The Absorbent Technologies Site is comprised of two properties where a company
manufactured a soil additive which allowed farmers to use less water. This manufacturing
process involved the use of chemicals, including acrylonitrile, hydrogen cyanide, potassium
hydroxide, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, methanol and toxic metals. The properties which
comprise the Site are located at 2830 Ferry Street SW, and 140 SW Queen Avenue in Albany,
Oregon. When the manufacturing operations ceased in October 2013, a substantial amount of
chemicals were discarded on-site. Following a notice from the Albany Fire Department, EPA
required and performed cleanup activities at the Site through April 2014. In a prior settlement,
EPA received a payment of $250,000 from owners and operators of the Site. The proposed
administrative settlement agreement which is currently subject to public comment will require
River City Environmental, Inc., David L. Ellis, Pamela L. Ellis, and Farouk Al-Hadi, four
owners of property at the Queen Avenue portion of the Site, to pay EPA a total of $187,500.
These parties also funded or performed some of the cleanup work required by EPA at the Site.
EPA incurred approximately $364,786 in response costs for the Queen Avenue portion of the
Site. Pursuant to the terms of the proposed CERCLA Section 122(h)(1) Settlement Agreement
for Recovery of Response Costs, the settling parties will pay EPA a total of $187,500. Of that
amount, Rive