EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck and
Congressmember Rodney Frelinghuysen Announce System to Treat Contaminated Ground
Water at Rockaway Borough, NJ Superfund Site
Tour Six
Superfund Sites in Morris and Essex Counties
(New York,
N.Y. – July 13, 2012) U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck and
Congressional Representative Rodney P. Frelinghuysen today announced the
completion of a system to treat contaminated ground water at the Rockaway
Borough Wellfield Superfund site in Rockaway Borough, New Jersey. The officials
were in Morris and Essex Counties to review and assess progress on Superfund
cleanups at six hazardous waste sites. They were joined by State and local
officials to highlight the success of the federal Superfund law in protecting
the health of people who live and work near contaminated sites, creating jobs
and boosting local economies.
Superfund
is the federal cleanup program established by Congress in 1980 to investigate
and clean up the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The Superfund program
operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather
than passing the costs to taxpayers. When sites are placed on the Superfund
list, the EPA looks for parties responsible for the pollution and requires them
to pay for the cleanups. Cleanups are only funded by taxpayer dollars when those
responsible for the pollution cannot be found or are not financially
viable.
“Congressman
Rodney Frelinghuysen and I got a first-hand look at how the ground water
treatment system at the Rockaway Borough Wellfield site and other Superfund
cleanups are protecting people’s health and the environment,” said EPA Regional
Administrator Judith A. Enck. “Cleaning up toxic waste sites in New Jersey not
only protects public health and the environment, but in 2011, federal Superfund
cleanups created about 2,300 local jobs.
The
Rockaway Borough Wellfield Superfund site
includes three municipal water supply wells that supply drinking water to 11,000
people. The EPA recently completed work on a ground water treatment system to
address perchloroethylene-contaminated ground water in the East Main Street/Wall
Street area of the site. Perchloroethylene is a suspected cancer causing
industrial solvent that can also cause short-term health effects such as
respiratory distress and sore throats.
In 1985,
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection investigated the Rockaway
Borough site and concluded that contamination found in the municipal water
supply was coming from multiple source areas within the borough. EPA initiated a
followup investigation to identify the sources of contamination, determine its
extent and evaluate potential cleanup methods. These investigations confirmed
the perchloroethylene contamination and determined that a facility belonging to
Klockner and Kockner was responsible for contaminating the soil with
tetrachloroethene, a commonly used industrial solvent that can have serious
health impacts, including liver damage and an increased risk of cancer. The EPA
subsequently removed the contaminated soil and sent it to a facility certified
to treat and dispose of it. The EPA installed a treatment system to clean up the
ground water contamination. Work to remove and treat soil contaminated with lead
at the Rockaway Borough site will begin later this year.
Volatile
organic compounds such as perchloroethylene and tetrachloroethene are a common
concern at the sites visited on today’s Superfund tour. Many volatile organic
compounds are known to cause cancer in animals and can cause cancer in people.
The extent and nature of potential health effects depend on many factors,
including the level and length of exposure.
Ground
water, which collects underground in the spaces between dirt particles and
cracks within rocks, flows underground and may empty into rivers, lakes or
streams. Many people in New Jersey rely on ground water as the source of their
drinking water. Public water supply systems are routinely tested to ensure
compliance with federal and state drinking water standards, but contamination
can make underground sources of drinking water unusable. To date, the cleanup
has created 181 jobs and cost approximately $30 million.
In
addition to Rockaway Borough, the other sites visited on the tour
include:
The
Radiation Technology, Inc. Superfund site in
Rockaway Township is a 263-acre site that was used for testing and developing
rocket motors and developing propellants. Ground water at the site is
contaminated with volatile organic compounds. EPA is planning to excavate and
remove pieces of deteriorated drums that were buried in a waste disposal area at
the site to prevent them from further contaminating the surrounding soil with
heavy metals. EPA's cleanup of the Radiation Technology site has been conducted
in phases to facilitate the long-term restoration of the area. The work is being
done by the company responsible for the pollution, Alliant Techsystems, with EPA
oversight. During the first phase of the cleanup, the company installed wells to
measure and monitor ground water contamination. Nearby residential drinking
water wells were also sampled to ensure that drinking water was not affected. To
date, the sampling has shown that the drinking water is not contaminated and
monitoring of the residential wells continues. The second phase of the cleanup
involved the removal and off-site disposal of the deteriorated
drums. Continued
sampling of residential wells has not found contaminated drinking water. To
date, the cleanup has cost $4.3 million.
