This is a civil judicial referral to the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) requesting the filing of proofs of claim on behalf of EPA in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings concerning Exide Technologies. EPA seeks to initiate this matter in relation to Exide's liabilities under CERCLA for response costs incurred and to be incurrred at the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Sites and the Operating Industries, Inc. Superfund Site.
Background: On April 22, 2003, the Department of Justice filed a proof of claim (POC) on behalf of EPA regarding a petition from Exide Technologies submitted to the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. Exide and certain related entities had earlier filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The POC seeks reimbursement for costs incurred at a number of Superfund Sites around the country in which Exide and its affiliates are potentially responsible parties, including the Puente Valley Operable Unit (PVOU) of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Sites ($67.2 million in response costs), and Operating Industries, Inc. ($50 million in response costs). The PVOU is a region of groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents from dozens of industrial operations operating over the past fifty years. Exide was the owner and operator of two of the source facilities. Operating Industries is a 190-acre former landfill at which nearly 4,000 waste generators collective