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November 4, 2014

Derby to pay $675K for $4M island cleanup

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement with the city of Derby to cover a fraction of the $4 million in pollution cleanup costs on a city-owned island.

EPA spent $4 million cleaning up O’Sullivan Island in 2008 and 2009, removing 14,000 tons of contaminated soil and 50 exposed and degraded 55-gallon drums.

Derby purchased the seven-acre O’Sullivan site from the state in 1963. It currently is used for recreational purposes at the juncture of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers, but formerly served as a firefighting training school and a source of sand and gravel for the Derby landfill.

Because the nature of the pollution required immediate action for cleanup, EPA stepped in and removed the contamination in 2008 and 2009, and then sought some of the cost of that cleanup from Derby.

Under the settlement reached this week with the Justice Department, Derby has agreed to pay $675,000 plus accrued interest for the cleanup by Dec. 31. EPA considered the city’s difficult financial situation in settling the case.

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