HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania will recover $1.3 million from a company it sued over environmental concerns at a site in Beaver County.
On Nov. 15, the Department of Environmental Protection asked a federal court to approve the consent decree between it and Arxada LLC, the final step in finalizing an agreement that has been noticed to the public and drew only one comment.
Arxada is the successor-in-interest to Lonza Inc., which was responsible for waste containing hazardous substances at the site in Rochester Borough called the "Swimming Pool Doctor Site," the consent decree says.
The DEP sued Arxada, One Brewery Place and other defendants in 2023, with three of them being found in default earlier this year. The DEP's case sought more than $2 million it said it spent remediating and removing substances from the warehouse property.
Industrial chemicals and other hazardous substances were allegedly disposed improperly at the site, which is a 1.12-acre property containing warehouses for swimming pool chemicals.
Chlorine, bonderite and hydantoin are among the substances of concern in the litigation, brought under the federal Superfund law.
“The Department investigated the site and found at the site a release and threatened release of hazardous substances," the complaint says.
"The Department conducted response actions at the site to remediate the release and threatened release of hazardous substances. The Department has incurred response costs in excess of $2.4 million as the result of its investigation and remediation of the release and threatened release of hazardous substances at the site.”
Arxada is a specialty chemical manufacturer that had filed a motion to dismiss claims against it a year ago. It claimed all it did was sell chemicals to the owners and operators of the site and couldn't be held liable for their failure to properly store them.
Still, to avoid further litigation, it agreed to the consent decree. It will pay the DEP its $1.3 million in three installments, the last to occur before Jan. 10.
The only comment that came from the public was from someone named Lou who wondered why Arxada is only paying $1.3 million when the State's cleanup costs were much more.
"Arxada was only partially responsible for the waste the Department cleaned up at the site," the DEP's response says.
"Additionally, there were issues concerning Arxada's history with the site and whether its waste was located at the site as a matter of sale or disposal.
"Those and other factors led to the Department's settlement for less than its total response costs. The Department continues in its efforts to gain additional reimbursement from other responsible parties."