EPA INITIATES LAWSUIT AGAINST DEFUNCT FIRM IN LOCAL CLEANUP

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The federal government has filed a lawsuit against a defunct Illinois corporation and several shareholders to recoup costs associated with cleaning up the contaminated Missouri Electric Works site.

An Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said the former corporation is a potential responsible party to the site's contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and has not been active in helping to clean up the pollutants. The suit was filed early this month on behalf of the EPA's administrator.

The defendant is named as Giles Armature & Electric Works Inc. Giles Armature operated from December 1946 until its dissolution in April 1986, the lawsuit says.

Giles Armature arranged for the "disposal, repair, storage or treatment of hazardous substances, specifically polychlorinated biphenyls found in transformers and other electrical equipment" at the site, the suit says.

The approximate 6.4-acre site is at 824 South Kingshighway. During the operation of Missouri Electric Works, the suit says, the site became contaminated with high levels of PCBs and "other hazardous substances."

The suit does not specify where the company operated. It also does not list where the shareholders live.

In part, the lawsuit seeks the recovery of costs already incurred, as well as future expenses, in response to the release or treatment of the hazardous substances. Those costs are not specified.

Named as the shareholders in the suit are John E. Giles Jr., Harold L. Chase, Betty Lea Grassinger, Gardner J. Grassinger, Marta Gene Lundemo, Grace N. Giles, and Jenna V. Vickery.

The EPA spokesperson, Community Relations Coordinator Hattie Thomas, said from the agency's regional office in Kansas City, Kan. that the lawsuit was the first of its kind to be filed over the site. However, she said she didn't know whether there would be additional lawsuits filed.

"There is a statute of limitations law I think in the state of Illinois that played into this (lawsuit) also," she said. Thomas said the attorney in charge of the Missouri Electric Works site was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

About 300 potential responsible parties are tied to the contamination at the site, she said.