Staffieri: $4 Million EPA Demand Was A Starting Point In Negotiations

Former Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri said the multimillion dollar figure being tossed around in stories about the federal Environmental Protection Agency trying to collect a bill from the City of Derby was a starting point” in negotiations.

The Valley Indy first reported Jan. 14 that the EPA was trying to collect $4 million for the 2008 – 2009 emergency removal action” at O’Sullivan’s Island, a public park in downtown Derby where the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers meet.

Staffieri said although negotiations were not finished when he left office in December, a the dollar amount was no longer $4 million.

The dollar amount we negotiated is significantly less — significantly less,” Staffieri said.

The former mayor wouldn’t say what the EPA might be willing to settle for, because revealing the dollar amount would hurt the city’s negotiating position.

The EPA supervised and funded the O’Sullivan’s Island removal action,” which took out almost 14,000 tons of PCB-laded soil and almost 100 55-gallon drums that had been buried in the ground for decades.

While the EPA paid for the project, the agency sought reimbursement from the property’s responsible party” — In this case, the City of Derby.

The EPA activity concentrated only on PCBs on the southern end of O’Sullivan’s Island.

Derby City Hall released a letter Jan. 14 in which the EPA demands reimbursement from the city and threatens to litigate if Derby doesn’t respond. It is posted below.

However, the letter was written in 2010 and wasn’t shared with the Board of Aldermen until Staffieri left office.

At some point while he was mayor, Staffieri’s administration hired Robinson and Cole, a law firm, to negotiate with the EPA. The Board of Aldermen was unaware of this as well, despite the fact they require monthly updates in public from the city’s corporation counsel.

Alderman Ron Sill criticized Staffieri for not keeping the Aldermen in the loop.

To go and hire an attorney behind our back, and to enter into negotiations, instead of worrying about what’s in the ground down there, I just don’t understand it,” Sill said, referring to memos regarding potential contamination at O’Sullivan’s Island that were also not shared with the city’s legislative body.

Staffieri said he didn’t bring the information to the Board of Aldermen when he was mayor because the negotiations with the EPA hadn’t yet resulted in a deal.

There were negotiations going on. Those things are private until it is finished. It still wasn’t finished yet,” Staffieri said.

Sill strongly disagreed.

Legally, any claim against Derby should have been brought to our attention, according to our city charter. That’s our Bible,” Sill said.

EPA officials have agreed to keep the matter out of court in order to keep talks going with Derby.

Staffieri said in his administration’s talks with the EPA, the city pointed out that O’Sullivan’s Island over 50 years had been used by some 26 other municipalities and agencies, including the National Guard, the state police and fire departments from all over the region who used the part of the property that housed a firefighter training facility.

The hope is that any dollar amount will include contributions from those entities so Derby doesn’t have to foot the entire the bill, Staffieri said.

Staffieri said he discussed the matter with Mayor Anita Dugatto and new corporation counsel Kevin Blake during a 2‑hour meeting when Dugatto was transitioning into the Derby mayor’s office.

We told the mayor-elect what had to be done and also told them whatever the outcome may be and told them there are at least 26 other towns and agencies that are responsible,” Staffieri said.

Dugatto said previously she learned about the $4 million liability through a phone call from Robinson and Cole after she took office.

The Derby Board of Aldermen Jan. 22 held an executive session — a type of meeting closed to the public, allowed under state law in some cases — to discuss the EPAs demand.

Afterward they voted to retain Robinson and Cole to continue the negotiations with the EPA.

Since December 2012, the city has paid Robinson and Cole about $60,000 for its work on the EPA negotiations, according to Derby’s finance office.

The firm’s hourly rate is about $450 if a principal partner is working on the case. Other staff attorneys from the firm working for Derby on the EPA issue are paid between $175 and $200 per hour.

EPA To Derby

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