News from the City of Wilmington
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Pending Settlement Agreement Negotiated Without City’s Input Would Relieve County of Its Responsibility for Environmental Remediation Costs to the Detriment of City Taxpayers
Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker said today that the City is objecting to a proposed consent agreement concerning Fox Point State Park because of its possible effect on the City’s taxpayers. The consent decree documents a settlement agreement struck recently between the New Castle County (NCC) Government and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) without the City’s input. The Mayor said the proposed agreement does not take into account the County’s total environmental liability at Fox Point Park.
Mayor Baker said if the proposed consent decree is allowed to stand, it would unfairly burden City taxpayers with potential liabilities that substantially and properly belong to the County. These liabilities relate to environmental remediation work performed by the State at Fox Point. He said the proposed State action would also release the County from its potential liabilities in the eyes of the law.
Mayor Baker said the big losers in all of this could be the City’s taxpayers who should not have to shoulder the cost of a potential multi-million dollar remediation judgment from DNREC simply because the County worked out a side deal with DNREC.
The City formally filed its objections today to the proposed consent decree with DNREC. (A copy of the City’s comments to DNREC is attached as a PDF document as part of this news release.)
DNREC could eventually seek to recover about $7 million it spent to remediate the land from the potentially responsible parties (also known as PRPs) recognized by DNREC as the City, the County, the State and American Premier Underwriters, a successor company to a former railroad company that operated on land at Fox Point.
Notwithstanding the comments filed today with DNREC about the proposed consent decree with the County, the City of Wilmington firmly maintains that it should not legally be considered as a potential responsible party (PRP) for recovery of costs associated with the remediation of Fox Point Park by DNREC. The Mayor said Wilmington intends to vigorously defend its position with respect to the PRP issue.
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