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Chemically Contaminated Material at Superfund Site in Franklin Township Will Be Shipped Off-Site for Disposal Rather Than Treated On-Site

Release Date: 07/12/2000
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(#00130) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- An estimated 25,000 cubic yards of contaminated material will be removed from the Myers Property Superfund site, a former pesticide manufacturing facility located in Franklin Township, Hunterdon County, that produced the now-banned insecticide DDT during the 1940s. The new $13 million cleanup plan for the site, which was just approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), replaces the agency’s 1990 cleanup plan that called for on-site treatment and disposal of the soils and sediments contaminated with organic and inorganic chemicals. EPA determined that the treatment technology selected in the 1990 cleanup plan would not be effective enough to reduce arsenic in the soil to safe levels. Under the new plan, the contaminated soil and sediments would be excavated and shipped off-site for disposal; the excavated areas would then be backfilled with clean fill, covered with topsoil and seeded with grass. The wetland areas on the site will also be restored with this new plan. "The new plan creates a permanent solution for the contaminated soils and sediments at the site," said EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox. "This means that the technical roadblocks to the successful treatment of the soils on the site have been translated into a positive situation for the residents of Franklin Township.   Meanwhile, the groundwater treatment system has been completed and the restoration of the contaminated groundwater is underway," Ms. Fox pointed out. Under a February 1992 Consent Decree, Elf Atochem North America, Inc., which purchased the Myers Property in 1992, agreed to carry out the long-term remedy that EPA selected for the site in 1990. Subsequently, studies of previously selected treatment methods for the contaminated materials showed they would not achieve EPA’s cleanup goals at the site. The study also revealed that the overall volume of contaminated material at the site was considerably smaller than originally believed, making the expense of the off-site disposal of the contaminated material less than previously estimated. These factors prompted EPA to reconsider the off-site disposal solution for the contaminated soils and sediments and led to this change to the 1990 cleanup plan. Elf Atochem is currently performing the groundwater cleanup at the site, with EPA oversight. The groundwater cleanup plan involves the extraction and on-site treatment of contaminated groundwater, with the treated water reinjected into the aquifer. The water is treated, using air stripping and activated carbon adsorption, to meet New Jersey groundwater quality standards. Elf Atochem also constructed a barn-like building, using the original Kingtown Mill foundation with a cornerstone dated 1827 preserved as a marker of the historic structure, to house the treatment plant. The construction of the treatment plant began in March 1999 and was completed last December. Site Background The Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, which became Elf Atochem North America, Inc., is conducting the cleanup at the site under EPA supervision. After a number of companies used and sold the site, Mr. And Mrs. Myers purchased the property in 1971 for use as their residence. The site was named to the National Priorities List of the nation’s worst hazardous waste sites in 1982. In 1984, EPA removed deteriorated drums, solid DDT and other organic chemicals, lead compounds, sheets of asbestos, soil and building debris. More than 200 chemical drums were removed to an off-site hazardous waste landfill. EPA completed an investigation of the remaining contamination and a study of the best cleanup options in 1990, which led to the plan that the agency has now modified. In 1997 and 1998, the company decontaminated building surfaces and dismantled five buildings that were in poor condition. The debris was shipped off-site to a licensed facility for disposal. This work was performed with EPA oversight.