News

NCR enters into consent decree resolving Fox River Superfund litigation

January 25, 2017

NCR Corp. has entered into a definitive consent decree with the U.S. government and the state of Wisconsin in order to resolve environmental cleanup and related Superfund litigation involving Fox River in Wisconsin.

The decree is subject to court approval, according to a press release.

The resolution includes commitments by NCR to complete cleanup work intended to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from the river, and to drop a potential legal appeal. It also calls for the elimination of Superfund claims brought against NCR by other parties, the discontinuation of the company's own such claims, and the assignments of responsibility for closing out certain final costs.

The remediation project covering 29 miles of the Fox River is the single largest sediment cleanup project to date in the United States.

NCR has successfully performed the overwhelming majority of the cleanup work to date, the release said. The remainder is expected to be completed over 2017 and 2018.

"NCR is pleased with the successful resolution of this matter pending the court's approval, following nine years of complex and protracted litigation involving multiple trials and appeals," said NCR General Counsel Edward Gallagher. "NCR is pleased to put this matter behind us, and we are also glad to provide the federal and state governments and the people of Wisconsin confidence that the cleanup, which NCR commenced in 2009, will be completed without interruption or delay."

Upon approval by the court, the decree is expected to bring to an end a set of complex litigations that commenced in 2008. In particular, the settlement will provide contribution protection to NCR that will foreclose Superfund litigation claims brought against it by other companies that had contributed to the pollution of the river.