|
TRENTON
-- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Department
of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner
Mark N. Mauriello announced today that the
state has entered into a settlement agreement
with PPG Industries, Inc. that will result
in the clean-up of chromium contamination
at a property once owned by PPG in Jersey
City, as well as the clean-up of numerous
other chromium-tainted sites throughout Hudson
County.
According
to the settlement, which also involves the
City of Jersey City, the goal is to remediate
soil and sources of chromium contamination
at property along Garfield Avenue in Jersey
City within five years. PPG also agrees to
complete remediation at 13 other chromium-contaminated
sites in Jersey City, Weehawkin and Bayonne.
“This
is a major settlement, and is the culmination
of years of intense investigative work and
litigation on behalf of our citizens and our
environment,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “We are committed to working
with DEP to ensure that contaminated properties
are cleaned up and restored.”
“I grew up in Jersey City and know firsthand
the frustration felt by people who have had
to live with chromium contamination,”
Acting DEP Commissioner Mark N. Mauriello
said. “It's been a long time coming,
but this settlement will give residents the
peace of mind and better quality of life that
comes with a cleaner, healthier neighborhood.”
Chromium is used in a variety of industrial
applications including metal plating, the
manufacture of stainless steel and the production
of colored glass.
Hudson County was for many years the center
of chromium chemical production in the United
States, with three of the nation's six chromium
chemical production plants located in the
county - including two in Jersey City. (One
was located in Kearny).
Pittsburgh-based
PPG acquired the Garfield Avenue chrome production
facility in August 1954 and operated it for
nine years, until September 1963. During PPG's
ownership and operation of the facility, large
quantities of a waste product known as chromate
ore processing residue, as well as other contaminant
by-products, were created. An element of this
chromate ore processing waste - hexavalent
chromium - is of particular concern to the
state, because it is a highly toxic heavy
metal that has been linked to a variety of
health problems.
In
June 2005, the State filed a chromium-contamination-related
lawsuit against PPG and two other companies
whose predecessors processed chromium - Honeywell
International, Inc., and Occidental Chemical
Corp. The lawsuit alleged, among other things,
that chromate ore processing waste was sold
by the three companies to entrepreneurs who
in turn sold it to construction companies.
(The construction companies used the chromium
waste as “fill“ in sewer line
installation and other projects.)
As
a result of this activity, the state alleged,
toxic chromate waste has lingered at a variety
of sites throughout Hudson County and, over
time, has created serious environmental and
public health concerns. The chromium -contaminated
sites in and around Hudson County vary from
small townhouse lots to large, 35-acre tracts,
and are located in residential, commercial,
industrial and recreational settings.
In
the 1980s and 1990s, Honeywell, Occidental
and PPG formally agreed to investigate and
clean up a total of more than 100 chromium-contaminated
sites in Hudson County that DEP had identified
as their individual responsibilities. A number
of these sites have been remediated but some,
including the 14 that are the subject of this
settlement, are not done.
Also left are a substantial number of “orphan”
sites - sites contaminated with hexavalent
chromium for which no company would accept
responsibility. The state's chromium-related
lawsuits against PPG, Honeywell and Occidental,
for those sites, remain unresolved, although
discussions with the three companies continue.
The
PPG settlement agreement announced today is
subject to a 30-day comment period that begins
March 16. The Division of Law's DAG Anna Lascurain
, DAG Paul Stofa, DAG Edward Devine, Investigator
James Dowd and Attorney Assistant Jeff Bartron
handled the PPG settlement, and are handling
the other pending chromium matters on behalf
of the State.
#
# # |
