EPA PROPOSES LARGEST TOXIC CLEANUP IN EPA HISTORY

FROM:  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

2014 News Releases

 EPA Proposes Plan to Remove Toxic Sediment from the Passaic River; Largest Cleanup in EPA History Will Protect People’s Health and Create Jobs

Release Date: 04/11/2014

Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y.) In an historic action that will protect people’s health and the environment, and benefit riverfront communities, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed a plan to remove 4.3 million cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment from the lower eight miles of the Passaic River in New Jersey. The sediment in the Passaic River is severely contaminated with dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants from more than a century of industrial activity. The lower eight miles of the Passaic is the most heavily contaminated section of the river. Ninety percent of the volume of contaminated sediments in the lower Passaic are in the lower eight miles of the river.

The EPA is proposing bank-to-bank dredging – one of the largest volumes ever to be dredged under the EPA’s Superfund program – followed by capping of the river bottom.

The proposed plan is based on an extensive seven-year study of the lower eight miles of the river, known as a focused feasibility study, and was developed in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and with outreach to representatives of the many communities along the lower Passaic River. The study examined the contamination and analyzed options for reducing the risks that the contaminants in this segment of the river pose to people’s health and the environment. The EPA will accept public comments on its proposed plan from April 21 to June 20.

The EPA will hold three public meetings to explain the proposal.
* May 7, 2014 at 7 p.m.
Portuguese Sports Club
55 Prospect Street
Newark, New Jersey, 07105

* May 2014 in Kearny, New Jersey
Specific date and location To Be Determined

* June 2014 in Belleville, New Jersey
Specific date and location To Be Determined

“High concentrations of dioxin, PCBs and other contaminants in the lower eight miles of the Passaic River are a serious threat to the people who eat fish and crabs from this river,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “The EPA’s proposed cleanup plan will result in a cleaner river that protects people’s health and increases the productive use of one of New Jersey’s most important natural resources and creates jobs during the cleanup. Doing less is not good enough for this river or the people who live along it.”

A major source of dioxin in the river was pollution from the Diamond Alkali facility in Newark, New Jersey, where the production of Agent Orange and pesticides during the 1960s generated dioxin that contaminated the land and the river. In addition, approximately 100 companies are potentially responsible for generating and releasing dioxin, PCBs, heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants into the river. Fish and shellfish in the lower Passaic, its tributaries and Newark Bay are highly contaminated with mercury, PCBs and dioxin. Fisheries along the river have long been closed due to the contamination. Catching crabs is prohibited and there are “Do Not Eat” advisories for all fish. Local plans for riverfront development have also been hindered because of sediment contamination. The site was added to the federal Superfund List in 1984.

The lower 17 miles of the Passaic River, which stretches from its mouth at Newark Bay to the Dundee Dam, are part of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site. From 1983 to 2001 extensive cleanup work was conducted on land at the Diamond Alkali facility and in the streets and homes near it. The proposed cleanup plan announced today addresses the lower eight miles of the river portion of the site.

Because of the nature and complexity of the Passaic River contamination, the EPA divided the investigation and consideration of cleanup options into two studies – one of the entire 17-mile stretch of the Lower Passaic from its mouth to the Dundee Dam and the other focused on just the lower eight miles. The study of the lower eight miles was conducted by the EPA. A long-term study of contaminated sediment in the 17-mile stretch is ongoing. It is being conducted by a group of approximately 70 parties potentially responsible for the pollution, with the EPA oversight. Information gained from the 17-mile study was integrated into EPA’s proposal for the cleanup of the lower eight miles. A portion of Newark Bay is also being studied by one of the parties potentially responsible for the contamination.

In the lower Passaic River, there is an approximately 10-to-15-foot deep reservoir of contaminated fine-grained sediment in the lower eight miles of the river. Under this plan, about 4.3 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment will be dredged and removed from the Passaic River. Once the top layer of contaminated sediment is removed from the river, a protective cap will be placed over the area that was dredged. The cap will consist of two feet of sand except along the shore where it will be one foot of sand and one foot of materials to support habitat for fish and plants. The cap will be monitored and maintained to ensure that the cleanup remains protective.

