DEP announces $1.3 million secured in recovery cost for Pool Doctor emergency clean up

ROCHESTER ― The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has entered a proposed consent decree with the group responsible for illegally disposing of dangerous chemicals in Beaver County.

In an announcement from the state agency, DEP announced that Arxada (formerly known as Lonza, Inc.) has agreed to pay $1.3 million to resolve the claims they had arranged to dispose of hazardous chemicals at the Pool Doctor site in Rochester. According to officials, the company had disposed of 140 tons of hydantoin, a dangerous chemical, at the site under the guise of a sale.

“This investigation, and the subsequent cleanup that DEP led, is an example of our commitment to getting things done for Pennsylvanians and holding polluters accountable,” said Jessica Shirley, acting secretary for the DEP. “I applaud the dedicated staff who have tirelessly worked to not only remediate an environmental, health and safety hazard, but also followed every lead to ensure that those who profited off of this recklessness are held to account.”

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Reporters for The Times first covered this arbitration in February, when the DEP had announced they were pursuing a total of $2.4 million in costs tied to the former Rochester site. Clean-up was required after the site holding the chemicals collapsed and caught fire twice in 2019 , forming a chlorine and bromine cloud that prompted two shelter-in-place advisories in Beaver County. Officials reported it took $3 million to clean up the hazardous site.

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The consent decree can be found on the DEP's website and will be open to public comment through Oct. 16. Comments can also be submitted in writing to Paul Vogel, Manager, Hazardous Sites Cleanup, PA Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 or by emailing the department at RA-EPSW-HSCA@pa.gov.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: DEP announces $1.3 million secured in recovery cost for Pool Doctor emergency clean up