Alleging a collusion to defeat state sovereignty, Gov. Siegelman has asked EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman to withdraw the government's proposed consent decree with Solutia and Pharmacia for PCB investigation and cleanup in the Anniston area.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Siegelman said the federal government should allow the judge in the ongoing PCB trial in circuit court in Gadsden to rule on the plaintiff's demand for cleanup. Siegelman said the consent decree was "clearly" timed to strip the circuit court of its jurisdictional authority.
"As is too often the case, (the decree) protects the powerful and connected corporation at the expense of the citizens in that area," Siegelman said in the letter, provided to The Anniston Star late Wednesday.
EPA officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
EPA and U.S. Department of Justice officials are reviewing the controversial decree after a 60-day public comment period that ended June 3.
Hundreds of Anniston residents signed petitions this summer, asking the EPA and DOJ to withdraw or modify the consent decree, which requires the companies to conduct a long-term Superfund-style evaluation.
Meanwhile, DOJ attorneys also are challenging efforts by PCB trial plaintiffs to intervene to block the consent decree filed in Birmingham federal district court; they claim the federal court does not have jurisdiction under the Superfund law to challenge EPA's activities.
Recently, EPA officials told The Anniston Star that they are still in the process of deciding whether to submit the decree for judicial approval, modify it, or withdraw it.
As proposed, the decree would prevent Anniston from being listed on Superfund's National Priorities List of the worst-contaminated sites in the country. The site would not be listed unless Solutia or Pharmacia (the current owner of Monsanto, which spun off Solutia in 1997) refused to comply with EPA requirements, officials said.
The proposed decree requires the companies to conduct a remediation investigation and feasibility study (proposal of cleanup alternatives) called an RI/FS, for all the PCBs that leaked from the former Monsanto plant in western Anniston. Typically, RI/FS investigations take two to five years to complete.
The proposed decree also strips the Alabama Department of Environmental Management of its lead authority in the facility and environmental cleanup of the Anniston area. Under previous agreements, EPA only held lead authority for cleanup of PCB and lead-impacted residential areas.
ADEM and Alabama Attorney General officials have opposed the decree, opposing EPA's step to strip the state's lead role.
Siegelman's legal advisor Ted Hosp said in a Wednesday evening interview that the governor determined that the decree was not in the best interests of Anniston after meeting with community residents who were displeased with it.
Hosp said the governor and his staff also have met or discussed the decree with the Alabama attorney general and ADEM, as well as with EPA officials.
"We have had number of meetings over the past month or so with folks with EPA and the community," Hosp said.
He said Siegelman appealed directly to Whitman because she is a former governor. "She's in a position to understand where he is coming from on issues like state sovereignty," Hosp said.