The
Rockaway Township Wells Superfund site, located
in Rockaway Township, is a two-square-mile wellfield containing a cluster of
three municipal wells within 100 feet of each other that are contaminated with
various volatile organic chemicals. A cleanup
plan called for the treatment of the contaminated ground water and the
replacement of the township’s air stripper, which forces air through polluted
ground water to remove harmful chemicals. The air causes the chemicals to change
from a liquid to a gas, which is then collected and cleaned. Sampling of several
buildings revealed that chemical vapors were impacting the indoor air quality of
some buildings on the site. To address these problems, a system was subsequently
installed in two buildings to prevent soil vapors from entering them. Two of the
public water supply wells have been taken out of service and water
from the other is treated to remove the contamination and provide the community
a safe source of drinking water.
The Dayco
Corp./L.E. Carpenter Company Superfund site is located
in the Borough of Wharton. This 14.5-acre property housed buildings, warehouses
and the remnants of disposal areas associated with a former vinyl wall covering
manufacturing facility. The soil and ground water were contaminated with
volatile organic compounds, lead and PCBs. The initial $26 million cleanup
included the removal of 16 storage tanks, demolition of the various former
manufacturing buildings and excavation of more than 46,000 tons of contaminated
soil and liquid industrial waste. Residual volatile organic compound
contamination in the ground water and a small area of soil are currently being
addressed. All cleanup activities have been funded by the party responsible for
the contamination. To date, the cleanup has cost approximately $26
million.
The Dover
Municipal Well No. 4
Superfund site is a
former public water supply well located in the town of Dover. The
ground water is contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The well is not in
service, but it is located 1.5 miles away from three municipal wells serving
approximately 22,000 people. The EPA demolished a building formerly occupied by
a dry cleaner, excavated and disposed of over 2,100 cubic yards of contaminated
soil, and treated the remaining contaminated soil and shallow ground water to
remove harmful chemicals. The EPA also tested nearby homes built above the
contaminated ground water to ensure that vapors were not entering the houses.
Soil sampling conducted at the site determined that three houses were situated
in very close proximity to the contaminated material and were in such a poor
structural condition that they needed to be demolished. The acquisition of these
houses and relocation of the tenants was completed in August 2008. Ground water
samples taken during the treatment process have demonstrated that the technology
is effective. The EPA will continue monitoring to ensure that concentrations of
ground water contamination are decreasing. To date, the cleanup has cost
approximately $16 million.
The
Caldwell Trucking Co. Superfund site is a
former sewage hauling site occupying 11 acres in Fairfield. The Caldwell
Trucking site consists of properties and ground water contaminated by the
disposal of residential, commercial and industrial septic waste. Caldwell
Trucking disposed of this waste in unlined lagoons from the early 1950s until
1973. After 1973, Caldwell installed underground storage tanks for the storage
of the waste. Other industrial facilities in the area may also have contributed
to the ground water contamination. The parties potentially responsible for the
cleanup removed the contaminated soil and sludge from the lagoons and installed
wells to monitor ground water quality. All contaminated soil has now been
removed or no longer poses a risk and impacted wetlands have been
restored.
There are
about 500 single family homes located in a populated area within one mile of the
site. Since 1981, over 300 private wells in the area have been taken out of
service due to contamination. The affected residences have been connected to the
municipal drinking water supply system. A system of pumps is used to bring the
polluted ground water to the surface where it can be cleaned. In addition,
testing of about 100 homes showed that in about 18 homes chemical
vapors were impacting the indoor air quality. To address the problem, systems
were installed in these homes to prevent these vapors from building up to
harmful levels. To date, the cleanup has cost approximately $32
million.
At all
sites at which ground water is contaminated, the EPA requires periodic
collection and analysis of ground water samples to verify that the level and
extent of contaminants are declining and that people’s health and the
environment are protected. The EPA also conducts reviews every five years to
ensure the effectiveness of the cleanups.
For more
information about Superfund sites in New Jersey and across the country, please
visit: http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund.
Follow EPA
Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit
our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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