The Cooperating Parties look forward to working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to complete the ongoing remedial investigation/feasibility study (“RI/FS” or “Study”) of the Lower Passaic River.

Pursuant to a settlement agreement, effective May 8, 20007, the Cooperating Parties will complete the remaining RI/FS tasks to provide the necessary data to enable the EPA and its partner agencies to better understand the Lower Passaic River’s conditions and to decide how to remediate and restore the River.  Securing the commitment from the Cooperating Parties to complete the RI/FS will ensure this important study is completed efficiently and expeditiously.

Under the agreement, EPA will maintain control and oversight over the RI/FS. For example, the EPA must approve which contractors are hired to perform the work and must approve all work plans for data collection, as well as the resulting reports through each phase of the project. The EPA will also have its own contractor overseeing the work, a cost funded by the Cooperating Parties. The Cooperating Parties are required to abide by the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the approved RI/FS Schedule.

EPA has also required that the Cooperating Parties place a total of $37 million into a trust fund to ensure funds are available to complete the RI/FS. The Cooperating Parties have already paid $10.75 million and may fund up to an additional $2.4 million for EPA’s activities related to the RI/FS pursuant to separate settlement agreements.

Members of the Cooperating Parties are committed to completing this first significant step in the Lower Passaic River Restoration Project. The RI/FS is the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund component of the Project. The completion of this important component of the Study will be funded by the Cooperating Parties.

The Cooperating Parties noted there are other benefits to the arrangement:

• EPA has secured a commitment of funds to complete the RI/FS, an important component of the Study


• EPA will now have more resources to perform other critical tasks while the Cooperating Parties complete the remaining RI/FS tasks

The Cooperating Parties, along with the EPA and its Partner Agencies – the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – remain committed to working cooperatively on this Project, ensuring the RI/FS is completed in an efficient manner in order to provide the data and information needed for the Partner Agencies to understand the current condition of the Lower Passaic River and to decide how to remediate and restore the Lower Passaic River.