The Environmental Protection Agency and Del Monte Fresh Produce are moving forward with a $13 million plan to clean up a contaminated pineapple plantation in Central O'ahu.

Public comment is being sought on the settlement, reached earlier this year. Unless significant objections are raised, the agreement will become legally binding 30 days from Aug. 4, the date Justice Department officials filed it with the U.S. District Court in Hawai'i.

EPA officials said they are confident about the cleanup plan, some of which is already under way.

"Our agreement with Del Monte Fresh Produce will result in the removal of contamination from the soil and groundwater," Keith Takata, director for the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Superfund Division, said in a written statement.

The EPA placed the Del Monte site on the national Superfund list in December 1994, after soil and groundwater at the 6,000-acre plantation were found to be contaminated by chemicals used to treat nematodes, a type of worm that infested pineapple fields.

Under the deal, Del Monte has agreed to pay for cleanup measures that will address both soil and water contamination.

A phytoremediation system has been operating since 1998 to decontaminate shallow groundwater using koa haole plants.

Cleanup crews will use a soil vapor extraction process to remove chemicals trapped in the soil, and then treat the vapors with a carbon filtering process before the vapor is released.

Deep groundwater will be pumped from 800 feet down starting at the Kunia well, and will be cleaned using air stripping and carbon filters.

The cleanup process is expected to continue to 2014.

Those who wish to submit comments should address their remarks to the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 7611, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044-7611. Refer to United States v. Del Monte Fresh Produce (Hawai'i), Inc., DOJ Ref. 90-11-3-08277.