EPA to Discuss Plans for Addressing Contaminated
Passaic River Sediment
Public Meetings
Scheduled for May 9 in Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Contact: David Kluesner, (212)
637-3653, kluesner.dave@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y. – May 8, 2012) – The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency will discuss plans to address high levels of
contaminants, including PCBs, mercury and dioxin, which are present in Passaic
River mud adjacent to Riverside Park in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Dioxin causes
serious health effects, including cancer. PCBs are suspected carcinogens and
mercury can cause serious damage to the nervous system. Steps are being taken
under the Superfund program by the EPA to isolate and prevent movement of the
contaminants from this area to other parts of the river. EPA is overseeing
technical planning that has been initiated by the parties potentially
responsible for the contamination. Superfund is the federal cleanup program
established 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 the responsible parties cannot be found or are
not financially viable.
In the
long term, risks to people wading in contaminated mud in the Passaic River
alongside Riverside Park are slightly above EPA levels of concern. The EPA
recommends that the public avoid wading in the mud flats in Lyndhurst.
The EPA
will hold two public meetings on May 9 to discuss the planned cleanup actions
and the results of recent sampling efforts in Riverside Park and the adjacent
mud flats. The public meetings will be held from 3 PM to 5 PM and again from 7
PM to 9 PM in the court room of Lyndhurst Town Hall located at 367 Valleybrook
Avenue.
The EPA
estimates that cleanup work in the contaminated mud flats adjacent to Riverside
County Park in Lyndhurst could begin in spring 2013 and extend for a period of
time into summer 2013. The EPA will work closely with local officials, river and
park users, the Passaic River Community Advisory Group, stakeholder
organizations and the Lyndhurst community to provide information on these plans,
coordinate the cleanup, and minimize possible disruptions to river and park use
to the extent possible.
The EPA is
overseeing a comprehensive investigation of contamination in the Passaic River
that is being carried out by a group of parties potentially responsible for the
contamination. Preliminary findings suggest that there could be six to eight
additional mud flats in the Newark Bay to Garfield stretch of the river where
elevated levels of contamination could warrant a closer look and possible
action. While the EPA does not anticipate that the other mud flats present an
immediate threat to recreational users of the park or river, it is working with
the potentially responsible parties to plan additional sampling out of an
abundance of caution. Those detailed sampling plans are being developed now to
examine the mud flat areas.
Results
from the latest round of mud flat sampling from this past winter are currently
undergoing final review by the EPA. Any follow-up sampling deemed necessary by
the EPA will likely take place under EPA oversight later this summer or fall,
with results expected back in late 2012. EPA will provide the public with the
sampling results as the information becomes available and will ensure that all
communities are effectively engaged and informed.
Very low
levels of PCBs, mercury and dioxin were found earlier this year in soil in the
Lyndhurst and North Arlington sections of Riverside Park that likely were
carried there by flooding. The concentrations of contaminants detected are well
below established levels of concern for children and adolescents playing in the
park and for workers maintaining the park. The EPA does not plan on additional
sampling of the parks’ recreational areas and cleanup in the park is not
necessary. The public can continue to enjoy using Riverside County Park in
Lyndhurst but should practice proper hygiene that would normally be followed at
any urban park that is prone to flooding.
Information
on the investigation and cleanup activities in the lower Passaic River is
available on the project Web sites at http://www.ourpassaic.org or http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/diamondalkali/
Follow EPA
Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page,
http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.
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