The three firms, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, signed a consent decree yesterday.
A spokesman for Rohm & Haas, George V. Bochanski, last night said the firm's $42.7 million contribution is "our fair share."
The money will be paid out over a period of eight years, and the company expects to recover the entire amount through litigation against other firms that also dumped waste at the site, Bochanski said.
The agreement announced yesterday follows a $3 million settlement in 1989 between the federal government and 10 parties that also used the site.
Rohm & Haas Co., which dumped about 46,000 of the 54,000 55-gallon drums of waste at Lipari, was ordered to pay the bulk of that amount.
The settlement covers all on-site costs already incurred in cleaning up the 16-acre site off Route 322 as well as some future on-site costs, EPA spokeswoman Mary Breitenbach said.
"It is one of the biggest settlements we've (the EPA) had," she said.
The consent decree will be available for public comment for 30 days, Breitenbach said. Barring public criticism, it would be formally adopted at that time, she said.
"This settlement represents a very important step toward overall cleanup of the number one site on the (Superfund) list and demonstrates the United States' commitment to enforcing our environmental laws," said Vicki O'Meara, acting assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
There is still an estimated $50 to $75 million to be spent cleaning up nearly 25 acres worth of contaminated off-site areas before the work is complete, Breitenbach said.
