Case Summary: Bankruptcy Settlement with Former Delphi Corporation Provides Funding for Cleanup Work at Michigan and Ohio Sites

On December 9, 2013, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a settlement agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the states of Michigan and Ohio, and DPH Holdings Corporation (“DPH Holdings”) and its affiliates. Under the settlement, DPH Holdings agreed to establish and fund an environmental response trust valued at $23.1 million to resolve environmental claims and liabilities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act , the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, commonly referred to as Superfund), and state environmental laws.

• Information about DPH Holdings
• Information about the Site
• Background information on Bankruptcy Proceedings
• Information about the Settlement Agreement
• Contact Information

Information about DPH Holdings

DPH Holdings (formerly known as Delphi Corporation) was a global supplier of technologies and electronics for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets. The company designed, engineered, and manufactured automotive parts and components.

Information about the Sites

The settlement provides funding to clean up four sites in Michigan and Ohio contaminated with hazardous waste. Three of the four properties are the sites of former auto parts manufacturing plants:

• the former Delphi Automotive Systems Dort Highway Flint East Plant 400 and Plant 500, both in Flint, Mich., and
• the former Delphi Saginaw Division Plant 2 in Saginaw, Mich.

The fourth site is an inactive asbestos landfill in Rootstown, Ohio, formerly operating under Delphi’s Packard Electric/Electronic Architecture Division.

Background information on Bankruptcy Proceedings

Delphi, which was spun off of General Motors in 1999, filed for bankruptcy in 2005. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. DPH Holdings then became responsible for winding up the bankruptcy.

Summary of the Settlement Agreement

Under the settlement, DPH Holdings established an environmental response trust and funded the trust with roughly $23.1 million to take ownership of and oversee cleanup at the four contaminated sites in Michigan and Ohio. The $23.1 million paid by DPH funds the administrative costs of the trust and the cleanup of the sites. DPH also paid roughly $160,000 to reimburse EPA for prior cleanup work at another contaminated site in Ohio.

Through the settlement, the company paid for the cleanup of both soil and ground water contamination at the three former auto parts manufacturing plants in Michigan. The funds provided by the company in the settlement for the Rootstown, Ohio site will pay for ground water monitoring and will ensure continued public safety and security at the site.

Contact Information

For more information contact

Cathleen Martwick
Associate Regional Counsel
Region 5
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
martwick.cathleen@epa.gov