Court Approves EPA Settlement Requiring Payment of Response Costs at Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site in Cape Girardeau, Missouri
LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 15, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the court approval of a settlement agreement with 36 private parties and three federal agencies for payment of EPA’s past and future cleanup costs at the Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
The settlement agreement is issued under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund.
Under the terms of the settlement, the polluting private parties will pay $6,074,739 and the federal agencies, also responsible for pollution, will pay $600,798 to the United States to satisfy EPA’s past and future cleanup costs. Additionally, the private parties will pay $625,261 and the federal agencies will pay $61,839 to the state of Missouri in settlement of state response costs.
The site is an approximately 6.4-acre parcel, located in Cape Girardeau, at which the former Missouri Electric Works Inc. sold, serviced, and remanufactured transformers and other equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Releases of PCBs and volatile organic compounds from the facility resulted in soil and groundwater contamination at the site. EPA has been overseeing investigation and cleanup at the site since the 1980s.
EPA designated the property as a Superfund site in 1990. Under Superfund, EPA enforces the “polluter pays” principle, which holds responsible parties accountable for cleanup and reimbursement of EPA’s oversight costs throughout a contaminated site’s history.
For more information, visit the Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site Profile page.
Learn more about the Superfund program.
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