NEW YORK — Aaron Ferer & Sons Co. will pay $500,000 as part of a consent agreement covering the company’s former lead battery recycling plant in Omaha, Neb.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Nebraska had filed a civil complaint against the company in U.S. District Court in Nebraska seeking reimbursement for costs associated with the cleanup of the Superfund site.

The site includes a now-defunct secondary lead refinery operated by Aaron Ferer (AF) from 1954 to 1963, when it was sold to another company. The facility was closed in 1982.

"Under AF’s ownership and operation, the facility released lead particulate emissions as a routine part of its operation," the lawsuit alleged, and remediation of the site has cost the U.S. government an estimated $275 million.

Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Asarco LLC operated a lead smelter nearby from the early 1870s until 1997 (amm.com, Dec. 12, 2008). The EPA added the area to its Superfund list in 2002 and is continuing remedial activities in the area.