The proposed plan includes several options for managing the contaminated sediment after dredging. Air and water quality will be monitored during the work.

After receiving and considering comments from the public, the EPA will finalize a cleanup plan by early next year. Once a plan is finalized, engineering and design work necessary to carry out the plan will be done in the following years.

The proposed plan builds on dredging that has already occurred in two smaller areas with high concentrations of contaminants. In 2012, the EPA oversaw dredging in the Passaic near the Diamond Alkali facility in Newark. About 40,000 cubic yards of the most highly dioxin contaminated sediment were removed, treated and then transported by rail to licensed disposal facilities. In 2013, the EPA oversaw dredging of approximately 16,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment from a half-mile stretch of the Passaic River that runs by Riverside County Park North in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. This area is located about 11 miles north of the river mouth and outside of the lower eight miles addressed in today’s proposed plan. The work, which is ongoing, was necessary because the EPA identified particularly high levels of contamination in the sediment in this portion of the river.

The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. The EPA searches for parties legally responsible for the contamination at sites that are placed on the Superfund list and seeks to hold those parties accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups. Most of the work to-date to clean up the Passaic has been performed by parties responsible for the contamination. The EPA will similarly pursue agreements to ensure that the cleanup work proposed today be carried out and paid for by those responsible for the contamination at the site.

EPA ANNOUNCES IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD CLEANING UP QUANTA RESOURCES SUPERFUND SITE

Credit:  Wikimedia.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Monday, November 19, 2012
Agreement Furthers Cleanup of the Quanta Resources Superfund Site in Edgewater, New Jersey

Another important step toward cleaning up the Quanta Resources Superfund site in Edgewater, N.J., was announced today by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agreement with Honeywell International Inc. and 23 other parties, embodied in a consent decree lodged today in federal court, requires the performance of pre-construction project design work and requires Honeywell to carry out the actual cleanup work under the EPA’s oversight. The cleanup of the Quanta Site is expected to result in its redevelopment.

After the design is completed and approved by EPA, the cleanup will proceed at the Quanta Site, which is located adjacent to the Hudson River. The work is expected to take approximately two to three years and cost $78 million.

Currently, soil and ground water at the site are contaminated with arsenic, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds resulting from over 100 years of industrial activities in the area. Exposure to these pollutants can have serious health effects, and in some cases, increase the risk of cancer.

"This agreement marks a major milestone toward finally cleaning up the industrial pollution legacy at the Quanta Site," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. "The settlement holds those responsible for the pollution accountable for the cleanup, and brings us closer to the future redevelopment of this site for the benefit of the people of New Jersey."

"The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "The EPA searches for parties responsible for the contamination and holds them accountable. This agreement is an important part of that process and a step in the right direction."

The Quanta site, located on River Road at the intersection of Gorge Road in Edgewater, was built as a coal tar facility beginning in the 1880s. In the 1970s, the site’s "tank farm" was used to store waste oil prior to reprocessing. The state of New Jersey closed the facility in 1981 when some storage tanks were found to contain waste oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. The EPA supervised a series of emergency actions at the site that included safely removing and disposing of millions of gallons of waste oil, sludge and contaminated water from the tanks, and cleaning and dismantling the emptied tanks and piping.

Because of the nature and complexity of the contamination, the EPA divided the investigation and cleanup into two phases – one addressing the contaminated soil and ground water, and the other focused on contamination in the river and sediment. The plan to address the contaminated soil and ground water was finalized in July 2010. The EPA took public comment for 60 days and considered public input before selecting a cleanup plan. This phase of the cleanup is addressed in the consent decree lodged today. A separate study of the Hudson River and sediment contamination will lead to a subsequent cleanup plan for the next phase.

