When will EPA begin negotiating with the major parties for cleanup?
EPA issued invitations to participate in negotiations for Remedial Design and Remedial Action(“RD/RA”) in September 2005. These RD/RA negotiations, also called “global” settlement negotiations because of their scope, will culminate in a final settlement agreement for the site, to be set forth in a consent decree. EPA expects that major generator parties, larger de minimis generator parties, transporters and owners/operators will participate in these negotiations. Additionally, those de minimis parties who have not resolved their liability at Beede through any of the four de minimis settlements, whether by choice or because they have not yet received a de minimis settlement offer from EPA, have been asked to consider future opportunities to settle that may arise from this process (see “Future Negotiations with EPA”). Due to the number of parties involved, those who anticipate participating in these global settlement negotiations should start to organize themselves into a representative
