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Whitman Announces an Additional $61.2 Million for Superfund Cleanups in New Jersey; Fiscal Year Funding Totals $160 Million for the Garden State Chemical Insecticide, Burnt Fly Bog, Rocky Hill, and Montgomery Township Superfund Sites Get Latest Funds for New Cleanups

Release Date: 10/01/2002
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(#02105) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The residents of ten New Jersey communities will be the beneficiaries of more than $61 million in new funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in their neighborhoods. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman was at the Chemical Insecticide Corporation (CIC) Superfund site in Edison today to announce the latest round of Superfund money for new and ongoing cleanups at New Jersey hazardous waste sites. Whitman announced that since October 1, 2001, EPA has committed nearly $160 million for New Jersey superfund activities. This includes $135 million for the cleanup of Superfund hazardous wastes sites in the state. In addition, the EPA has committed approximately $25 million to New Jersey for studies, grants, emergency response and other superfund activities. These numbers represent the final figures for the fiscal year for the state. Superfund dollars are awarded throughout the year and funding decisions are made through the end of the fiscal year. “All of this work will help make the environment of these communities cleaner and safer and help protect the health of the families of those communities,” said EPA Administrator Whitman. “The funds we are making available are clear evidence of our commitment to a strong Superfund program. As former governor, I know that this state has more Superfund sites than any other state. And as EPA Administrator, I know that New Jersey faces an enormous challenge in cleaning up the 115 sites that are on the National Priorities List. But it doesn't face that challenge alone. The EPA will continue to build on the work it's done over the years and will fully honor its commitment to the people of this state.” The new funding announced today will start cleanups at the CIC site in Edison, Burnt Fly Bog in Marlboro Township, and the Rocky Hill and Montgomery Township sites, located adjacent to each other in Somerset County. CIC will receive $19.1 million for the removal of approximately 100,000 cubic yards of chemically-contaminated soil at the site. The material will be excavated and hauled away for safe disposal. EPA is also providing $20.1 million to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to remove the last sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination at the Burnt Fly Bog site. An additional $4 million has been earmarked for a treatment system to clean up contaminated ground water at the Rocky Hill and Montgomery Township Superfund sites. The work at all these sites is expected to begin next spring. The $61.2 million comes from Superfund money allocated during the last quarter of the federal 2002 fiscal year, which ran from October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002. It covers new cleanups at some sites and the continuation of ongoing cleanups. "This funding will help tremendously in continuing EPA’s progress at these New Jersey sites,” said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny, “and it is further proof of this Administration’s strong commitment to the Superfund program throughout the country.” In addition to the funding for CIC, Burnt Fly Bog and the Rocky Hill and Montgomery Township Superfund sites, the $61.2 million also includes: an additional $5 million to augment the $3 million already obligated earlier this year for the excavation, removal and out-of-state disposal of radium-tainted soil from under homes and streets in the communities affected by past disposal practices of the U.S. Radium Superfund site in Orange, $2.7 million for the operation of an extraction and treatment system for contaminated ground water at the Ellis Property Superfund site in Evesham and Medford Townships, $1 million to the South Jersey and Garden State Cleaners sites in Buena Borough for the operation of an extraction and treatment system for contaminated ground water, $700,000 for the ongoing operation of an extraction and treatment system for contaminated ground water at the Bog Creek Superfund site in Howell Township, and $8.6 million for work at Federal Creosote in Manville, which brings the total Superfund money dedicated to the site this year to over $42 million. In addition to the more than $61 million announced today, the Agency recently announced that it had: • dedicated an additional $10 million for the cleanup of radium-contaminated residential properties in areas of Glen Ridge and Bloomfield, and • secured an additional $10.7 million to continue cleanup activities at the Federal Creosote site in Manville. Long-term cleanups have been completed at 48 New Jersey Superfund sites, 19 of which have already been deleted from the National Priorities List (NPL) of the most hazardous waste sites in the country. Cleanups are ongoing at 51 of the NPL sites in the state, and studies and design activities are underway at the remaining sites. There are now 115 New Jersey sites on the NPL. Since 1980, when the federal Superfund program began, EPA has committed nearly $1.9 billion for Superfund site cleanup activities in New Jersey. During that period, EPA reached settlements valued at approximately $986 million with private parties responsible for New Jersey site cleanups. The settlements require the responsible parties to clean up toxic waste in New Jersey communities under EPA supervision, and also allow the government to recover federal funds used in the cleanups.