FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENRD

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Ohio Companies to Pay $3.25 Million to

Settle Alleged Natural Resources
Damages Claims and Clean Water Act
Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Elkem Metals Company L.P, its two partners—Ferro
Invest III Inc. and Ferro Invest II LLC—and Eramet Marietta Inc. have agreed to
pay $3.25 million to settle allegations that the companies injured natural resources
and violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) as a result of wastewater discharges from
a Marietta, Ohio, facility the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior
(DOI), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

As a result of the settlement, the companies will pay a combined total of $2,040,000
towards restoration of injured natural resources in the Ohio River, including the
restoration of native freshwater mussels, fish, and gastropods (snails). They will also
pay a total of $460,000 as reimbursement to DOI and the states of West Virginia
and Ohio—also parties to the settlement—for past assessment costs under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA). In addition, Elkem will pay a penalty of $225,000 and Eramet will pay
a penalty of $525,000 for alleged CWA violations.

“Today’s settlement was made possible because of the cooperative efforts of federal
and state governments and private industry,” said Assistant Attorney General Sue
Ellen Wooldridge of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division. “We are confident that this agreement will help to substantially improve
the environment and restore valuable natural resources for the people of the Ohio
River Valley.”

Today’s settlement resolves claims under CERCLA that in 1999, the alleged release
of hazardous substances at the Marietta facility caused injuries to natural resources,
including injury to local river life, such as fish and mussels. It is also alleged that
the Marietta, Ohio facility was responsible for unauthorized wastewater discharges
into the Ohio River in violation of a CWA discharge permit.

“Federal and state agencies worked closely together to reach a settlement with
Elkem and Eramet that will significantly benefit the Ohio River and those who fish
in it,” said EPA Regional Administrator Tom Skinner.

“This settlement enables the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and our co-trustees in
Ohio and West Virginia to work together to restore and enhance resources in a
stretch of the Ohio River that saw substantial losses to native species,” said U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Robyn Thorson. “Cooperation among
all the parties to reach this settlement has given us the mechanism to continue to
restore a national treasure—the fish, freshwater mussels, and aquatic life of the
Ohio River.”

From at least 1994 up to June 30, 1999, Elkem Metals Company L.P. owned and
operated a ferroalloy manufacturing facility in Marietta, Ohio. From June 30, 1999
through the present, Eramet Marietta, Inc. has owned and operated the Marietta
facility. The facility produces, among other things, ferroalloy products, including
electrolytic chromium and aluminum hardeners used by the aluminum industry. As a
result of its manufacturing process, the Marietta facility discharges treated
wastewater into the Ohio River. Since at least 1996, the wastewater discharges from
the facility have been subject to limitations and other conditions in a CWA
discharge permit issued by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Since at
least 1997, it is alleged that on various occasions, first Elkem Metals and then
Eramet discharged wastewater to the Ohio River that contained pollutants in excess
of the limitations set forth in the facility’s CWA NPDES permit or that was
otherwise not in compliance with the terms of the permit.

As part of today’s settlement, the natural resource trustees—the Fish and Wildlife
Service and the states of West Virginia and Ohio—will develop a restoration plan,
with input from the public, to restore the mussels, fish, and snails.

Today’s settlement will be the subject of a 30-day public comment period beginning
with publication of the Federal Register notice for the settlement.

During the public comment period, the consent decree may also be examined on the
Department of Justice website at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/open.html.

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