BREWER — When it meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the City Council will consider signing Brewer up for a joint legal defense fund group formed to negotiate a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The federal agency is gearing up to take action against contributors to a hazardous waste site in Plymouth.

The EPA hopes to recoup some $6 million in cleanup costs from the approximately 500 “potentially responsible parties” it believes contributed to a problem waste oil sludge dump site once operated by Portland and Bangor Waste Oil.

A growing number of PRPs have decided to join the joint defense bandwagon. The membership cost for Brewer is $250, however, the city may be asked for additional assessments in the future.

In an invitation letter to city officials, Bangor attorney P. Andrew Hamilton pointed out that the more members the group has, the lower the cost of additional assessments will be.

In other business at the meeting, the councilors will consider the sale of four city-acquired properties to the highest bidders.

Among the parcels is the Wilson Street address once occupied by Jean Emerson, who managed to keep a toehold there for six years despite the city’s efforts to oust her.

Emerson paid no rent and minimal sewer fees during the time she lived there.

The small white house which once stood at the site was razed in March, after a Penobscot County Superior Court judge deemed it a danger to the community.

The apparent high bidder, with an offer of $6,000, is Richard Gray, who lives next door.

After the city recovers its legal fees, it will turn the rest of the proceeds over to Elva Abbott, the elderly Welsh woman from whom Emerson had arranged to buy the home, but had not paid.

The councilors will consider Gold Star Cleaners’ request to amend its site plan. The company is seeking permission to construct a one-story, 1,305-square-foot building at 200 Wilson St. and a 21-space parking lot across the street.

In a workshop scheduled toward the end of the meeting, councilors will discuss updating the city’s five-year capital improvement plan, the Brewer Auditorium project, the sewer budget and street construction projects.