The site contains an estimated 150,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil requiring treatment to protect people that may come into contact with it. Among other steps, the EPA will solidify and stabilize areas of soil contaminated with oily liquid and arsenic by turning them into leak-proof blocks underground. Throughout the cleanup, monitoring, testing and further studies will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy.

Aside from Honeywell International Inc., the other parties that have agreed to the consent decree are, for the most part, waste oil generators whose wastes were disposed of at the Quanta site. They include: BASF Corporation; Beazer East Inc.; BFI Waste Systems of New Jersey Inc.; BorgWarner Inc.; Buckeye Pipe Line Co. LP; Chemical Leaman Tank Lines Inc. (now Quality Carriers); Colonial Pipeline Co.; Consolidated Rail Corp.; Exxon Mobil Corp; Ford Motor Company; General Dynamics Land Systems Inc.; Hess Corp.; Miller Brewing Co.; NEAPCO Inc.; Northrup Grumman Systems Corp.; Petroleum Tank Cleaners Inc.; Rome Strip Steel Co. Inc.; Quanta Resources Corp.; Stanley Black & Decker Inc.; Textron Inc.; and United Technologies Corp.

MAJOR DREDGEING PROJECT ANNOUNCED FOR WAUKEGAN HARBOR

Photo:  Chicago Dock.  Credit:  Wikimedia.

FROM: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

EPA, Illinois and Local Officials Announce Major Dredging Project at Waukegan Harbor CHICAGO – (Sept. 6, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Illinois and Waukegan officials joined forces today to kick off a Superfund dredging project needed to remove the Waukegan Harbor "Area of Concern" (AOC) from a list of toxic hot spots identified in the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

"Today, Waukegan Harbor is going from what was once called 'the world's worst PCB mess' to one of our best coastal turnaround stories," said Cameron Davis, senior advisor to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and founding co-chair of the Waukegan Citizens' Advisory Group in the early 1990s. "Last year, federal agencies announced they were prioritizing the Waukegan Harbor cleanup and this year we are making good on that commitment."


Enacted by Congress in 1980, Superfund is a federal law that was designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. EPA's $48 million Superfund dredging project is an important step toward the cleanup of the Waukegan Harbor, one of four cleanup projects associated with the Outboard Marine Corp. (OMC) Superfund site.

EPA will remove approximately 175,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from the harbor. Dredging will begin later this month and is expected to be finished by next summer, a total of about 120 days.

Waukegan Harbor, the only AOC in Illinois, is one of 30 remaining AOCs in the U.S. In 2011, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson targeted Waukegan as one of nine priority AOCs under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Administrator committed to finishing the cleanup of Waukegan Harbor by 2014. Since the United States and Canada identified the list of AOCs in 1987, only one on the U.S. side has been delisted.

"Illinois EPA is pleased to partner with U.S. EPA and the City of Waukegan in moving forward on this project that is a key step toward reaching the goal of Waukegan Harbor no longer being Illinois’ only designated Area of Concern on Lake Michigan," said Interim Illinois EPA Director John J. Kim.

"Waukegan Harbor has come a long way since contaminated sediment was first discovered here in 1975," said Senator Dick Durbin. "Upon this project’s completion, Waukegan’s fish will be healthier and its water cleaner, ramping up the community’s attractiveness as a place to live. The Great Lakes are one our nation’s greatest natural treasures and I am proud to have supported this effort to clean up Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Thanks to the State of Illinois and the Environmental Protection Agency for their efforts to ensure the waters around the harbor can support fish and wildlife for years to come."

"Today we mark the beginning of the end of a cleanup decades in the making," said Senator Mark Kirk. "Cleaning up Waukegan Harbor has been one of my top priorities since before I came to Congress in 2001, and we could not be here without the leadership of Cameron Davis and the members of the Waukegan Citizens Advisory Group. As co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, I am fully committed to seeing this effort through its completion to ensure that Waukegan can transform the harbor into a powerful economic engine in northern Illinois."

"As Lake County’s gateway to Lake Michigan, a clean Waukegan Harbor is critical for our region’s commerce, environmental quality and recreation." said U.S. Representative Robert J. Dold. "The cleanup will save jobs, increase local property values, and leave a cleaner environment for future generations. I am proud to have been part of making this happen."

