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EPA Pledges Support for Pompton Lakes Community; Outlines Its Role in DuPont Pompton Lakes Works Cleanup

Release Date: 01/21/2010
Contact Information: David Kluesner, (212) 637-3653, [email protected]

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 10 actions that demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that the contamination from the DuPont Pompton Lakes Works facility is properly addressed and that people living in the nearby community are protected. The actions, outlined in a letter sent by EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck to residents of Pompton Lakes, range from taking co-lead responsibilities for the site with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), to naming a liaison to work closely with the community and the state.

“We are working closely with our state partners to provide relief to the residents of Pompton Lakes who have, for too long, lived with the concerns brought on by contamination in their community,” said Judith Enck. “I want to assure area residents that EPA and NJDEP are committed to effectively working with the community through a program that will be patterned after the federal Superfund program and will be conducted in concert with the community outreach efforts of the involved federal and state health agencies. “

EPA will continue to work closely with NJDEP, which has had the lead in cleaning up the site, using the authorities of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. After careful consideration, EPA has determined that it is not inclined at this time to propose the DuPont Pompton Lakes Works site for inclusion on the Superfund National Priorities List. The Agency believes that cleanup under the current program will be just as thorough and it has, in part through the 10 actions announced today, pledged to ensure that the community has meaningful involvement in the cleanup process. Agency representatives will attend a town hall meeting next Monday, January 25th to hear from members of the community and to discuss opportunities for technical support and other tools that they have as the cleanup moves forward.

The 10 actions to which EPA has committed are:

• serving as “co-lead” with NJDEP to ensure progress on remediating the site;
• working closely with NJDEP to establish cleanup goals for the site, with specific timetables for meeting them;
• collaborating with NJDEP and with national experts to assess DuPont's recommendations for technologies that will remediate the shallow ground water, which is the source of the contaminants affecting homes above the plume;
• tapping its dredging experts to help evaluate options for cleaning up contaminated sediment in the Acid Brook Delta and Pompton Lake;
• bringing more resources to bear and dividing up work at the site with NJDEP to complete the cleanup as quickly as possible;
• meeting soon with DuPont to explore additional ways in which more efficiency and greater speed of cleanup can be achieved;
• work closely with NJDEP on ways to increase the number of homes protected by the vapor mitigation systems;
• making technical assistance available to the community through the national Technical Assistance Services for Communities program, which provides independent, technical experts to help community members better understand technical documents
• establishing a Community Advisory Group and offering administrative support for the group through the funding of a group facilitator;
• appointing an expert on community involvement to work closely with residents.