Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508280145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SALTVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Olin and the Environmental Protection Agency are disputing how to clean up a Superfund toxic waste site in Saltville, where the company contaminated the North Fork of the Holston River with mercury and other chemicals.
While they may disagree over how to correct the damage from the dumping that ended in the 1970s, Olin officials said the company is committed to funding the cleanup.
``We've accepted our responsibilities there,'' said Bill McDaniel, director of corporate communications at Olin's offices in Stamford, Conn.
The dispute with the EPA over the Southwest Virginia site ``has nothing to do with who was responsible, but rather the nature of the final cleanup,'' he said. ``We have never used Saltville as an example of the unfairness of retroactive liability.''
However, 23 years have passed since Olin shut down the Saltville plant when mercury contamination was discovered, saying it couldn't afford to comply with new environmental laws.
Proposals gaining support in Congress would release corporations from paying cleanup costs for pollution that occurred before 1980, when the Superfund law was adopted.
``Congress would let Olin Corp. walk away and transfer the cost of cleaning up this site to the taxpayer,'' Steven Herman, head of enforcement at the EPA, said Thursday.
Olin has spent $20 million on capping and isolating the lagoons and ponds used for waste disposal.
The EPA has recommended taking soil from the Superfund site and burning it in a giant kiln-like facility, which would cost as much as $60 million.
Olin rebuffed the plan in January. Not only is the process expensive, the company says, the transportation of dirt and the emissions would pose an additional risk to residents without gaining much more protection. Instead, Olin wants to put another clay cap on the site and keep an eye on it.
Olin has found a lot of supporters: the state and both its U.S. senators, Saltville's mayor and Town Council and 382 people who signed a petition earlier this year asking the EPA to back off.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.