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EPA Cleanup Action To Eliminate All Chemical Hazards At Inactive Pesticide Processing Site on New Albany Road in Moorestown, New Jersey

Release Date: 08/17/1999
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(#99135) New York, N.Y. -- The remaining pesticide-contaminated soil at the inactive Pulverizing Services facility at 332 New Albany Road in Moorestown will be removed, making the property safe for commercial reuse, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently approved site cleanup plan. The amended plan calls for the excavation and off-site disposal and treatment of more than 13,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated primarily with pesticides including DDT, which EPA banned in the 1970s, and aldrin and dieldrin. Cost estimates for the cleanup range from $2.6 million to $4.7 million, depending on the amount of soil that require treatment. EPA believes that the cleanup can be done in less than a year from the date the work starts.

PPG Industries, Inc. owned and operated the 24-acre facility from 1948 to 1963, when Pulverizing Services, Inc. took over the site; it operated a facility there until 1979. Previous EPA-supervised cleanups by PPG Industries, Inc., and limited actions by other potentially responsible parties, involved removing hundreds of chemical drums and tons of contaminated soil and debris, considerably reducing the volume and concentration of chemicals in certain areas of the property.

"Finalizing this cleanup plan is a critical step in the long-term solution to contamination at this site," EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox said. "We also want to make a difference in helping Moorestown turn the site back into a commercially useful property and a community asset."

The soil contamination varies in depth, but for most areas to be excavated, the contamination is within the first few feet of the surface. The plan provides for different types of treatment and disposal of the soil, depending on the concentrations of contamination. The least contaminated material will be sent directly to an approved landfill for disposal. Material that is more contaminated will require off-site treatment prior to disposal. The most contaminated material will be disposed of at a licensed off-site incinerator.

EPA is planning to investigate the extent of groundwater and surface water contamination at the site and to determine if a problem exists that would require further cleanup. The groundwater underlying the site is not used a source of drinking water and the site has not contaminated local drinking water supplies.

Site Background

When the plant was active, its operations involved the grinding, micronizing and blending of first inorganic pesticides and then synthetic organic pesticides like DDT, aldrin, malathion, lindane and rotenone. The active pesticide ingredients were not manufactured at the site, but instead were brought to the facility, ground, blended, and packaged for distribution under various labels. The facility provided other services, including packaging, warehousing, and distributing products to support industries such as plastics, pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

In the 1980s, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) investigated the site and discovered serious hazardous waste problems, including extensive soil contamination. EPA took over managing the site's hazardous waste problems at the state's request in 1987. Since that time, cleanup of the property has progressed in phases through a series of federal enforcement actions leading up to the milestone cleanup plan being announced today.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]