Allegany Ballistics Laboratory

Washington, DC: (Nov-01-07) The US Justice Department, the Department of the Navy, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brought charges against Hercules, Inc., a former defense contractor, alleging that the facility caused environmental damage. As part of a settlement reached, the company agreed to pay the United States nearly $13 million toward the cleanup of the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory (ABL) site in Rocket Center, West Virginia. Sources claimed that this was the first settlement in which the Justice Department has recovered environmental cleanup costs from a contractor on behalf of the Navy.

Under the agreement, Hercules, which operated the Navy-owned ABL site from 1945 to 1995, will pay a substantial portion of the costs needed to clean up the site pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The money recovered by the Navy from Hercules will largely go toward further environmental cleanups on Navy-owned land. ABL was placed on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in May 1994. Under the agreement, EPA will recover a portion of the $12.95 million, which will go towards its expenditure in overseeing the cleanup of this NPL-listed facility. [DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: EPA SETTLEMENT]

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Published on Nov-2-07