The Department of Environmental Protection and various companies have proposed a $1.1 million settlement over contamination at a Paulsboro storage tank farm.
DEP is accepting comments for 30 days on the proposed consent judgment regarding discharges of one-time gasoline-additive MTBE into groundwater at the terminal at Third Street and Billingsport Road on the Delaware River. The proposed settlement stems from a civil action DEP took in 2007.
The property has gone through numerous owners down through the years, but the proposed consent judgment would basically include Kinder Morgan Liquid Terminals LLC and Plains Products Terminals, according to Ross A. Lewin, the attorney representing Kinder Morgan.
The DEP seeks reimbursement of remediation and cleanup costs, and as part of the proposed settlement, none of the parties would admit liability.
According to the proposed consent judgment, a soil vapor extraction system to monitor MTBE will have to be installed.
For years, MTBE had been added to gasoline for, among other things, replacing lead as an octane enhancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Oil companies no longer use MTBE.
Once the comment period for the proposed consent judgment ends, it will be presented to a judge for approval.
