Montrose Chemical Corporation, Environmental Pollution, California 2021

LOS ANGELES, CA – In a major breakthrough in environmental law enforcement, Montrose Chemical Corporation, Bayer CropScience Inc., TFCF America Inc., and Stauffer Management Company LLC have agreed to pay $77.6 million for the cleanup of contaminated groundwater at the Montrose Chemical Corp. Superfund and the Del Amo Superfund Sites in Los Angeles County, California.

The settlements, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on September 30, 2021, collectively resolve active litigation in a case that has been pending for over 30 years under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, commonly referred to as Superfund).

From 1947 to 1982, Montrose operated the U.S.’s largest manufacturing plant for the pesticide DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane).

“These settlements will enhance groundwater quality in Los Angeles County by requiring the responsible polluters to clean up two major portions of the Montrose Superfund Site and investigate the historic stormwater pathway,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“EPA continues its commitment to protecting community health and drinking water sources by cleaning up groundwater impacted by the Montrose and Del Amo Superfund Sites,” said Director Enrique Manzanilla of EPA’s Pacific Southwest Superfund and Emergency Management.

The settlements require the companies to pay for and implement cleanup remedies and perform an investigation with federal and state oversight. The companies will also reimburse EPA more than $8 million and California DTSC more than $450,000 for costs already incurred.

Each settlement addresses specific activities to address cleanup of the sites: the first settlement requires pumping and treating the groundwater to federal and state cleanup standards and then reinjecting the treated water back into the ground; the second settlement will bring about treatment of the soil to address historical releases that are an ongoing source of groundwater contamination; and the third settlement requires investigation of potential contaminant releases in the historic stormwater pathway leading from the Montrose Superfund Site, south of Torrance Boulevard.

The settlements are memorialized in three consent decrees. For information on these Superfund sites, visit the Del Amo Los Angeles, CA Superfund site profile web page at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0901293 and the Montrose Chemical Corp. Torrance, CA Superfund site profile web page at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.c.

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