NEW YORK – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its decision that no further cleanup action is needed to treat groundwater that is discharging to nearby surface waters at the site Universal Oil Products Superfund in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Sampling data indicates that contaminant levels will not pose a risk to the surrounding community. Additionally, to further ensure long-term protection, the EPA is modifying the initial cleanup action, requiring notices to be filed with property records and incorporating monitoring and other measures to ensure the integrity of the work. performed on site.
“The main sources of contamination have been eliminated and the EPA has also treated groundwater”, said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “We will remain at work continuing to monitor this site over the long term to ensure it poses no serious risk to people living and working nearby.”
This final decision comes after extensive work has already been done on a 1993 cleanup plan selected by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in close consultation with the EPA. Under this plan, contaminated soil was dug up and treated, groundwater was extracted and treated, the area was capped, and long-term monitoring was required. The addition finalized today by the EPA requires property owners planning new construction on the land portion of the site to assess conditions to ensure that indoor air pollutants will not exceed environmental protection levels. human health for building occupants. Additionally, landowners may be required to install certain engineering controls, such as a vapor barrier or an under-slab depressurization system, which uses a fan-powered vent to draw air from beneath the foundation slab. , redirecting potentially harmful vapors to enter. building.
The Universal Oil Products Superfund site is a 75-acre area located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Site operations beginning in the 1930s included chemical manufacturing and solvent recovery, later expanding in the mid-1950s to include a sewage treatment plant and storage lagoons. Seepage from sewage lagoons and routine product and waste handling have resulted in the release of hazardous substances into upland soil, groundwater, coastal marshes and waterways.
The EPA placed the site on the Superfund’s National Priority List in 1983 and divided the site into two separate areas called operating units (OUs). Today’s final decision concerns the first operational unit, which treats upland soil and shallow groundwater. The EPA has selected a cleanup plan for an interim remedy for OU2 in 2019, which involves a former lagoon area, low-lying marshes, and the waterway channels of Ackermans Creek and its tributaries. The design of this cleanup is currently underway.
On July 22, 2022, the EPA released its proposed plan and held a virtual public meeting on July 27, 2022 to explain the plan and gather feedback. The Decision Record released today responds to comments received and formalizes the cleanup plan selected by EPA.
Visit the Universal Oil Products Superfund Site Profile Page for more information and to view the Decision Record.
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