EPA Settles With 70 Companies To Clean Up NJ’s Passaic River Pollution Out of Their Own Pockets

Seventy companies – considered potentially responsible for polluting New Jersey’s lower Passaic River with toxic chemicals – have settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the pollution using their own money.

Tony Falcon holding a fish he caught in the lower Passaic River in Paterson. Such fish are often contaminated, according to NorthJersey.com, which also provided the photo.

The companies will be expected to remove about 16,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated sediment from a half-mile long area of the river near the town of Lyndhurst.

The soil has been found to contain high levels of chemicals, including PCBs, mercury, and dioxins, according to the EPA, adding that, “PCBs are likely cancer-causing substances and mercury can cause serious damage to the nervous system. Dioxins can cause cancer and other serious health effects” including hormonal disruptions, early developmental problems, and skin disease.

The agency says that, “The highly contaminated sediment was discovered in Lyndhurst during sampling performed by the EPA and the parties late in 2011. The work is scheduled to begin in spring 2013.”

Specifically, the agreement calls for the companies to  remove the contaminated soil from the mud flat area that’s near the north section of Riverside County Park, and install a protective cap over the excavated five-acre area and further test their “sediment treatment technologies.”

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Aluminum Recycler Forced to Clean Up its Act

Aluminum smelter photo courtesy of International Rivers.

Showing that the federal and state governments won’t sit idly by while the aluminum industry pumps pollutants into the environment, the U.S. Justice Department in conjunction with 11 states have negotiated a consent decree with Aleris International Inc., requiring the Beachwood, Ohio-based aluminum recycler to pay a $4.6 million civil penalty to resolve violations to the Clean Air Act.

As part of the settlement, Aleris and 13 of its subsidiaries have committed to implementing environmental improvements and controls projected to cost about $4.2 million in the 11 affected locations (Goodyear, Ariz., Post Falls, Idaho, Chicago Heights, Ill., Wabash, Ind., Lewisport and Morgantown, Ky., Coldwater and Saginaw, Mich., Uhrichville, Ohio, Sapulpa, Okla., Loudon and Shelbyville, Tenn., Richmond, Va., and Friendly, W. Va.)

“This settlement, including the significant penalty, will help to protect human health and the environment by brining one of the country’s largest aluminum companies into compliance with the Clean Air Act’s rules for the industry,” said John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environmental and natural resources division.

“It will also serve as a notice to the rest of the industry that we will vigorously enforce the Act and rules,” added Mr. Cruden.

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