The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the proposal for the Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination site.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday unveiled a proposal to reduce contamination at a primary source of a 9,800-acre plume of groundwater contamination in Warren County.
The new deep-soil vapor extraction system proposed at the Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination Superfund site aims to reduce levels of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the area of the former American National Can facility in Washington Township, the primary source of this contaminant on the site.
Groundwater and soil in the Superfund site comprising parts of Washington and Franklin, Greenwich and Washington townships are contaminated with both TCE and perchloroethylene (PCE), both of which can have serious health impacts including liver damage and increased risk of cancer, according to the EPA.
EPA officials are accepting public comment through July 15 on the new multimillion-dollar proposal. A public meeting is scheduled to explain the plan at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, at the Washington Borough Municipal Building, 100 Belvidere Ave.
Superfund, also known as the National Priorities List, is a federal program designed to clean up the nation's worst-polluted properties. The EPA administers the program, and seeks private funding for remediation by parties deemed responsible for the pollution, rather than passing the cost onto taxpayers.
MORE: $95 million Pohatcong Valley Superfund settlement reached
"The EPA plan advances the cleanup and will help protect people's health," EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck said in a news release about the new proposal. "The area beneath the former American National Can facility is a continuing source of chemical contamination that will be addressed in this part of the cleanup."
The EPA added the Pohatcong Valley site to the Superfund program in 1989, after TCE and PCE -- both considered volatile organic compounds -- were detected in the 1970s in two public water-supply wells, on Vannatta Street and Dale Avenue in Washington.
Site-cleanup efforts have already addressed a large area of groundwater contamination in Washington that is served by a public water supply. For this part of the site, the EPA finalized a 2006 plan to pump out the contaminated groundwater and treat it using a technology that strips out the pollutants by blowing air through the contaminated water to separate out the chemicals. The resulting clean water is pumped back into the ground.
This groundwater extraction, treatment and re-injection system has been built and has been operating at the site since March. The EPA is also using this pump-and-treat remedy for a portion of the groundwater that is primarily contaminated with PCE as well as relying on natural processes to further the cleanup at the site.
Another part of the site cleanup includes contaminated groundwater in Franklin and Greenwich townships. There is no public water supply currently available in most of this area, and drinking water wells that are impacted by contamination have received individual treatment systems to provide clean drinking water, according to the EPA. For this area, the agency says it is requiring the construction of water lines to provide potable water, and engineering design for this part of the project is ongoing.
MORE: Superfund site profiles in Lehigh Valley region
Investigators traced the source of the PCE contamination to the former Tung-Sol Tubing facility.
"TCE is by far the main groundwater contaminant" throughout the Superfund site, with the American National Can site pinpointed as "the primary source of that TCE," federal environmental officials say.
The facility has a long history of industrial use under prior owners and operators, and is currently owned and operated by Albea Americas Inc.
Under the new proposal:
"The EPA is proposing the continued use of an existing system that removes harmful chemicals from shallow soil beneath the industrial building at the site by extracting them in vapor form with a vacuum and then filtering the vapors through carbon filters to remove contaminants. For deeper areas of contamination, the EPA is proposing the installation of a similar system between 30 to 100 feet beneath the facility.
"Throughout the cleanup, sampling, monitoring and further studies will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy. If necessary, the EPA proposes using a heating process in areas of the soil that are highly contaminated that moves harmful chemicals toward wells where the chemicals are collected and piped to the surface to be treated using other cleanup methods. Some chemicals are destroyed underground during this heating process."
Without the additional thermal treatment, the proposal would cost $7.8 million, require 2 1/2 years to build and take an estimated 10 years to achieve the EPA's remedial action objectives.
With the thermal treatment, the proposal would cost $12.7 million and take four years to build, with desired results still 10 years off.
By doing nothing, the soil contamination would remain "and would continue to serve as the source for groundwater contamination and for vapor intrusion. Human health would be at risk from vapor intrusion," the EPA says.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, applauded the EPA's proposal but said if it doesn't work, the agency "needs to be prepared to do a full clean-up."
"We are glad to see EPA taking action to remove hazardous chemicals from the American National Can facility," Tittel said in a statement. "TCE and PCE are a major problem in wells across the country."
WEIGH IN
Written comments may be mailed or emailed to:
Michelle Granger, Remedial Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
290 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
212- 637-4975
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROPOSAL
Having trouble viewing the following content? Visit epa.gov for more details on the plan.
Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination Superfund site proposal
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.