| TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner and
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Lisa P. Jackson announced today that the
state has reached an agreement with the
new owner of a contaminated Monmouth County
industrial site that requires the owner
to clean up the property and reimburse the
State more than $800,000 in related costs.
Under an Administrative Consent Order governing
the 213-acre William Hurley Industrial Complex
in Farmingdale, new property owner Hurley
Felds, LLC must submit quarterly progress
reports on clean-up of the contaminated
site, and must create a $5 million remediation
fund to ensure an ability to pay for the
work.
The property at issue was for decades the
site of a manufacturing plant that made
electronic hardware used in military weapons
systems. Hurley Felds, whose principal is
identified as Joel Hoffman, purchased the
property at a bankruptcy auction in February
2006.
Before the manufacturing operation shut
down in 2002, testing revealed that groundwater
both on and off the property was contaminated
with unacceptable levels of such industrial
pollutants as trichloroethene and dichloroethane.
Both are solvents used in degreasing and
cleaning metal. As a result of the contamination,
point-of-entry water treatment systems had
to be installed on affected potable wells.
The agreement between the state and the
new owner calls for remediation of all pollutants
on the Hurley Felds property, as well as
contamination emanating off-site from the
property.
“This
is an important agreement for the residents
of Monmouth county -- and for our entire
state,” said Attorney General Rabner.
“Not only does the agreement ensure
that this property will be cleaned up, the
settlement also returns taxpayer money spent
to investigate and contain an environmental
threat.”
Said DEP Commissioner Jackson, ”A
large tract with few prospects for its future
can now be returned to productive use without
spending public money. The developer is
stepping forward and taking responsibility
for cleanup.”
Located at 1 Central Avenue, Farmingdale,
the industrial property at issue was formerly
owned by WDH Howell, LLC and William D.
Hurley. Hurley was president of the FEL
Corporation, which operated Frequency Engineering
Laboratories on the site. Frequency Engineering
manufactured electronic hardware used for
military weapons guidance systems –
most recently those employed by the Navy.
In January 2001, WDH Howell filed a petition
for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal
bankruptcy code. Hurley and the FEL Corp.
did the same in May 2001.
In the wake of the bankruptcy filings, there
were several attempted sales transactions
involving the industrial complex and the
equipment on it but, for various reasons,
no prospective buyer followed through and
completed acquisition of the contaminated
property. The property was auctioned off
in February 2006 under terms of a Bankruptcy
Court order issued approximately a year
earlier. Hoffman was the successful bidder.
According to the sale agreement, Hoffman
(Hurley Felds) was required to enter into
an Administrative Consent Order with the
Department of Environmental Protection to
ensure clean-up of all contamination at
the site. Under terms of that Administrative
Consent Order, the new owner assumed no
legal liability for the current condition
of the property, but agreed to pay the state
$816,317 as reimbursement of costs related
to the state’s past expenditures for
investigation of, and response to, the contamination
at issue.
According to the Administrative Consent
Order, Hurley Felds agreed to pay the state
approximately $408,000 within 30 calendar
days of the order’s effective date,
and then approximately $102,000 every six
months afterward. The agreement also requires
Hurley Felds to submit to DEP for review
a Remedial Action Work Plan for the property,
and to modify the plan in accordance with
DEP’s comments.
If Hurley Felds should violate the Administrative
Consent Order, the agreement calls for a
minimum penalty of $500 per day per violation,
and a maximum penalty of $2,500 per day
per violation. There is additional language
in the agreement providing for added financial
penalties to cover any “economic benefit”
Hurley Felds might realize by committing
a violation. The new owner has also agreed
to provide DEP with access to all areas
of the industrial complex at all times for
purposes of inspecting it, monitoring compliance
with the Administrative Consent Order and,
if needed, to perform any required remedial
work that Hurley Felds might have failed
to complete.
Deputy
Attorney General Rachel Lehr, of the Division
of Law, handled the matter on behalf of
the State.
>> Administrative
Consent Order (175k pdf)
plug-in
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