News Coverage
Judge Signs Decree for Cleanup of PCB Areas
Published August 4, 2003
Citing a "tortured history" of Monsanto PCB pollution, U.S. District Judge U. W. Clemon approved the proposed Superfund investigation of the chemical pollution in northeast Alabama neighborhoods, waterways and commercial areas.
Clemon's decision means that a consent decree, a cleanup agreement signed by Solutia, Pharmacia and the Environmental Protection Agency, has received final approval after more than a year of controversy. The decree was revised by the involved parties last fall on the basis of residents' complaints.
Work will now accelerate on a long-term investigation of the pollution and on the most urgent residential cleanups, Solutia officials said in a prepared statement released on Monday afternoon.
PCBs are a class of chemicals produced at Anniston's former Monsanto plant now owned by Solutia, until the early 1970s. They were banned in 1979 and listed as suspected carcinogens. Recently, Monsanto has blamed local foundries for contributing to the PCB pollution in the Anniston area.
Local attorney Donald Stewart intervened to block the proposed federal settlement on behalf of his Bowie v. Monsanto clients who preferred a state court-led cleanup. Stewart is representing 3,500 plaintiffs in the case. They accuse Monsanto of polluting the blood and properties with PCBs.
Stewart alleged that the EPA and Solutia colluded against his litigants during the cleanup negotiation process in 2001-2002.
In his written decision, Clemon responded to the allegation and thanked Stewart and other intervenors for providing "invaluable assistance to the court in its evaluation."
"Given the long and tortured history of the Monsanto PCB contamination problem in Anniston, and the circumstances surround the negotiations ... the possibility of collusion has not escaped the court's decision," Clemon wrote in his decision.
But Clemon said he has received assurances from Solutia that the PCB site will be cleaned up promptly and that there will be "no financial limitations on the remediation and cleanup costs."
The ruling probably will have an effect on the ongoing Bowie case, officials said.
"I'm sure attorneys on both sides will have something to say about it," said Calhoun-Cleburne Circuit Judge Joel Laird, who is presiding over the Bowie case.
"Right now, we are set to review 20 clients' cases in Gadsden tomorrow morning," Laird said. "I guess that's where I will be until a decision is made to do something differently."
Here are the specifics of the consent decree:
Solutia will submit a work plan for the expedited cleanup of residential properties that have PCB levels between one and 10 parts per billion. The plan will be reviewed by EPA and submitted for public comment.
Solutia will conduct an investigation/feasibility study to determine the full extent of the pollution.
EPA will conduct an assessment of all of the PCB pollution. EPA will also replace the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as the lead agency on cleanup of the waterways, landfills and floodplains.
Solutia will pay $12 million over 12 years to fund educational grants for programs for western Anniston children. The company will provide additional grants to community groups hire experts on environmental cleanup measures.
Also, Clemon decided to appoint a legal expert to monitor progress on the investigation and cleanup.
Anniston Mayor Chip Howell said he was "very pleased" with Clemon's decision to sign the decree and continue to monitor the cleanup.
"It's part of the healing process," he said. "I hope this will encourage the property owners to allow access and begin cleanup."
Community activists, as well as Stewart, said they need more time to evaluate the impact of Clemon's decision.
"I think that if they can clean it up and make (western Anniston) be what it needs to be, this will be great. But I've got to take a real good look into it," said Cassandra Roberts, of the Sweet Valley/Cobbtown Environmental Justice Taskforce.
Thomas Long, a litigant in Stewart's lawsuit, and board member of the grassroots group Community Against Pollution, said he is disappointed by one consequence of the decree, that Anniston will not be added to EPA's National Priorities List of the most contaminated sites in the country.
Despite continued opposition from residents and national environmental groups, EPA officials have said the list designation is unnecessary because Solutia agreed to meet all of the requirements of a Superfund cleanup.