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| The Universal Oil Products Superfund site in 2010 on Route 17 in East Rutherford, NJ. (Photo: File photo) |
Another major toxic site in the Meadowlands is slated to be cleaned up under a proposed $18.2 million plan, unveiled this week by federal officials, for a former East Rutherford factory.
The proposal for Universal Oil Products comes just two months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chose a $332 million plan to dredge mercury-laden sediment from nearby Berry’s Creek.
The plan targets Ackerman’s Creek, which is tainted with lead, PCBs and other contaminants from Universal Oil Products.
Workers would remove the top 2 feet of sediment laced with lead, PCBs and other contaminants from the waterway on the west side of Murray Hill Parkway. That would total 16,300 cubic yards — enough to fill almost 1,200 average-sized dump trucks.
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EPA officials are supporting the $18.2 million plan over a $21.6 million plan that would excavate the first 3 feet of soil from the property for a total of 19,600 cubic yards.
Honeywell acquired the property in 2002 and would likely be among the parties to pay for the cleanup.
Officials said removing all of the contaminated sediment would not reduce the risk substantially more than a proposal to scoop up the first 2 feet and cap the remaining contaminants. Many environmental groups have criticized this practice, derisively calling it “pave and wave” and saying only complete excavation can ensure that there is no threat to public health.
As with most of New Jersey’s worst toxic sites, the pollution at Universal Oil Products dates back decades to when ink was manufactured at the site, off Route 17 near Paterson Plank Road.
The factory handled chemical waste for decades, and pollution would routinely seep from on-site wastewater lagoons into soil, groundwater, marshlands, and creeks.