"When all is said and done the future of this community is greatly enhanced by the cleanup of the harbor and surrounding industrial facilities," said Waukegan Mayor Robert Sobanjian, Jr. "Once the process is completed, potential investors will be able to see past the old misperceptions of this community as a distressed blue collar community and see the great potential that the City of Waukegan has always held."

EPA placed the OMC site on its National Priorities List of Superfund sites in 1983 and has previously conducted cleanup work at this site. The OMC outboard-boat-motor manufacturing plant polluted Waukegan Harbor with PCBs.

In February 2009, President Obama proposed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. Since then, EPA has provided approximately $2 million in GRLI funding for habitat restoration projects and fish monitoring at the Waukegan Harbor AOC.

SUPERFUND'S NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST ADDS MORE WASTE SITES

FROM:  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA Adds Three Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List 
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding three new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. EPA’s Superfund program investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country. 
“Superfund cleanups take contaminated properties and make them safe places for people and the environment,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “They can also return these properties to communities for productive use, which translates into job creation, increased property values, enhanced local tax bases and improved quality of life.” 
Since 1983, 1,664 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 359 sites have been cleaned up, resulting in 1,305 sites currently on the NPL (including the three sites added today). There are 59 proposed sites awaiting final agency action. 
Contaminants found at the sites include benzene, heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and trichloroethylene (TCE).
The following three sites have been added to the National Priorities List: 
• Jervis B. Webb Co. (former metal fabrication facility) in South Gate, Calif.;
• Southern Avenue Industrial Area (adhesive manufacturer) in South Gate, Calif.;
• Bremerton Gasworks (former gasworks facility) in Bremerton, Wash.
With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination at a site, and require them to conduct or pay for the clean up. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA cleanup funding is required for these sites. 
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for the sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm
Information about how a site is listed on the NPL: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl_hrs.htm
Superfund sites in local communities: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/index.htm

10 SITES ADDED TO SUPERFUND'S PRIORITIES LIST

The following excerpt is from an EPA e-mail:
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding nine new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites, and is proposing to include 10 additional sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

“Protecting human health and the environment and restoring contaminated properties to environmental and economic vitality are EPA priorities," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “When property is cleaned up and revitalized, the reuse may result in new income to the community in the form of taxes, jobs to local residents, increases to the values of properties nearby cleaned up sites, or it may provide recreational or other services to make the community a better place to live.”

Since 1983, 1,661 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 359 sites have been cleaned up resulting in 1,302 sites currently on the NPL (including the nine sites added today). There are 62 proposed sites (including the 10 announced today) awaiting final agency action.

Contaminants found at the sites include arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium, copper, creosote, dichloroethene (DCE), lead, mercury, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), pentachlorophenol (PCP), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethylene (TCE), toluene, uranium and zinc.

With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination at a site, and require them to conduct or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding is required for these sites.

The following nine sites have been added to the National Priorities List:
           Continental Cleaners (former dry cleaners) in Miami, Fla.;
           Sauer Dump (inactive dump) in Dundalk, Md.;
           Compass Plaza Well TCE (contaminated ground water plume) in Rogersville, Mo.;
           Chemfax, Inc. (former manufacturer of synthetic resins and waxes) in Gulfport, Miss.;
           Southeastern Wood Preserving (former wood treating operation) in Canton, Miss.;
           CTS of Asheville, Inc. (former electronics components manufacturer) in Asheville, N.C.;
           Eighteenmile Creek (contaminated creek) in Niagara County, N.Y.;
           Metro Container Corporation (former drum recycler) in Trainer, Pa.; and
           Corozal Well (contaminated ground water plume) in Corozal, Puerto Rico;


