Over $7 million in settlement costs issued to private parties and federal agencies in Missouri for Superfund Site cleanup

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 15, 2024, the court approval of a settlement with 36 private parties and three federal agencies for payment of the EPA’s past and future cleanup costs at the Missouri Electric Works Superfund Site in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The settlement agreement falls under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), known as Superfund.

The polluting private parties will pay $6,074,739 and federal agencies will pay $600,798 to the United States to satisfy the 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 and state response costs.

According to an EPA press release, the site is an approximately 6.4-acre parcel, located in Cape Girardeau. The site is where former Missouri Electric Works Inc. sold, serviced and remanufactured transformers and other equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Releases of PCBs and other volatile organic compounds from the facility resulted in soil and groundwater contamination at the site. The EPA has been overseeing investigation and cleanup at the site since the 1980s.

The EPA designated the property a Superfund site in 1990. Under Superfund, the EPA enforces a “polluter pays” principle, which holds responsible parties accountable for cleanup and reimbursement of EPA’s oversight costs throughout a contaminated site’s history.