The Justice Department, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), lodged a proposed settlement agreement with Environmental Resource Holdings LLC (ERH) last week to perform critical work to support the cleanup of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site, including the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River. The work is estimated to cost $125 million and focuses on the next steps needed to get the in-river work started.
Under the proposed consent decree, ERH will construct an upland processing facility and several upland support facilities that would enable dredging and capping work in the Lower Passaic River.
The construction will include a facility to handle sediment dredged from the river before it is sent for off-site disposal. Also, the upland support facilities will provide land and infrastructure needed to support future in-river construction work.
According to the Justice Department, ERH will sample the lower 8.3 miles of the river to establish a baseline and reimburse EPA for future oversight costs related to this work.
“Over many decades, industrial activity contaminated the Lower Passaic River,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Adam Gustafson, of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “This settlement is a significant step toward cleaning up a site that has been a longstanding priority for EPA.”
The proposed consent decree was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and is subject to a 30-day comment period.