38 Parties Agree on Cleanup of Toxic Waste Site
Thirty-eight companies and government bodies have agreed to clean up toxic wastes dumped at a former Escondido solvent recycling plant and reimburse the state for half the $8 million already spent to clean up the site, officials said Monday.
The total bill for the cleanup could reach $30 million, the state estimates, and the 38 parties will divide that cost and the $4 million owed the state among themselves.
The city of Escondido, the San Diego County Water Authority, Los Angeles-area defense contractors Hughes Aircraft and McDonnell Douglas and other parties admitted no wrongdoing in the agreement, reached after nearly a year of negotiations with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Their attorney, Steven McDonald, said many of the deposits at the now-closed Chatham Brothers Barrel Yard had been made as long as two decades ago, and the companies that generated the waste believed the materials would be disposed of properly.
State officials have said Chatham operators dumped industrial solvents and dirty automotive oil into the ground at the five-acre site.
Attorneys for Chatham family members could not be reached.
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