PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced May 3 that Persimmon Lane LLC has settled with the agency and the commonwealth of Virginia. The company will help fund the cleanup of the Hidden Lane Superfund site, a 150-acre property in Sterling, Loudon County, Virginia.
The federal “Superfund” law – formally known as the Comprehensive Environmental Responsibility, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) – mandates that those responsible for contaminating a site are liable to either clean up the site, or reimburse the government or other parties for cleanup costs.
Persimmon Lane will reimburse the federal and state governments for cleanup costs at the site, which is north of state Route 7 and adjacent to the Potomac River. According to the EPA, Persimmon will pay via funds generated from the future sale of the property.
The site is a former waste disposal landfill and was added to EPA’s Superfund list of the most contaminated sites in United States in 2008. The landfill was open between 1971 and 1984 but had to close after testing showed the presence of several landfill-related contaminants including a common degreasing solvent trichloroethylene (TCE).