ExxonMobil, Eastman Subsidiaries to Pay Cleanup Costs At Illinois Industrial Site

Four companies would pay nearly $15 million toward cleaning industrial pollution at a site near St. Louis under a proposed federal court settlement.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Exxon Mobil Oil Corp., Eastman Chemical subsidiary Solutia Inc., Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia LLC and copper manufacturer Cerro Flow Products announced the agreement Friday.

Those four companies are responsible for six waste disposal areas at the Superfund site known as Sauget Area 1 in Sauget, Ill., which was used to dispose of industrial waste from the 1930s through the 1980s.

The Post-Dispatch reports that the area was the subject of numerous wrongful death and injury lawsuits, and that Pharmacia and Solutia sought payments from more than 200 additional companies they believed contributed to contamination in Sauget.

The settlement announced Friday would require the companies to pay for removing materials that contaminate groundwater as well as capping and maintaining hazardous waste sites.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which will oversee the cleanup, will also be reimbursed for $475,000 in past cleanup work and paid more than $2 million for anticipated costs in the future.

The agreement, which must be approved by the court following a 30-day comment period, would reportedly bring total cleanup expenses at Sauget Area 1 to more than $50 million.