Contaminated Raritan Bay sites added to Superfund list

A Raritan Bay site, where extremely high levels of lead were found in Old Bridge and Sayreville, will be placed on the Superfund National Priorities List, making it eligible for federal cleanup aid, the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday.

The Superfund designation comes nine months after the EPA fenced off and put signs at three beachfronts because the EPA found contaminated soil around the western jetty near Cheesequake Creek in Old Bridge, at a small beach north of the jetty in Sayreville, and at the Laurence Harbor sea wall in Old Bridge.

"We are happy that the site has been listed," said Debbie Mans, executive director of NY/NJ Baykeeper, an environmental nonprofit organization that works to restore the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. "We really need to move quickly with the cleanup. The access point for local communities is completely fenced off."

The mayors of Sayreville and Old Bridge blamed the contamination on National Lead Industries, which owned a 400-acre paint pigment manufacturing plant in Sayreville and a refining operation in Perth Amboy from 1935-1982.

Beth Totman, an EPA spokeswoman, said the designation also allows the EPA to aggressively pursue cleanup cost recovery from all parties that contributed to the contamination.

Totman said the EPA was still interpreting data from the latest round of samples.

A lawsuit stemming from the pollution filed in August by Baykeeper and the Edison Wetlands Association is still active. It names local, county and state agencies, demanding they remediate environmental damage in and around Raritan Bay.

"The sooner we can reclaim the beachfront for our residents, the better," said Michael Jacobs, business administrator of Old Bridge. The beachfront "is definitely less convenient and less attractive than it used to be."

Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said he could not immediately comment because he had not officially heard from the EPA that the area was listed.

The site consists of areas with lead-contaminated material, including slag and pieces of battery casings. At the Laurence Harbor seawall area, the range of lead sampled was as high as 142,000 parts per million. At the western jetty near Cheesequake Creek, the highest levels found were 198,000 ppm. On the beach area in Sayreville, the range of lead was again up to 142,000 ppm.

According to the EPA website, lead is a hazard if it exceeds 1,200 ppm in children's play areas.

There are 112 Superfund sites in the state, said Totman, who added New Jersey has the most sites in the country.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) praised the EPA's decision.

"The complexity, the scope and the costs of this cleanup make this a serious problem," Pallone said.

"Now we can move forward to do what can be done to clear the contamination out."

Aliyah Shahid is a reporter for the New Jersey Local News Service. She may be reached at (908) 243-6233 or ashahid@njlns.com.