The following 10 sites have been proposed for addition to the National Priorities List:
           Cedar Chemical Corporation (former chemical manufacturer) in West Helena, Ark.;
           Fairfax St. Wood Treaters (former wood treating operation) in Jacksonville, Fla.;
           Macon Naval Ordnance Plant (former ordnance manufacturer) in Macon, Ga.;
           Bautsch-Gray Mine (former lead and zinc mine) in Galena, Ill.;
           EVR-Wood Treating/Evangeline Refining Company (former wood treating operation) in Jennings, La.;
           Holcomb Creosote Co (former wood treating operation) in Yadkinville, N.C.;
           Orange Valley Regional Ground Water Contamination (contaminated ground water plume) in Orange/West Orange, N.J.;
           Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine (former uranium mine) in Laguna Pueblo, N.M.;
           West Troy Contaminated Aquifer (contaminated ground water plume) in Troy, Ohio; and
           Circle Court Ground Water Plume (contaminated ground water plume) in Willow Park, Texas.

EPA is also withdrawing its earlier proposal to add the Arnold Engineering Development Center site in Coffee and Franklin Counties, Tennessee to the NPL. This site is being addressed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) program. Cleanup is progressing successfully, the migration of contaminated ground water is under control and measures have been taken that are protective of human health.

KANSAS REFINERY WILL SPEND MILLIONS TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT

The following excerpt is from an EPA e-mail:

The following excerpt is from the EPA website:

“WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing (CRRM) has agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $970,000 and invest more than $4.25 million on new pollution controls and $6.5 million in operating costs to resolve alleged violations of air, superfund and community right-to-know laws at its Coffeyville, Kan. refinery. The settlement will benefit the environment and human health by requiring new and upgraded pollution controls, more stringent emission limits, and more aggressive leak-detection and repair practices to reduce emissions from refinery equipment and process units. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), two pollutants emitted from refineries, can cause respiratory problems like asthma and are significant contributors to acid rain, smog and haze.

“The Clean Air Act is designed to protect people’s health from emissions of harmful pollutants,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlement will protect residents living near the facility and ensure that the necessary pollution controls are installed to protect the residents of southeastern Kansas in the future.”

“This settlement puts CRRM on a level playing field with the more than 100 petroleum refineries that have agreed to implement aggressive pollution control measures, thereby reducing the threats posed by harmful emissions to area residents,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “The agreement reaffirms our commitment to ensure that the petroleum refining industry complies with the nation’s Clean Air Act.”

The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).Coffeyville allegedly made modifications to its refinery that increased emissions without first obtaining pre-construction permits and installing required pollution control equipment. The CAA requires major sources of air pollution to obtain such permits before making changes that would result in a significant emissions increase of any pollutant. The settlement also resolves violations in which CRRM failed to timely notify state and local emergency responders of releases of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide from the refinery, as required by the CERCLA and EPCRA.

Once fully implemented, the pollution controls required by the settlement will annually reduce an estimated 200 tons of NOx emissions and more than 110 tons of SO2 emissions. The settlement will also reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other pollutants that affect air quality. CRRM has also agreed to perform a voluntary environmental project at the refinery valued at more than $1.2 million. The project will benefit the environment and surrounding communities by reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds and hydrogen sulfide, reducing the frequency of future acid gas flaring incidents, and conserve 15 million gallons of water each year that would previously have come from the Verdigris River.

The settlement with CRRM is the 30th under an EPA initiative to improve compliance among petroleum refiners and to reduce significant amounts of air pollution from refineries nationwide through comprehensive, company-wide settlements. The first of EPA’s settlements was reached in 2000, and with today’s settlement, 107 refineries operating in 32 states and territories – more than 90 percent of the total refining capacity in the United States – are under judicially enforceable agreements to significantly reduce emissions of pollutants. As a result of the settlement agreements, refiners have agreed to invest more than $6 billion in new pollution controls designed to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants by more than 360,000 tons per year.

CRRM’s refinery has the capacity to refine more than 115,000 barrels of crude oil per day, producing gasoline, diesel fuels, and propane.

The State of Kansas has joined in the settlement and will receive a portion of the civil penalty.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval.”