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EPA Finalizes Cleanup Plan for the LCP Chemicals, Inc. Superfund Site in Linden, New Jersey; $36.5 Million Cleanup at Old Chlorine Plant will Protect Community from Mercury and Other Contaminants

Release Date: 02/26/2014
Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, [email protected]

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its plan to address contaminated soil and ground water at the LCP Chemicals, Inc. Superfund site in Linden, New Jersey. The soil, ground water and sediment from a stream on the site were contaminated with mercury and other pollutants from previous industrial activities. The final cleanup plan requires demolishing the contaminated buildings on the site, treating some of the contaminated soil, capping all of the soil and treating the contaminated ground water. Exposure to mercury can damage people’s nervous systems and harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune systems. Mercury in soil and sediment can also impact fish and other wildlife.

The 26-acre LCP Chemicals, Inc. site is located in an industrial area on the Tremley Point peninsula next to the Arthur Kill in Linden. The land, originally a coastal marshland, was filled in and developed for industrial use. LCP Chemicals purchased a chlorine production facility on the site in 1972 and operated there from 1972 through 1985, when it stopped operations. Sampling of soil, sediment, surface water and the underlying ground water revealed elevated levels of mercury and other contaminants. The site was added to the Superfund list in 1998.

The final cleanup plan requires capping of the contaminated soil to prevent direct contact with it and reduce the potential for people to breathe mercury vapors that could get into the air from the soil. The cap will have a layer of sulfur beneath a geosynthetic membrane that will convert the mercury into mercury sulfide, a form of mercury that does not turn into vapor or dissolve. The membrane will further prevent the mercury from releasing vapors and help to keep rainwater from getting into the underlying ground water.

Buildings on site will be demolished. Porous building material that has visible signs of contamination will be treated with sulfur. Demolition debris will be separated and, if suitable, recycled. The debris that cannot be recycled will be processed to reduce its size and then placed under the cap with other contaminated materials.

In the stream, the most highly contaminated sediment will be dug up and moved upstream where it will be capped. The excavated area and a nearby ditch will be restored with clean sediment and the wetlands will be reconstructed.

Contaminated ground water from the site will be extracted and treated. A barrier will also be put in place to further limit the potential for contaminated ground water to spread. The ground water will be monitored and deed restrictions will be put in place to restrict its use and other activities that could disturb the cleanup. Future on-site construction will be restricted to commercial use.

The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. After sites are placed on the Superfund list of the most contaminated waste sites, the EPA searches for parties responsible for the contamination and holds them accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups. In this case, ISP Environmental Services, Inc., the successor to the prior owner of the site has conducted the investigation and study for this site. The EPA will continue to work to have those responsible for the site conduct the cleanup work.

To view the EPA’s record of decision for the LCP Chemicals, Inc. Superfund site, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/lcpchemicals.

The EPA reviewed public comments and has prepared detailed responses to them, which can be found in the EPA’s Responsiveness Summary at https://www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/lcpchemicals/additionaldocs.html.

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