were only found at the Lake Bluff facility. Under the Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO), based on the provisions of EPA's Self-Disclosure Policy, Jessup will not have to pay a civil penalty.  Jessup has agreed to conduct annual audits of its Lake Bluff facility to ensure compliance with environmental regualtions. This action was commenced and concluded through the CAFO.

Contact: Cynthia King, 312-886-6831.

EPA enters Consent Agreement and Final Order with ISG Indiana Harbor, Inc. resolving violations of the Clean Air Act.  On December 12, 2003, the Regional Administrator signed a Final Order resolving Clean Air Act violations by ISG Indiana Harbor, Inc. (ISG) at its East Chicago, Indiana facility.  Specifically, ISG failed to comply with HCl emission limits required by the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Steel Pickling-HCl Process facilities and Hydrochloric Acid Regeneration Plants.  Under the Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO), ISG agreed to pay a civil penalty of $42,839 and to perform a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) to completely eliminate fugitive dust at its facility.  The SEP will cost $111,783.  This action was commenced and concluded through the CAFO.

Contact: Cynthia King, 312-886-6831.

Region 5 Approves Indiana E. Coli TMDL for Trail Creek.  In an effort to achieve the Clean Water Act goal of “fishable, swimmable” waters, Section 303(d)of the Clean Water Act, and U.S. EPA’s implementing regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 130, the EPA requires states to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (“TMDLs”) for pollutants in impaired waters. On March 1, 2004, the Region approved the TMDL submitted to U.S. EPA by Indiana Department of Environmental Management to address E. coli levels in Trail Creek, an impaired water in Northwest Indiana.  The TMDL establishes the maximum daily load of E. coli coming from point and non-point sources at which the Creek still meets the applicable water quality standard. The Region’s review ensures that the TMDL and its supporting documentation meet statutory and regulatory requirements. (Double click TMDL's for more information)

Contact: Erik Olson, 312-886-6829;
additional contact: David Werbach, 312-886-4242

Kerr-McGee , U.S. EPA and DOJ Enter Lindsay Light Past Costs Consent Decree Kerr-McGee agreed to pay $640,000.00 of U.S. EPA’s past costs associated with U.S. EPA’s oversight of removal actions involving radioactive waste in the Streeterville area in Chicago and at a landfill in Elgin, Illinois.  On April 5, 2004, an amended complaint and a consent decree describing the actions Kerr McGee agreed to take for their alleged violations of Section 107 of the Community Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). U.S. EPA incurred the costs while conducting oversight of removal actions at four Lindsay Light operable units that yielded over 30,000 tons of radioactive wastes. The U.S. EPA’s enforcement actions protected workers and the public from exposure to radioactive materials and also spurred revitalization of former industrial sites and parking lots into redevelopment projects valued at more than $800 million and created hundreds of jobs in the local economy. The settlement funds will be placed into a special account for future response costs associated with future Lindsay Light investigations and cleanups. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and judicial approval. For more information regarding CERCLA, please go to: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/action/law/cercla.htm

Technical contacts: Verneta Simon, 312-886-3601; Fred Micke 312-353-5123;
Legal contacts: Mary Fulghum, 312-886-4683; Cathleen Martwick, 312-886-7166.

Acting Regional Administrator expected to sign sixteen Final Orders. The Acting Regional Administrator is expected to sign sixteen Final Orders ratifying the terms of Consent Agreements And Final Orders entered into by the Region. The expedited settlements are part of the National Community Right To Know Late Reporters Initiative. The Final Orders direct the settling parties to pay civil penalties in the amount of Five Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars, a penalty amount equal to the amount originally demanded by the Region. The Region has entered into settlements with the following companies: Alpha Systems, Inc., Dykerhoff, Inc., Hoffer’s Coatings, Inc., Illinois Cement Company, Muskegon Castings Corp., LLC, Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., Potlach Corp., Superior Aluminum Alloys, and Voith Paper, Inc., Clay Logan Products Company, CMS Generation Filer City Operating Co., ITT Industries - Bell & Gossett, Schauenburg International, Inc., Leland Engineering, Inc., Raybestos Automotive Components Co., and Valley Cabinet, Inc.

Headquarters has been working with the regions since the Fall of 2003 to develop and implement a national Community Right To Know Enforcement Initiative. The Initiative is intended to signal to the regulated community the importance of on-time reporting of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) forms through a broad enforcement effort designed to heighten facilities’ awareness of the annual reporting deadline. The reports are required under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act (EPCRA). The settlements described above are the first regional fruits of the initiative. The Region anticipates entry of approximately eighty such settlements. The Region has executed these settlements in a manner consistent with the terms and policies set forth by the Director of the Toxics & Pesticides Enforcement Division in an April 6, 2004, memorandum directed to Regional TRI Managers and Regional Community Right To Know Enforcement Initiative Coordinators.

Primary contact Steven P. Kaiser, (312) 353-3804.

