Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 26, 1993 TAG: 9305260282
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TIMBERVILLE LENGTH: Medium
For almost three years, Howard Arehart has waged a court battle against the federal government and Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., arguing that he should not have to pay for the cleanup.
"It's hard to believe that you have to pay for somebody else's violations," said Arehart.
A federal judge ordered Arehart to pay the money. The judge told him he "shouldn't have to pay a nickel, but the way the law is written, it makes you as guilty as anyone," Arehart said. He said he plans to pay the money.
Arehart, 75, was penalized because he supplied automobile batteries to C&R Battery Co. of Chesterfield from 1970 to 1985. Battery acid seeped into the ground and threatened to contaminate the ground water, he said.
C&R is defunct and does not have the assets to cover the cleanup. Under the Superfund law, the federal Environmental Protection Agency can penalize those who contributed to C&R's business.
Arehart is not alone in having to pay for the cleanup. His $100,000 will go to C&P Telephone to share in the expense for the cleanup.
C&P Telephone also sold batteries to C&R and offered to handle the cleanup, saying it would cost only half of what EPA estimated.
Arehart said EPA's initial estimate to clean the site was $38 million. The agency eventually reduced the estimate to $16 million and C&P said it could do the job for $8 million.
Then C&P Telephone sued more than 100 other contributors to C&R, including Arehart, to help pay for the cleanup.
Paul Miller, a C&P spokesman, said the court order requires Arehart to pay the $100,000 by Friday.
by CNB