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Community Relations Community Relations Site List Hercules Incorporated
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Hercules Incorporated
Greenwich Township, Gloucester County
Preferred ID (PI#): 003450
Community Relations Coordinator: Heather Swartz (609) 984-7135
SITE DESCRIPTION/RESOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS:
As
of September 2004
Hercules Inc. is an active organic hydroxide/peroxide manufacturing facility
located on a 350-acre tract of land on the Delaware River. Hercules purchased
the facility from the E.I. duPont deNemours Company (duPont) in 1952.
The processing area and tank farm encompass a 70-acre area on the southwest
portion of the property. Approximately 2000 feet north of the manufacturing
plant is a 4-acre solid waste disposal area (SWDA) that was used by duPont
and Hercules for disposal of sludges from distillation processes, off-specification
materials and other solid wastes until 1974.
In the early 1980s, a preliminary investigation revealed ground water
at the site was contaminated with benzene and other organic compounds.
Soil at the facility was also found to be contaminated with volatile organic
compounds and metals. The United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) added the Hercules facility to the National Priorities List of
Superfund sites in 1983. A ground water remediation system was installed
at the site in 1984 to treat the contaminated ground water and prevent
it from migrating off site. Operation of the ground water remediation
system is ongoing.
Remediation of the site is being addressed in two stages: investigation
and cleanup of the contaminated soil and ground water in the plant process
area (including operation of the existing ground water remediation system)
and investigation and remediation of the SWDA. Hercules is currently conducting
a Remedial Investigation (RI) of the plant process area with NJDEP oversight
to determine the nature and extent of contamination in the soil and ground
water. Hercules completed a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)
for the SWDA in 1994 that concluded the SWDA contains mostly insoluble
tar materials and lead fragments. USEPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD)
in 1996 that required consolidation of the miscellaneous wastes in the
SWDA, collection and recycling of the lead fragments and capping of the
waste with an impermeable liner. The ROD also required that contaminated
sediments in a ditch area near the SWDA be covered with a layer of clean
imported fill and that a ground water Classification Exception Area (CEA)
be established at the site. Hercules is designing the SWDA remedy with
NJDEP oversight. Geo Specialty Chemicals Inc. purchased the Hercules facility
in 2001, but Hercules remains responsible for addressing the contamination
under the federal Superfund program.
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