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EPA Takes Florence Township Superfund Site Off the National Priorties List

Release Date: 06/15/2004
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(#04082) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that health and environmental threats at the Florence Land Recontouring landfill site in Florence Township, New Jersey have been addressed, and it is taking the site off the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). "The landfill once posed a threat to the surrounding community because it was leaking and contaminating groundwater," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "We've done a lot of work at this site, and today we can declare it a success. The contaminants are not spreading, so they are not endangering people's health." The landfill closed in 1981, and the site was listed on the NPL on September 1, 1984. Subsequent cleanup activities were mainly conducted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) with EPA assistance, and included construction of a system to prevent the landfill slope from degrading and installation of a new synthetic liner and clay cap to prevent contaminated storm water runoff; leachate and gas collection and treatment systems were also installed. All of the lagoon liquids and sediments were removed and disposed of off-site. Florence Land Recontouring is a 60-acre site that contained a 29-acre landfill, two lagoons, a pond and two tanks. It was operated as a municipal dump from 1973 until 1981 and was licensed to accept non-hazardous industrial wastes. In 1975, the NJDEP found that chemical wastes, which had been illegally disposed of at the site, had contaminated the soil and ground water at the landfill. The notice of deletion of the Florence Land Recontouring Landfill site from the NPL was published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2004. The public can obtain a copy of the notice and a detailed site description by contacting the RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-424-9346 or 703-412-9810.