FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENRD

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Government Settlements Ensure

Cleanup
of Contaminated Sites in New Jersey
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced today that they have reached separate agreements with
NCH Corporation (NCH) and FMC Corporation (FMC) to resolve claims against
them relating to the costs of cleanup at the Higgins Farm and Higgins Disposal
Superfund sites in Somerset County, N.J. Both companies have agreed to reimburse
the federal government for costs incurred cleaning up the contamination found in
the soil and ground water at the sites.

As a part of these settlements, NCH will take over operating the ground water
treatment plant that EPA built at the Higgins Farm site, saving the government
approximately $12 million in future costs. NCH has also agreed to pay EPA more
than $2 million to cover past cleanup costs at both sites. FMC has agreed to pay
EPA almost $17 million, including $14.5 million for EPA’s cleanup costs at Higgins
Farm. Under an earlier agreement with EPA entered in 2004, FMC constructed and
began operating a ground water treatment plant at the Higgins Disposal site. The
Department of Energy is also paying more than $9 million to cover past and future
cleanup costs at both sites.

“The government has spent millions of dollars cleaning up contaminated soil and
ground water at both the Higgins Farm and Higgins Disposal Sites,” said Sue Ellen
Wooldridge, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment
and Natural Resources Division. “We are pleased that today’s settlements help
ensure that the government is reimbursed for its work, and we reaffirm our
commitment to ensuring that hazardous waste sites are cleaned up.”

“These settlements illustrate how Superfund is supposed to work – making polluters

pay for cleaning up sites,” said Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “Now, we
can continue to operate treatment facilities at the sites that will address any
remaining contamination.”

The Higgins Farm Superfund site is located in a rural area along Route 518 in
Franklin Township. The site is approximately 75 acres in size and is currently
operated as a cattle farm. In March 1989, EPA placed the Higgins Farm site on the
National Priorities List (NPL) of the country’s most contaminated sites.

The Higgins Disposal Superfund site is located on a 37.6-acre parcel on Laurel

Avenue in Franklin Township. From the 1950s to 1985, the site owner operated a
waste disposal business including a landfill and waste transfer station. The owner’s
family currently maintains a residence on the site, an equestrian facility (Hasty
Acres Riding Club) and a truck repair shop. In August 1990, EPA placed the
Higgins Disposal site on the NPL.

The Department of Justice lodged both consent decrees today in the U.S. District
Court for the District of New Jersey. The consent decrees will be subject to a 30-
day public comment period and subsequent judicial approval. Both are available on
the Justice Department website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

For more information about the Higgins Disposal site:

http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200359c.htm.

For more information about the Higgins Farm site:

http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0201094c.htm.

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