Pallone Commends EPA for Holding Polluter Responsible for Imperial Oil Superfund Site

Long Branch, NJ --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) issued the following statement this afternoon after hearing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding the Champion Chemical Company responsible for funding the cleanup of the Imperial Oil Superfund Site in Marlboro.

According to the EPA, the company had agreed to reimburse it for some of the costs of its cleanup, but defaulted on that agreement. The company must now pay EPA not only the past due amounts, but more than $6 million in penalties.

The New Jersey congressman is the author of legislation that would once again hold polluters fully accountable for Superfund cleanups by reinstituting a Superfund tax paid by the oil and chemical companies. The tax expired in 1995 and has not been reinstituted since then, leaving the taxpayer responsible for a larger portion of the cleanup bill.

"I commend the EPA for holding Champion Chemical accountable for breaking its promise and violating a federal agreement to clean up the Imperial Oil/Champion Chemicals Superfund site. This action sends a clear message that polluters must pay for the clean up of sites they contaminated."