Middlesex County, New Jersey – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Deptartment of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson have confirmed that a sixty acre Global Landfill Superfund site located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, has been granted a multi-million dollar settlement that will pay for the costs of clean-up.

A total of approximately $20 million has been allotted for clean-up of the site, which is located in Old Bridge Township near Cheesequake State Park. In addition, several companies will contribute money for clean-up.

The landfill has been in operation since 1968, accepting industrial, commercial, and municipal waste. In accordance with its licensing and waste management facilities the site had accepted asbestos waste, septic sludge, and other potential toxins for several years until it was closed in 1984.

However, testing carried out at the site after its closure indicated that volatile organic compounds—including the contents of several of 63 barrels of hazardous waste—had been seeping into wetlands adjacent to the landfill.

As a result of the tests, the Global Landfill site was added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund National Priorities List in 1989.

In addition to asbestos, Department of Environmental Protection studies at the site also found that shallow groundwater was contaminated with pesticides, metals, and organic compounds. In addition, deeper groundwater was found to be contaminated with volatile compounds in at least one monitoring location.

Several organizations that were involved in the disposal of hazardous waste at the landfill site—including chemical and pharmaceutical firms, municipalities, and waste haulers—have been found to be partially responsible for its current state, and will contribute to the settlement total.

A total of 31 different parties involved in generating or transporting hazardous waste will pay a combined amount of $2 million. Of that, $1.1 million will contribute to past costs of containment activities at the landfill, while $745,000 will be contributed towards repairing damage caused to natural resources. The parties involved in the settlement will also be responsible for paying any additional clean-up costs if the initial settlement is inadequate.

The settlement must go through a thirty-day public comment period, and be approved by a District Court before it can be finalized.

During and after the clean-up the EPA will require long-term monitoring of both shallow and deep groundwater around the site, as well as ecological monitoring of the surrounding wetlands, to determine the extent of long-term damage and ensure the site does not become contaminated again.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, New Jersey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.