Defendant generated wastes which were disposed of at the two Peter Cooper Corporations Superfund Sites in Gowanda and Markhams, New York. These wastes were leather scraps containing chromium, and potentially arsenic, which are the contaminants of concern at the two sites. Irving submitted a Notice of Bar Date for filing of a Claim in Bankruptcy to EPA on October 19, 2001 establishing a bar date of November 21, 2001. The Notice, however, was not received by EPA Region II until December 13, 2001 since the letter was tied up in the Morgan Post Office anthrax closure and was delivered two months late after the bar date had already past. Under these circumstances a telephone referral was made to DOJ on December 13, 2001 to the trial attorney who was already handling two other bankruptcies concerning the Peter Cooper sites.