Five companies have agreed to compensate the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania nearly $21.4 million in cash and property to address natural resource damages (NRD) resulting from decades of zinc smelting operations at the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund site in northeast Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the settlement is the largest NRD settlement to date in Pennsylvania.

The companies agreed to make a cash payment of $9.875 million and to transfer 1,200 acres of valuable property, known as the Kings Manor property and valued at approximately $8.72 million, to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

In addition, the companies agreed to pay $2.5 million for damage assessment costs and to discharge a mortgage worth $300,000 on the Wildlife Information Center (Lehigh Gap Nature Center), a nonprofit conservation and environmental education organization located at the Lehigh Gap.

INFO: Contact DOJ at 202-514-2007.