United States District Court for the District of Minnesota upholds EAB decision in Lyon County Matter. On June 7, 2004, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a decision affirming the Environmental Appeals Board’s (EAB’s) April 1, 2002 Final Decision and Order in the Matter of Lyon County Landfill, Lynd, Minnesota. The Lyon County matter may be the first administrative action involving the asbestos NESHAP for active waste disposal sites, published at 40 C.F.R. § 61.154. The case also involves the exercise of a waiver under Clean Air Act Section 113(d)(1) with regard to the time-frame for brining an action administratively. Finding jurisdiction to review whether EPA acted within the scope of authority granted under Clean Air Act 113(d)(1) in issuing its waiver, the court upheld EPA’s interpretation of the phrase “longer period of violation” in 113(d)(1) to refer to the time between the first alleged date of violation and the administrative action’s commencement. The court also upheld each of the EAB’s rulings on liability and penalty. The court deferred to the Agency’s interpretation of the waiver provision as a permissible construction of the statute, and gave controlling weight to the Agency’s reading of its own regulations. Finding substantial evidence in the record and deferring to the EAB’s reading of the regulations, the court, among other things, rejected County arguments that RACM had to be friable, that ACWM did not include RACM at active waste disposal sites, that EPA had to establish a threshold amount of material at the waste disposal site, that EPA had to trace ACWM to a particular regulated source, that there were no visible emissions, and that EPA had to sample an empty labeled bag; and found no abuse of discretion in the use of the Asbestos Demolition and Renovation Civil Penalty Policy as guidance for assessing a penalty for the active waste disposal site violations, or the assessment of a penalty based on the total amount of ACWM received by the Landfill from May 2, 1994 to July 21, 1994, in the absence of evidence demonstrating that some of the ACWM was properly handled. The District Court affirmed the EAB’s Final Decision and Order assessing the EAB’s penalty, in the amount of $18,800.

Contact Maria Gonzalez, primary contact, (312) 886-6630;
Andre Daugavietis, secondary contact, (312) 886-6663).

Region 5 issues Clean Air Act Notice of Violation/Finding of Violation to Lesaffre Yeast Corporation.  Region 5 issued a Notice of Violation (NOV)/Finding of Violation (FOV) to Lesaffre Yeast Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 24, 2004. The NOV/FOV alleges that Lesaffre violated the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan and Section 502 of the Clean Air Act by exceeding emissions limitations for VOCs at a fermenter during dozens of fermentation batches from 1999-2003. This action is significant because the Lesaffre facility is one of the largest sources of airborne pollutants in Wisconsin. The NOV/FOV offers Lesaffre the opportunity to confer with EPA regarding the alleged violations.

Contact: Catherine Garypie, Associate Regional Counsel 312/886-5825;
Manoj P. Patel, Environmental Engineer, 312/353-3565

Region 5 enters CERCLA Administrative Order on Consent for PRP-lead removal action to address waste oil site in Sandusky County, Ohio. On July13, 2004, Region V entered into an AOC with the Lubrizol Corporation for the completion of a removal action at the Greiner’s Lagoon Site near Fremont, Ohio. The site, consisting of four diked lagoons, was originally developed in 1954 to collect and store waste oil from nearby industry. U.S. EPA conducted a series of temporary stabilization measures in the late 1980's and Lubrizol agreed to conduct an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA), which it submitted in May 2001. Region V issued an Enforcement Action Memorandum in February 2003 which documented the preferred non-time critical removal action for the site, consisting of a phytoremediation cap, groundwater monitoring and institutional controls. Lubrizol has agreed to conduct the removal and has initiated discussions with the current landowner regarding the filing of a restrictive covenant to prohibit certain prospective uses of the property. Lubrizol has also agreed to compensate U.S. EPA 100% of its past and future costs.

Contact: Marcy Toney, Associate Regional Counsel, at 312-886-3186; additional contact: Thomas G. Williams, OSC, 312-886-6157

Region 5 files a Consent Agreement and Final Order to commence and conclude case against LymTal International in Lake Orion, Michigan.  On September 28, 2004, Region 5 filed a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) simultaneously commencing and concluding an administrative penalty action against LymTal International, Inc., for violations of the National VOC Emissions Standards for Architectural Coatings, 40 CFR Part 59, Subpart D. The CAFO requires LymTal to pay a penalty of $53,400. On March 29, 2004, Region 5 issued a Finding of Violation to LymTal for allegedly failing to submit an initial notification report, improperly labeling containers of architectural coatings and exceeding applicable coating VOC limits. In response to the FOV, LymTal submitted an initial notification report and began providing required information on their product labels using stickers. The company has also agreed to comply with the applicable VOC requirements by either discontinuing use of the violating coatings or submitting the appropriate exceedance fees. As a result of LymTal’s cooperation, good faith, and other factors as justice may require, Region 5 determined that it was appropriate and consistent with the penalty policy to mitigate its planned proposed penalty of $71,454 to a settlement penalty of $53,400

Primary contact: Louise Gross (312) 886-6844