JANUARY 4, 2022: SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT FOR RECOVERY OF RESPONSE COSTS - This Settlement Agreement concerns the Horton Iron and Metal Superfund Sitelocated in Wilmington, North Carolina. EPA alleges that the Site is a ?facility? as defined by
Section 101(9) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. ? 9601(9). A party unrelated to Settling Party used the Site for fertilizer operations from at
least 1911 until 1948, and Settling Party and a former subsidiary used the Site for fertilizer operations between 1949 and 1959. A second party unrelated to Settling Party has owned and used the Site for its scrap metal and shipbreaking business since at least 1959. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (now the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality) conducted a Site investigation in 2003 and discovered, among other things, arsenic and lead in the soil. EPA conducted a removal assessment at the Site in 2007 and an expanded investigation at the Site in 2009. These investigations detected numerous hazardous substances, including arsenic, lead, and cadmium, in soil and groundwater at the Site. The Site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) on September 16, 2011. A party unrelated to Settling Party conducted a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) at the Site between 2013 and 2018, which identified lead, arsenic, cadmium, PCBs, and other hazardous substances, as defined under Section 101(14) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C.? 9601(14), in the soil, groundwater, a