PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - JPMorgan Chase Bank has reimbursed the federal government $1.28 million for costs incurred by the Environmental Protection Agency in cleaning up the Browning Lumber Company Superfund Site.
The site is located in Boone County, W.Va. A settlement was announced Wednesday.
JPMorgan Chase was the corporate successor to a former site owner of the Browning site. It performed cleanup work, as per the Superfund law. But prior to this, the EPA says it had done extensive cleanup.
The site will be eligible for appropriate re-use as part of West Virginia's voluntary cleanup program, which encourages voluntary cleanups of contaminated sites as well as redevelopments of abandoned and under-utilized properties.
Starting in 1976, Charleston National Bank, owner of the site as trustee of the Shepard Trust, leased the property to the Browning Lumber Co., which harvested timber and used part of the property for wood-treatment. Charleston National is now part of JPMorgan.