Request for Public Comment by 1/18/2005

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing an administrative settlement with NEC Acquisition Company to recover its past costs concerning the closure and abandonment of geothermal wells at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Site in Lake County, California.

The settlement requires NEC Acquisition Company to pay $1,700,000 to the EPA Hazardous Substance Superfund and includes a federal covenant not to sue.

EPA will receive written comments related to this proposed settlement submitted on or before January 18, 2005. EPA will consider all comments received and may modify or withdraw its consent to the settlement if comments disclose facts or considerations which indicate that the settlement is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.

Comments to the EPA should reference the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, Lake County, California and EPA Docket No. 2005-01, and be to the attention of Larry Bradfish, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St (ORC-3), San Francisco, CA 94105. Phone (415) 972-3934, Fax (415) 947-3570

The proposed settlement is available for public inspection at the following locations:

• EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, California

• Lake County Library, 1425 N. High St, Lakeport, California

• Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Road, Clearlake, California

A copy of the proposed settlement may be obtained by calling Larry Bradfish at (415) 972-3934 or sending an email to bradfish.larry@epa.gov. 

The documents in PDF format can also be downloaded from these files:

• http://www.cleanlake.org/SulphrBnkAgreement.pdf (581K) and 

• http://www.cleanlake.org/costrecAppendices.pdf (1310K)

EPA's response to any comments received will be available for public inspection at 75 Hawthorne St in San Francisco, CA 94105.