Clean Harbors, the environmental services company, has settled with federal regulators to pay over $5 million in fines and cleanup costs for contamination at the Devil’s Swamp Lake Superfund site north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The settlement follows years of legal battles and community concerns about the pollution at the site, which was originally opened in 1969 and has been a source of contention since then. The site was contaminated with PCBs before Clean Harbors acquired it in 2002, and the company denies responsibility for the pollution that occurred before their ownership of the site.
The settlement, which is still subject to public comment and court approval, involves Clean Harbors not admitting to any wrongdoing but agreeing to pay for cleanup efforts and reimburse the EPA for legal fees and costs incurred at the site. The case arose from a study performed by Clean Harbors in 2010 related to hazardous substance releases at the site.
The agreement aims to expedite the cleanup effort and prevent prolonged legal disputes, ultimately protecting the public from the dangerous chemicals that have contaminated Devil’s Swamp Lake for decades. Clean Harbors will cap part of a drainage ditch and a portion of the swamp to limit wildlife exposure to the contaminants, with the expectation that PCB contamination in wildlife will be reduced below public health limits in about 30 years. The company still manages waste transportation and provides limited wastewater treatment services at the site.
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