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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 10:17 a.m., Monday, June 11, 2007

EPA, Campbell reach settlement on Superfund site

Advertiser Staff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and James Campbell Co. have completed negotiations on a consent decree regarding the Del Monte Corp. Superfund site in Kunia.

Under the agreement, property owner James Campbell Co. will not use the Kunia Village Source Area land for residences, hospitals, daycare centers, schools for those 21 years old and younger, or for other uses by "vulnerable individuals," the EPA said.

The agreement also prohibits construction that damages or interferes with the cleanup of the groundwater and soils at the site. Campbell also can't apply for a water use permit from a new or existing well in the area without the EPA's approval.

Campbell has also agreed to include the environmental conditions in any land sale agreement, thus making the restrictions apply to future owners of the property, the EPA said.

"Our agreement with Campbell prevents exposure to the public from site contaminants and prohibits activities that may interfere with the cleanup," said Keith Takata, director of the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Superfund Division. "This is a necessary step when the company responsible for the cleanup is not the landowner."

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

The EPA reached an agreement on a separate consent decree with Del Monte Fresh Produce in 2005 to clean up soil and groundwater contamination.

The Campbell settlement will be available for a 30-day public comment period. The public may send comments postmarked by July 11 to the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, P.O. Box 7611, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044-7611. Comments should refer to United States v. James Campbell Company LLC, DOJ Ref. DJ#90-11-3-08277/1.