# BRONSON PLATING CO. > **Judicial** · FY1997 · — · — ## Case - **Activity ID:** `30285` - **Case Number:** 05-1997-0345 - **Type:** Judicial - **Lead:** EPA - **Outcome:** — - **Penalty assessed:** — - **Cost recovery:** $1.63M - **Compliance action $:** $3.95M - **Multimedia (multi-env):** N ## Defendants - BRONSON PLATING CO. (settlement) - BRONSON, CITY OF (settlement) - ITT AUTOMOTIVE (settlement) - L.A. DARLING CO. (settlement) - SCOTT FETZER CO. (settlement) ## Summary PLATING INDUSTRIES BEGAN OPERATING IN BRONSON IN THE EARLY 1900'S, BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL SEWER AND WASTE LAGOONS WERE BUILT. IN THE 1930'S CATTLE DEATHS AND FISH KILLS WERE RE- PORTED IN CONNECTION WITH CONTAMINATED WATER FROM COUNTY DRAIN #30 (CD#30), WHERE INDUSTRIES DIRECTLY DISCHARGED WASTE. TO ALLEVIATE THIS CONTAMINATION, THE CITY OF BRONSON EXCAVATED THREE WESTERN LAGOONS BETWEEN 1938 AND 1950 AS PART OF AN INDUSTRIAL SEWER SYSTEM TO SERVE LOCAL INDUSTRIES THIS SYSTEM INCLUDED A SEWER LINE WHICH CARRIED WASTE TO THE LAGOONS. THE BRONSON REEL COMPANY, THE H.A. DOUGLAS CO., AND THE L.A. DARLING CO. FINANCED CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE. THESE COMPANIES USED THE LAGOONS FROM 1939 TO 1949 TO RECEIVE UNTREATED PLATING WASTES CONTAINING CYANIDE, NICKEL, COPPER, SILVER, ZINC AND CADMIUM. IN 1949, DISPOSAL EXCEEDED THE CAPACITY OF THE WESTERN LAGOONS, AND PLATING WASTES OVERFLOWED INTO CD#30. BETWEEN 1938 AND 1955 THE WESTERN LAGOONS WERE EXTENDED AND INTERCONNECTED WITH PIPING AND VALVES TO CONTROL WATER LEVEL AND DISCHARGES TO CD#30. INDUSTRIES USED THE WESTERN LAGOONS UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 1980 AND THEY ARE STILL OWNED BY THE CITY OF BRONSON. IN 1949, THE CITY OF BRONSON CONSTRUCTED THE EASTERN LAGOONS TO HELP MEET THE INCREASED DEMAND FOR DISPOSAL CAPACITY. INDUSTRIES USING THESE LAGOONS PAID FOR CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE. THESE INDUSTRIES INCLUDED THE BRONSON PLATING CO, THE H.A. DOUGLAS CO, AND THE L.A. DARLING CO. --- *Source: [EPA ECHO](https://echo.epa.gov/) · AI Analytics · CC0 1.0*