For Immediate Release
September 14, 2012 Contact Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100
EPAAdds Orange Toxic Site to Superfund List
The Sierra Club applauds the US Environmental Protection Agency's for adding the Orange Valley Regional Ground Water site in Orange and West Orange to the Superfund program.As part of the Superfund program this site will be cleaned up, helping to protect the environment and hundreds of people in the community.
"We applaud the EPA for adding the Valley Regional Ground Water site to the Superfund list because this site has been impacting public drinking wells for far too long.This site should have been on the Superfund list long ago.The EPA action and clean up on this site will protect the people in Orange and West Orange," *said Jeff Tittel, Director of NJ Sierra Club*. PCE, TCE and cis-1,2-dichloroethylene are not only carcinogens but can cause damage to the liver.This type of groundwater contamination can cause vapor intrusion with people breathing in fumes in their homes or even Orange Park.Quite frankly even though treatment systems were installed on some wells, given how contaminated this area is they should be looking for other sources of drinking water.
"The Sierra Club now looks forward to working with the EPA to develop a plan to cleanup this site.The EPA will bring in its knowledge and funding to ensure the site will be cleaned up and the people will be protected," said Jeff Tittel. There are still around 35 other sites in New Jersey that meet the criteria for Superfund but have not been listed according to federal documents accessed by PEER through a FOIA request.In New Jersey, we have about 115 active sites, the most in the nation.
"In many of our urban areas there are underground streams of volatile organic chemicals running through our communities impacting public health.We are glad EPA is finally starting to tackle this issue.However there are many more sites like this throughout New Jersey that need to be cleaned up as well," said Jeff Tittel. The EPA also proposed two additional sites be added to the Superfund program, Matlack Inc in Woolwich Township and the Riverside Industrial Park, a former paint manufacturer in Newark.The DuPont site in Pompton Lakes was not proposed for addition.
"While this is approved the Pompton Lakes site, which is affecting 450 houses and people directly, is still not being proposed for the Superfund program. The EPA needs to step up and protect the community of Pompton Lakes by proposing the DuPont site for the Superfund list. This site has been contaminating the community for far too long and needs to finally be thoroughly cleaned up protecting the public health and our environment," said Jeff Tittel.
-- Kate Millsaps Conservation Program Coordinator NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club 609-656-7612