(AGENPARL) - Roma, 27 Febbraio 2024 - (AGENPARL) – mar 27 febbraio 2024 Issued: Feb 27, 2024 (1:51pm EST)
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EPA Announces Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds for Cleanups at Three
Superfund Sites in New Jersey
NEW YORK (February 27, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) announced that three New Jersey Superfund sites are among the over 100
sites across the country getting more than $1 billion for cleanup projects as
part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This funding is made
possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will launch
new cleanup projects at 25 Superfund sites and continue other cleanups at over
85 Superfund sites. The New Jersey Superfund sites included are the Matlack,
Inc. site in Woolwich, the Raritan Bay Slag site in Old Bridge Township, and
the Roebling Steel site in Florence Township. 
Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being
dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites can
include toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities, processing plants,
landfills and mining, and can harm the health and well-being of local
communities in urban and rural areas. More than one in four Black and Hispanic
Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site.? 
“People living in New Jersey, which has the most Superfund sites in the
nation, have seen firsthand how transformative the Superfund program can be
for communities,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia.  “This
investment in America and in New Jersey builds on the historic progress we
have already made in recent years to ensure that communities living near the
most serious uncontrolled, or abandoned contaminated sites get the protections
they deserve.”  
“Superfund sites pose serious threats to human health, increasing the risks
of cancer, birth defects, and other serious illnesses that fall
disproportionately on low-income communities and communities of color,” said
Senator Cory Booker. “These cleanup projects will revitalize three Superfund
sites in critical need in our state, which has the most Superfund sites in the
nation. I’ve championed the cleanup of contaminated sites since I was Mayor
of Newark, and I’m proud to work with the Biden-Harris Administration to
address contamination and protect our state’s public and environmental
health. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering real results by
investing in cleaner air, water, and soil for our communities.”
“Superfund sites threaten public and environmental health across the
country, but with today’s announcement, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is
continuing to deliver on the promise we made to clean up backlogged sites and
give our communities the peace of mind they deserve,” said Representative
Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“For dozens of communities, today’s funding is a welcome assurance that
help is on the way. I appreciate the Biden Administration’s commitment to
transforming communities that have been impacted by toxic contamination and
applaud EPA for moving swiftly to put the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s
resources to work.”
“I voted to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law so we could fix the
persistent shortcomings in our nation’s infrastructure, including cleanup of
hazardous Superfund sites. It is terrific news that this site in Florence
Township will now have an influx of critical, federal funding to help complete
what has been a decades-long cleanup process. I am proud to see our
infrastructure investments continue to come to New Jersey and propel projects
like this that desperately need attention. For the health and safety of our
communities and environment, we need to continue essential work like this to
protect the waterways and ecosystems in and around the Delaware River and
across the nation,” said Representative Andy Kim.
“My DEP colleagues and I express our gratitude to the Biden-Harris
Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for making these
funds available to advance cleanup progress at Superfund sites in Woolwich,
Old Bridge and Florence,” said New Jersey Environmental Protection
Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette. “The President’s Investing In America
initiative is really, at its heart, an investment in our communities. With the
addition of this round of funding, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has
enabled the DEP over the years to leverage more than $80 million in funding on
remediation work in other communities across New Jersey, many of which are
historically disadvantaged or overburdened. This partnership exemplifies the
continued reach of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in bringing positive
outcomes to thousands of communities across the nation.”
The Matlack, Inc. site is a 79-acre property along Route 322 in Woolwich, New
Jersey. From 1962 to 2001, the site was used for cleaning trucks and tankers
that transported various hazardous substances, including flammable and
corrosive liquids. The contaminated cleaning solution was put in an unlined
lagoon behind the terminal building until 1976. In addition to the lagoon, EPA
found contamination was coming from the Drum Disposal Area of the site.
Primary contaminants of concern are volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
including Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and various
chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs).   
The EPA BIL funding will be used to clean up the Drum Disposal Area of the
Matlack site using a thermal treatment technique that will extract contaminant
vapors from soil and groundwater. As part of the cleanup, samples will be
taken of the soil and groundwater to confirm the treatment worked. This work
is estimated to be worth about $30 million. 
The Raritan Bay Slag site is in the Townships of Old Bridge and Sayreville in
New Jersey and includes about 1.5 miles of the waterfront of Raritan Bay. In
the late 1960s and early 1970s, lead-containing waste slag was deposited along
the seawall and jetty sectors of the site. In 2007, elevated concentrations of
lead and other metals were identified in soil, water, and sediment. The site
is organized into three sectors, which are the Seawall Sector, the Jetty
Sector and the Margaret’s Creek Sector. EPA completed a full cleanup of the
Margaret’s Creek Sector in September 2018, including restoration of impacted
wetland areas. 
The EPA BIL funding will be used to do initial, preparatory and contracting
work associated with the Seawall Sector of the Raritan Bay Slag site. The
estimated value of this work is $1 million. The future work that the
BIL-funded preparation work supports, will include excavation of all source
materials and contaminated soil and sediment, sampling and restoration of the
areas. 
The 200-acre Roebling Steel Company site, which is next to the Delaware River
in Florence Township, New Jersey, was used to manufacture steel products. The
site included two inactive sludge lagoons and an abandoned landfill. The soil
was contaminated with heavy metals like lead, chromium, and cadmium. The
nearby river, creek and wetland sediment were also contaminated with lead,
chromium, copper, and hazardous oils and tars. EPA has been cleaning up the
site in stages since 1991. EPA has worked to address contaminated structures,
soils, sediments, groundwater, and slag contaminated areas across the site. 
In 2022, EPA used BIL funding to monitor groundwater, cap a portion of the
site, and decontaminate, demolish, and conduct historic mitigation of
remaining buildings on site. The funds announced today will be applied to cap
the remaining 100 acres of the site, including a slag area. The cap will
include stormwater drainage and an access road for maintenance. EPA will apply
approximately $2 million to initiate the new phase of work.  
Today’s investment is the final wave of funding from the $3.5 billion
allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the President’s Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law. So far, EPA has deployed more than $2 billion for cleanup
activities at more than 150 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Thanks
President Biden’s commitment to addressing legacy pollution and improving
public health, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for cleanup work
in the past two years as it did in the previous five years while delivering on
President Biden’s?Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal to deliver 40% of
the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged
communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by
pollution. 
EPA is committed to advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity
considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process.  Thus far,
nearly 80% of the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to
sites in communities with potential environmental justice concerns. Out of the
25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, more than 75% are in
communities with potential environmental justice concerns based on data from
EJSCREEN. 
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is restoring the health and
economic vitality of communities that have been exposed to pervasive legacy
pollution. The historic investment made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
strengthens every part of the Superfund program, making a dramatic difference
in EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment. In
addition to funding cleanup construction work, the investment is enabling EPA
to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites
for construction and to ensure communities are meaningfully involved in the
cleanup process. In 2023, EPA continued to fund Superfund pre-construction
activities such as remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial
designs, and community involvement at double pre-Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
levels. 
In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERLCA), known as Superfund. The law gave EPA
the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most
contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is
found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human
health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the
funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 
To see a list of the 25 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects,
visit EPA’s Superfund webpage.
To see highlights from the first two years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
funding at Superfund sites, visit EPA’s Cleaning Up Superfund Sites:
Highlights of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding website.
For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, visit EPA’s Superfund
website.