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EPA to Cleanup Superfund Site in Camden County - Martin Aaron

Release Date: 10/24/2005
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For Release: Monday, October 24, 2005

(#05120) NEW YORK -- The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), today announced its plan to clean up contamination in the soil and ground water at the Martin Aaron Superfund site in Camden, New Jersey. Under the plan, EPA will excavate contaminated soil, treat it if necessary, and dispose of the excavated soil off of the site. Some of the site will be covered with a cap, and future uses of the site will be restricted to ensure that the capped area is not disturbed. Ground water will be pumped to the surface, cleaned up and then discharged into the sewer system.

"We have a plan that really gets to the remaining source of contamination at this site the soil and the ground water," said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. "EPA has already successfully dealt with short-term threats; now we can turn our attention to the long-term risks to the community, which are addressed by this plan."

There has been industrial activity at the 2.4-acre Martin Aaron site since the late 1800's. From 1968 to 1998, it was a drum recycling facility. The drums, which contained residues of hazardous substances, were improperly disposed of at the site. EPA and the NJDEP removed a variety of wastes from the site, including abandoned equipment, drums containing waste, empty drums, above-ground and under-ground tanks, and contaminated soils found at the surface.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) first tested the site for contamination in 1987. The results showed that sludge and samples from the sewer basins contained volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals. In 1997, the NJDEP performed a site-wide study of the nature and extent of contamination, and confirmed that the site was contaminated with VOCs, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). When the site was placed on the National Priorities List in July 1999, NJDEP requested that EPA take the lead in completing studies of the contamination and in evaluating cleanup plans for the site. EPA's findings revealed that soil contaminated with VOCs and arsenic is contaminating the ground water.

For more information about this site, please visit the EPA Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200278c.pdf.