Owner of Asbestos Mine, DOJ Reach Settlement Over Contamination

By WADE RAWLINS
The former owner of the largest chrysotile asbestos mine and mill in the U.S. has reached a legal settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to address contamination caused by the former operation.

Under terms of the consent decree, G-I Holdings Inc., formerly known as GAF Corp., will take steps immediately to fence and secure the 1,673-acre abandoned mine and mill site near Lowell, Vermont.

The site has two towering piles of mine and mill waste that are eroding and polluting downstream surface waters, say attorneys with the Department of Justice.

The piles also attract hikers, rock collectors and ATV enthusiasts and may expose people who visit the site to particles of airborne asbestos, Justice officials say. Inhaling asbestos fibers can cause serious respiratory problems and forms of cancer.

G-I Holdings will provide onsite surveillance and will monitor air emissions from the piles and conduct dust suppression if necessary and provide support to EPA and Vermont for future monitoring. The work will be carried out over eight years and G-I will spend up to $7.75 million.

G-I, which has been under bankruptcy protection since 2001, will reimburse the federal government and Vermont a portion of the estimated $300 million for past and future clean-up costs and off site contamination. G-I will pay up to $25.8 million of the cleanup costs. The company also will pay $850,000 for damages to local wetlands and streams.

“The cornerstone of this settlement is that G-I is responsible for completing extensive work at the Vermont Asbestos Group Mine Site, focusing on site security, air monitoring and investigating and sampling certain mine tailings,” John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement. “G-I will also pay for its share of cleanup costs for this site and nine other contaminated sites around the country.”

The federal government sued G-I in 2008, asking the court to order the company to take immediate action to address pollution that could pose an imminent threat to public health.

Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, G-I Holdings and its subsidiary Building Materials Corporation of America make roofing materials such as flashing, vents and shingles. The company has operated under bankruptcy protection since 2001.

The Vermont site is the most significant of 13 contaminated industrial sites covered by the settlement. G-I will contribute $104,615 as its share of cleanup costs to resolve federal claims where its predecessors disposed of hazardous waste.

In addition, the federal government has up to 10 years to bring claims for cleanup costs and environmental damage at three related heavily-contaminated industrial sites in New York and New Jersey —the GAF Chemical site, the LCP Chemicals Inc Superfund site and the Diamond Alkali Superfund site – referred to collectively as the Linden sites.

The consent decree was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.

Chrysotile asbestos is one of two general types of asbestos and the most common found in products in the United States. For example, the asbestos fibers detected in the samples taken at the World Trade Center site were chrysotile asbestos.

U.S. Department of Justice Release