In the latest chapter of the Ekotek Superfund battle, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to contact some 1,400 area business operators who received letters to join or settle with the Ekotek Site Remediation Committee.
The EPA placed ads in area newspapers Sunday warning those who received letters from the committee's attorneys that other, perhaps cheaper, alternatives exist for them.The group of businesses are those that sent less than 1,000 gallons of product to the Ekotek site, operated as a used-oil refinery from 1953 to 1988. From 1980 to 1987, Eko-tek of Utah owned the refinery and violated state and federal hazardous waste laws, potentially exposing thousands of Western companies to responsibility. The cleanup of the site has prompted a massive legal battle, of which at least 130 companies are named as defendants.
The letters in question, sent Feb. 9 by the firm Holland and Hart, invite the businesses to join or settle with the committee, or face a lawsuit.
In turn, the EPA is considering its own settlement, which would allow "extremely small-volume contributor ' to pay a nominal amount for their part in the site cleanup. The EPAs settlement would also provide the companies with "contribution protection," a shield against other lawsuits.