WASHINGTON, March 31 /U.S. Newswire/ - Dravo Corporation (Dravo), Desco Corporation and Desco Corporation d.b.a. Marshalltown Instruments, Inc., (Desco) have agreed to perform an interim cleanup action and pay $7.3 million to resolve their liability for certain cleanup costs relating to the contamination of the Colorado Avenue Subsite of the Hastings Ground Water Contamination Superfund Site, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

The consent decree, lodged today in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, requires defendants to pay $7.3 million to the federal Hazardous Substances Superfund — the fund used by the EPA to clean up hazardous waste sites. The defendants will also continue to implement and complete implementation of several components of an interim remedy for the Colorado Avenue Subsite and pay EPA's costs of oversight.

This settlement concludes a lawsuit that alleged that the defendants were liable for EPA's costs for investigative and cleanup actions in response to hazardous substance contamination of soils and groundwater. The contamination was allegedly caused by a manufacturing facility formerly owned and operated by Dravo and later Desco. Under this settlement and earlier enforcement actions, parties responsible for the pollution at the Colorado Avenue Subsite have contributed a total of approximately $15.8 million in cleanup work and cash reimbursement.