All News Releases By Date

CIBA Releases Draft Study On Cleanup Alternatives To EPA And Public

Release Date: 08/31/1999
Contact Information:

(#99145) New York, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Ciba Specialty Chemicals has released its draft study of alternatives to clean up the Ciba-Geigy Corporation Superfund site. The "feasibility study" presents a variety of cleanup options, all of which will be consideredcarefully by EPA over the next few months. EPA has not made a decision about a preferred cleanup approach for the site.

The Ciba-Geigy Superfund site is located on Oak Ridge Parkway in Toms River, New Jersey. It is approximately 1,400 acres in size, and is the former site of a chemical plant where dyes, resins, epoxy additives and other chemicals were manufactured from 1952 until 1990. The company's past disposal of various chemicals and chemical wastes on the Ciba site resulted in extensive soil and groundwater contamination. When the Ciba site was added to the National Priorities List of the most contaminated hazardous waste sites in the country in 1983 and became an official federal Superfund site, EPA sought to first address the cleanup of the groundwater contamination emanating from the Ciba facility. The groundwater treatment is ongoing. The feasibility study released by Ciba today explores ways to enter the second phase of the project -- the cleanup of the contaminated areas that are contributing or may in the future contribute to the groundwater contamination.

The process of determining a cleanup plan for the Ciba site will continue to involve extensive public review and input at each stage. A public meeting will be scheduled in October to discuss the contents of the draft feasibility study with interested residents, and copies of the document will be made available for review and comment. EPA will incorporate comments received from the state of New Jersey and members of the public into a final feasibility study, and publicly release it and a proposal recommending a cleanup approach. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed cleanup plan and that input will be considered in selecting a final plan to clean up the site.

The feasibility study is available in hard copy at the Ocean County Library at 101 Washington Street, (732) 349-6200, and the Ocean County Planning Department at 129 Hooper Avenue, (732) 929-2054, both in Toms River. It will also be available on the EPA web site (www.epa.gov/region02) shortly.

For more information contact:
Mary Helen Cervantes-Gross, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3673 FAX: 212-637-4445 E-Mail: [email protected]