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EPA Extends Public Comment Period for Plan to Remove Mercury Contaminated Sediment from Bottom of Pompton Lake; EPA to Host Public Information Session for Pompton Lakes Community Tonight

Release Date: 11/12/2014
Contact Information: Mary Mears, (212) 637-3673), mears.mary@epa.gov; John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y.) In response to requests from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Citizens for a Clean Pompton Lakes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will extend the public comment period for the proposed plan to remove mercury contamination from areas of Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey from December 18, 2014 to February 2, 2015.

Under the proposed plan, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. will be required to dredge lake bottom sediment from a 36 acre area of the Acid Brook Delta and also remove sediment from two other areas of the lake near the shoreline that have elevated levels of mercury and are subject to erosion. These areas total an additional three acres in size. The proposed permit also requires DuPont to remove contaminated soil from a shoreline area where the Acid Brook flows into the lake, and replace it with clean soil. All of the sediment and soil will be sent to a licensed disposal facility. A long-term monitoring plan will be designed and implemented to assess Pompton Lake after the work is completed.

The EPA will hold a public information session tonight, November 12, 2014, at 7:00 pm and a formal public hearing on December 8, 2014 at 7:00 pm. The information session will allow people to ask questions of EPA representatives, while the public hearing is a more formal proceeding with a court stenographer to collect public comments. Both the public information session and the formal public hearing will be held at the Carnevale Center at 10 Lenox Avenue in Pompton Lakes.

A copy of the proposed permit and additional information about the Pompton Lakes site can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/region2/dupontpompton

The public also can review documents related to the permit modification and cleanup at:
Pompton Lakes Public Library
333 Wanaque Avenue, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey
973-835-0482
http://www.pomptonlakeslibrary.org/index.htm

Technical and legal documents related to the proposed cleanup, including the existing permit and proposed permit modification, can be reviewed Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM (except for federal holidays) at:

EPA RCRA Records Center
290 Broadway, 15th Floor, Room 1538
New York, NY 10007-1866
212-637-3043

Send comments to the EPA on the proposed permit to:
Perry Katz, Remedial Project Manager
US EPA Region 2
290 Broadway – 19th Floor
New York, NY 10007
katz.ira-perry@epa.gov

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at http://facebook.com/eparegion

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