FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1995 (202) 514-2008

TDD (202) 514-1888

CHICAGO MANUFACTURER WILL PAY $1.6 MILLION FINE

AND CURB TOXIC DISCHARGES INTO CHICAGO SEWERS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Chicago-based chemical and dye manufacturer

will pay a $1.6 million penalty and make $1.5 million worth of
state-of-the-art wastewater plant improvements to end what the
government called repeated dumping of insufficiently treated,
toxic chemicals into the Chicago public sewer system.

The settlement, filed today in U.S. District Court in

Chicago, resolves allegations that the 115th Street Corporation
had violated the Clean Water Act by discharging benzene, lead,
cyanide and other dangerous pollutants in exceedance of legal
limits into the Greater Chicago Calumet sewage treatment plant.
The 115th Street Corporation processes these chemicals to make
pigments for use in the printing, agriculture and food
industries.

"This agreement demonstrates in a very real way how the

Clean Water Act helps to protect communities and nearby waters
like Lake Michigan," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney
General in charge of the Department's Environment and Natural
Resources Division. "This Congress wants to significantly weaken
the Clean Water Act. If that happens, the Justice Department's
and ordinary American's hands will be tied and settlements like
this that prevent pollution will be a thing of the past."

"Citizens played a crucial role in this successful effort to

reduce pollution in an already heavily polluted area," said
Deputy Regional Administrator Michelle Jordan. "They alerted EPA
to the violations and were active participants in negotiations
with the company."

Citizens from the local community, and environmental and

public interest groups first sued the company in March 1992 to
prevent future discharges. The suit alleged that the company had
exceeded legal discharge limits on more than 500 days over a
four-year period. The Department of Justice and the EPA
intervened on the plaintiffs' side in 1994.

The Clean Water Act requires regulation of indirect

dischargers of pollutants. The aim is to keep contaminated
wastewater from flowing into waters such as Lake Michigan or
interfering with the operations of treatment plants.

The company will build a state-of-the-art biological

wastewater treatment system to curb future pollution. The new
system will use microorganisms to break down the chemical waste
before it is discharged into the sewer system. 115th Street
Corporation's current sewer pipe system, leaky pipes and all,
will probably be replaced.

The company has also shut down a color pigment processing

operation to reduce further the amounts of benzene and toluene
discharges. The settlement requires full compliance with the
Clean Water Act by next summer. In addition to the penalty and
plant improvements, the company will reimburse the Illinois
Public Interest Research Group more than $600,000 in legal
expenses.

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