On December 29, 2014, the Consent Decree for payment of past costs associated with the O?Sullivan?s Island Superfund Site located in Derby, Connecticut was signed by United States Connecticut District Court Judge Warren Eginton. The Consent Decree was signed by the settling parties in October 2014, and lodged with the Court shortly thereafter for a 30 day public comment period during which no comments were received.
This settlement was achieved after three years of negotiations between the parties. Under the terms of the Consent Decree, Derby agreed to pay the United States $675,000 by December 31, 2014, or within thirty days of the effective date of the Decree, whichever is later, plus an additional sum for interest on that amount calculated from the effective date of the Decree through the date of payment. In exchange, the United States will provide Derby with a covenant not to sue or take administrative action against it pursuant to Section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. ? 9607(a), for past response costs incurred at the Site. EPA incurred approximately $4 million in costs to clean up the Site under a CERCLA time-critical removal action performed between 2008 and 2009. Derby is settling in consideration of its limited financial means, as evaluated by EPA as part of a detailed financial analysis of the settling party?s ability to pay past response costs associated with the Site. EPA performed a removal action at the Site several years ago. The City is now working t