JERSEY
CITY - Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell
today announced that the Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP)
will immediately begin cleanups at three
chromium-contaminated sites in Jersey
City. In addition, DEP has issued a directive
against Honeywell International Inc.,
Occidental Petroleum Corporation and PPG
Industries, Inc. seeking reimbursement
for the cleanups.
At
the same time, Attorney General Peter
C. Harvey announced that the state has
filed suit against the three companies
in a push by DEP and the Attorney General
to clean up all remaining chromium contamination.
The
complaint filed against Honeywell, Occidental
and PPG demands that the three defendants,
as successors to the chemical manufacturers
that produced the toxic waste, complete
cleanup of contamination at 106 sites
and reimburse DEP for its investigation,
cleanup and removal costs.
DEP’s
directive also demands reimbursement for
the cost of a study to assess the health
exposure and risks to Hudson County residents
living near chromium waste sites. The
exposure study will build on earlier work
and provide new information about the
health impacts of chromium exposure. DEP
is coordinating with the Department of
Health and Senior Services (DHSS) and
Rutgers University on the study, which
is estimated to cost $1.5 million.
“Jersey
City has waited too long for cleanup of
these sites,” said Commissioner
DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell.
“We will use every tool in this
land to keep Jersey City from waiting
any longer, and to make sure polluters
pays the costs.”
"Clean
water, air and land are a right, not a
privilege," said Attorney General
Harvey. "For too long, the residents
of these communities have lived with the
threat of this highly toxic chromate waste.
Our lawsuit will compel the responsible
companies to clean up the remaining chromium
contamination."
“For
too long, government has done too little
to compel the corporate generators of
chromium to clean up the toxic mess that
they created,"said Jersey City Mayor
Jerramiah T. Healy. "That is changing
today and I am happy that the Attorney
General's Office and the Department of
Environmental Protection are joining us
in an effort to compel these polluters
to rid our city of chromium contamination
once and for all."
DEP
will use public funds to clean up chrome
at three contaminated sites in Jersey
City. Starting in early May, DEP will
excavate contaminated soil at the former
Morris Canal Site No. 2 on Grand Street
near City Hall, the Tempesta and Sons
property, located at 2 Aetna Street and
Liberty State Park. DEP estimates the
total cost of the cleanup will be over
$18 million. DEP also issued a directive
to Honeywell, Occidental and PPG, calling
for a commitment within 10 days from the
companies. If the companies do not respond
and agree to cover these cleanup costs,
DEP will seek, as allowed under the Spill
Compensation and Control Act (Spill Act),
treble damages, which is three times the
amount expended by the DEP.
The
complaint filed by the Attorney General
in Superior Court in Hudson County also
demands treble damages for cleanups at
numerous sites where the defendants failed
to comply with prior DEP directives.
The
106 sites represent all of the remaining,
known unremediated sites of chromium contamination
in Hudson and Essex counties, with the
exception of six sites covered by prior
legal orders. The sites are contaminated
with hexavalent chromium, a highly toxic
heavy metal that has been linked to lung
cancer.
Along
with today’s cleanup announcement,
the DEP Chromium Workgroup released a
draft report today, which evaluated DEP’s
soil cleanup criteria for chromium at
chrome waste sites in New Jersey. Commissioner
Campbell created the workgroup in March
2004 after hearing concerns raised by
the Hudson County community where most
of the chrome waste sites are located.
The workgroup determined that the existing
criteria being used by DEP for chromium
cleanups are based on valid science. However,
several recommendations were made to ensure
adequate documentation of decisions made
at sites. Also, the workgroup recommended
areas for further research to ensure confidence
that the Department’s standards
will protect public health and the environment.
The
workgroup includes experts from various
DEP programs, along with a representative
from the Department of Health and Senior
Services and one representative from the
New Jersey District of the US Geological
Survey.
In
the last century, Hudson County was a
center of U.S. production of chromium
chemicals. Over many years of chromate
production, the three Hudson County manufacturers,
corporate predecessors of the companies
named in the lawsuit, generated more than
two million tons of chromium bearing waste.
The chromate waste was used as fill for
construction projects, resulting in deposits
throughout Hudson and Essex counties.
Toxic
chromium ions continue to leach from the
waste and solidify on surfaces at the
contaminated sites, creating a public
health threat. In addition to being a
lung carcinogen, hexavalent chromium can
cause dermatitis, chromium ulcers, and
nasal septum perforations.
For
more information about the NJDEP Chromium
Workgroup, visit the Department’s
Web site at: www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/chromium/