The United States of America and the State of Delaware filed suit against 22 separate defendants on Friday in the District of Delaware for their involvement and responsibility in the release of hazardous substances at the Delaware Sand and Gravel Superfund Site. The complaint argues that the defendant’s designated remedy was constructed poorly and led to the hazardous substances at the site being discharged into surrounding areas.
The 22 defendants in the suit were involved in releasing hazardous substances into the Delaware Sand and Gravel Superfund Site (the Site). The site operated as a sand and gravel quarry until it became a privately owned landfill until 1976.
When the site was a landfill, the complaint contends that “approximately 550,000 cubic yards of industrial and municipal wastes and construction rubble, and approximately 15,000 drums containing liquids and sludge from chemical production, manufacturing and petroleum processes” were dumped by the defendants. Hazardous substances such as benzene, ethylbenzene, arsenic, cobalt, iron, and xylenes have since been found in the Site’s soil and its surrounding areas. These substances are of concern because of their “mobility, persistence and potential impact on public water supply wells.” The substances are continuously dissolved and discharged into nearby bodies of water.
When the Environmental Protection Agency conducted inspections at the Site in 1979, they placed it on the National Priorities List. A remedy for the defendants to install was selected in 1988 and is described in the complaint as a “slurry-wall containment system with in-situ soil treatment by soil vapor extraction and bioventing at the Drum Disposal Area.” In 2005, the EPA determined that the remedy was not functioning as it had been intended to because the construction of the system did not meet performance standards. An amended remedy was issued to the defendants in 2017.
The complaint cites four claims for relief, including response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), declaratory judgment under CERCLA, and injunctive relief under CERCLA and Delaware Code. The plaintiffs are seeking favorable judgment on each count, prejudgment interest, natural resource damages, assessment costs, judgment that the defendants are reliable for the current danger or threat of the Site, and other demands.
