Early Cash Out Settlement Agreement Published for Public Comment [January 2018]

On January 12, 2018, a Federal Register Notice was published for a proposed cost recovery settlement agreement pursuant to CERCLA (Superfund law), between the EPA and 15 settling parties, for the lower 8.3 miles of the Passaic River (Diamond Alkali Operable Unit 2). The 15 settling parties are those that, based on information reviewed by EPA, are not associated with the release of the contaminants of concern for Operable Unit 2, as identified in the Record of Decision, into the Lower Passaic River. Pursuant to the proposed cost recovery settlement agreement, each settling party will pay $280,600 to EPA to resolve civil liability under Sections 106 and 107(a) of CERCLA related to Operable Unit 2. The proposed settlement agreement is in the Digital Library, under “All Public Documents”, “Legal Documents”. The Federal Register notice is here.

New Community Involvement Plan Finalized [August 2017]

The Community Involvement Plan for the Lower Passaic River has been revised to focus on upcoming work in the lower 8.3 miles of the Passaic River. The plan provides an overview of outreach tools and techniques that the EPA uses to share information and involve the public during the cleanup process. Please see the final plan here.

EPA Secures Agreement with Occidental Chemical to Conduct the Design Work for the Lower 8.3 Mile Cleanup [October 2016]

EPA announced a legal agreement with Occidental Chemical Corporation to perform design work needed to begin the cleanup of the lower 8.3 miles of the Lower Passaic River. This work, which includes sampling, evaluating technologies and doing the engineering work necessary before physical cleanup work can begin, will be done under EPA oversight. The design work is estimated to cost approximately $165 million. Occidental Chemical will also pay for EPA’s oversight costs. The press release is available here. The legal agreement is available here.

EPA Finalizes Protectiveness Review of Cleanup at Diamond Alkali Superfund Site [June 2016]

EPA has completed the 4th Five-Year Review of the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site located at 80 and 120 Lister Ave in Newark, NJ. This review confirmed that the cleanup conducted at the site, which included construction of flood and slurry walls, placement of an engineered cap, and pumping and treating of groundwater, protects public health and the environment and functions as intended by the site decision documents. EPA reviewed site operation, maintenance and monitoring information as well as the status of land use controls in making this determination.

What is an EPA Five-Year Review? EPA inspects Superfund sites every five years to ensure that cleanups conducted remain fully protective of human health and the environment. These regular reviews, which are required by federal law when contaminants remain at a site, include:

• Inspection of the site and cleanup technologies;
• Review of monitoring data, operating data, and maintenance records, and
• Determination if any new regulatory requirements have been established since EPA’s original cleanup decision was finalized.

If you have any questions about the 5-Year Review, please contact Elizabeth Butler, EPA Project Manager, at butler.elizabeth@epa.gov.

Record of Decision for the Lower 8.3 Miles of the Lower Passaic River [March 2016]

EPA has finalized its decision on a cleanup plan for the sediments of the lower 8.3 miles of the Lower Passaic River. The cleanup plan, called a Record of Decision, includes dredging approximately 3.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment bank to bank from Newark Bay to the Belleville/Newark border. After dredging, an engineered cap will be placed over the entire lower eight miles of the river. The cap will prevent contamination in the sediment from entering the food chain, thereby decreasing health risks to people who eat fish and crab from the lower Passaic. The dredging will prevent the cap from exacerbating flooding and will allow for current commercial navigation to continue in the 1.7 miles of the river closest to Newark Bay. Dredged sediment will be dewatered locally and transported off-site for disposal. The estimated cost of the remedy is $1.38 billion. The main text of the Record of Decision is available here. The rest of the Record of Decision, including a Responsiveness Summary containing all of EPA’s responses to public comments on the cleanup proposal is available here. The Final Plan Fact Sheet is available here. The Final Plan Fact Sheet is available in Spanish and Portuguese in the Digital Library, under Public Outreach\Fact Sheets.

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