(AGENPARL) - Roma, 14 Settembre 2023 - (AGENPARL) – gio 14 settembre 2023 Issued: Sep 14, 2023 (11:09am EDT)
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EPA Completes Mercury Cleanup at Vo-Toys Site in Harrison, New Jersey
NEW YORK (September 14, 2023) – Today, EPA announced that it has completed a
major milestone in the cleanup of the Vo-Toys site in Harrison, New Jersey.
Under EPA oversight, General Electric Company (GE) contractors have
successfully decontaminated and demolished all three mercury-contaminated
buildings at the site and have removed building debris.
“After years of hard work, EPA has mitigated the mercury threats from the
Vo-Toys site and ensured the safety of this community,” said Regional
Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “This project will have a positive impact on
the health and economy of Harrison and its surrounding areas.”
The Vo-Toys site is a former manufacturing facility that occupied a city block
in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood just north of Route 280.
The site had three large, empty buildings that had been contaminated with
mercury from past industrial practices. Exposure to mercury can be harmful to
human health and the environment.
In response to the May 2018 request of the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP), EPA became involved in the cleanup of the
site. EPA and GE conducted a series of assessments to determine the amount of
mercury within the buildings and the potential impact on the neighborhood in
case of a fire. The results showed that a fire could expose people to a
significant amount of mercury. To prevent this, EPA and NJDEP collaborated
with local officials and first responders to create a plan to protect the
public from a mercury release. GE, which was responsible for performing the
removal action at the site, placed a 24-hour fire watch at the site until a
plan for site cleanup was finalized.
Under a legal agreement with EPA, GE began removing mercury-contaminated
structures at the site in March 2020. Decontamination and demolition of the
above grade structures was completed in May 2022. In 2023, GE removed and
disposed of numerous mercury-contaminated concrete footers and related
contaminated soil. Below-slab piping contaminated with mercury was also
removed and disposed of off-site. During all the work EPA and GE contractors
monitored the air for mercury vapor and dust and collected air samples in the
community to ensure that air quality was safe.
Today’s announcement marks the end of the cleanup work overseen by EPA at
the Vo-Toys site, which has successfully removed the risk of mercury exposure
from the three contaminated buildings. GE will submit a final report on the
removal action to EPA as the site is transitioned to NJDEP oversight for
further action to ensure the safe redevelopment and future use of the site.
For more information, site documents and photos, please visit the Vo Toys site
response page.