EPA finalises plan to clean up contaminated groundwater in US

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the finalisation of plans to clean up contaminated ground water at the Scientific Chemical Processing Superfund site in Carlstadt, New Jersey, US.

The agency said that shallow and deep levels of the groundwater with volatile organic compounds have been contaminated by industrial activities.

Under the cleanup programme, the agency called for the treatment of groundwater to break down the contaminants to protect people’s health and the environment.

On 19 August, 2012, the EPA held a public meeting to explain its plan and consider public input ahead of finalisation.

The Scientific Chemical Processing Superfund site was used to process solvents for further use or disposal from the 1940s to 1980, and it leased the premises in 1970 for processing industrial waste.

The site was listed on the EPA’s superfund list of the nation’s most hazardous waste sites in 1983.

In 1985, the EPA took the lead in overseeing the cleanup of the site where New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection asked the company to remove approximately 250,000 gallons of waste stored in tanks that had been abandoned.

The cleanup has been conducted in three phases at the site, with the first phase implemented in 1990 until a long-term plan could be realised. During the second phase, completed in October 2011, the EPA removed an area of highly contaminated soil and upgraded the ground water extraction system.

In the third phase, substances designed to break down the contaminants to less toxic forms will be injected into the deeper groundwater in affected areas both on and off the former Scientific Chemical Processing company property.

Groundwater will be collected and analysed regularly until water cleanup levels have been met.