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EPA Announces Cleanup Systems Are In Place and Working At The Ewan Property Federal Superfund Site in Shamong Township, New Jersey

Release Date: 10/14/1999
Contact Information: Richard Cahill (212) 637-3666 / cahill.richard@epa.gov

(#99164) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The cleanup has been completed and the necessary cleanup systems are in place to prevent any uncontrolled release of the hazardous wastes at the Ewan Property Superfund site in Shamong Township, New Jersey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. This site was contaminated by the illegal disposal of thousands of drums containing hazardous industrial wastes, which were emptied and buried on the property in the early 1980s. Contamination from the soil threatened groundwater quality in the most heavily protected portion of the Central Pine Barrens Region of New Jersey.

"Superfund actions at the site removed the threat posed by industrial wastes near these pine barrens, which are a natural habitat for a variety of endangered species of wildlife and plants," EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox said. "EPA considers construction completion as a most important milestone because it means that all physical construction is complete, all immediate threats have been addressed and all long-term threats are under control," Ms. Fox explained.

In 1995 and 1996, under the terms of a Superfund Consent Order, the companies deemed responsible for the contamination at the site removed approximately 3,800 drums and 22,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils for off-site disposal or incineration. In 1998, the companies began carrying out EPA's cleanup plan for the contaminated groundwater by constructing a groundwater extraction, treatment and recharge system, which pulls contaminated groundwater out of the ground, removes the contamination and reinjects the treated water back into the aquifer. In February of this year, these systems began a startup and testing period. Recent groundwater monitoring results have convinced EPA that systems are operating as designed and the site can now be considered construction complete. The "pump and treat" system is expected to operate for ten years to reach the groundwater cleanup goals.

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: cahill.richard@epamail.epa.gov