Under the proposed consent decree, ERH will construct an upland processing facility and several upland support facilities that would enable dredging and capping work in the Lower Passaic River.
The construction would include a facility to handle sediment dredged from the river before it ends up sent for off-site disposal. The upland support facilities would provide land and infrastructure needed to support future in-river construction work. ERH would sample the lower 8.3 miles of the river to establish a baseline. Additionally, It would then reimburse EPA for future oversight costs related to this work.
River Clean Up
“The construction ordered in this consent decree is the next step in cleaning up the Lower Passaic River. It will finally remediate one of the oldest Superfund sites,” said Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Jeffrey Hall.
“This is a huge step in cleaning up one of New Jersey’s most complex Superfund sites,” said Regional Administrator Michael Martucci of EPA Region 2. “The work laid out in this proposed settlement gets shovels in the ground and lays the foundation for dredging and that brings us one important step closer to a cleaner and restored Passaic River.”
ERH is a potentially responsible party for the site. It is a corporate successor to Occidental Chemical Corporation and to Diamond Alkali Company/Diamond Shamrock Corporation. They formerly owned and operated the former Diamond Alkali facility in Newark.
The proposed consent decree ended up filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day comment period. The complaint and the proposed consent decree are available on the Justice Department’s website.