The lessons of Rose Chemical

Journal Article · · Public Power; (USA)

OSTI ID:5152472

Steinzor, R I ^[1]

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1. Speigel and McDiarmid, WA (USA)

From early 1983 through the spring of 1986, Holden, MO's main industry was Martha C. Rose Chemicals, Inc. (Rose Chemical), a small business that said it could decontaminate and repair electrical equipment containing PCBs. By the time Rose Chemical's main proprietor, Walter C. Carolan, had hopped in his car and fled the scene, the site had become a major depository for more than 23 million pounds of PCB equipment and a major headache for electric utilities nationwide. Cleanup costs at the site are estimated at $35 million and the former plant manager recently was sentenced to a two-year jail term after pleading guilty to federal conspiracy to defraud charges. Most of the surface debris, including close to 13 million pounds of contaminated equipment, carcasses and tanks of contaminated oil, have been removed, at a cost of some $12 million. A 100,000 square-foot warehouse and unknown contamination of soil and water around the site must still be cleaned up. For public power, Rose Chemical was a painful introduction to the nation's toxic waste cleanup law; the long reach of Superfund holds anyone who sent waste to a site like Rose Chemical strictly, jointly, and severally liable for cleanup costs if certain criteria are met. For the approximately 200 publicly owned electric systems that were identified as potentially responsible parties at the Rose Chemical site, the experience has been at best a nagging aggravation and at worst an infuriating frustration.

• OSTI ID: 5152472
• Journal Information: Public Power; (USA), Journal Name: Public Power; (USA) Vol. 47:2; ISSN PUPOA; ISSN 0033-3654
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
296000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
AROMATICS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
COST
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FEDERAL REGION VII
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
LAND POLLUTION
LAWS
MANAGEMENT
MISSOURI
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION LAWS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
REMEDIAL ACTION
SUPERFUND
TRANSFORMERS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER POLLUTION