The federal govnerment has reached a $13 million settlement with four companies to expedite cleanup of a Walpole superfund site, according to an announcement from the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The site, which was on the National Priorities List in 1994, includes 21 parcels of land, and has been used for commercial and industrial purposes since the 1700s. From about 1915 to 1936, a predecessor of W.R. Grace & Co. manufactured asbestos brake and clutch linings on site. From 1946 to about 1983, a predecessor of Tyco Healthcare Group used caustic solutions for a fabric manufacturing business on the site.

Those two companies, in addition to current owners BIM Investment Corp. and Shaffer Realty Nominee Trust, agreed to reimburse the federal government for the $1.4 million in response costs for the site as well as future oversight costs up to $2 million.

Under the agreement, the four parties will excavate and dredge contaminated soil and sediment, treat contaminated groundwater, establish land-use restrictions for the site and perform long-term monitoring of the site’s soils, sediment and groundwater, among other requirements.