EPA proposes provisional plan for East Rutherford Superfund site

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced an interim proposal to address contamination at the Universal Oil Products Superfund Site in East Rutherford at an estimated cost of $18.2 million.

The actions proposed for the site include excavating the top two feet of sediment and then refilling the excavated area with clean gravel and sand. According to the EPA’s plan, the removed sediment would be drained, treated and disposed of off-site.

Other courses of action from the EPA proposal include fish consumption advisories for the state and a post-cleanup monitoring plan.

The post-cleanup portion would keep track of the surrounding areas’ response to the EPA’s actions, including monitoring marshes and waterways hydrologically connected to the Universal Oil Products site, and an assessment as to whether volatile organic compounds from groundwater are discharging to these waterways.

The Universal Oil Products site and adjacent Berry’s Creek Area are both on Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s Emphasis List of Superfund Sites, targeted for “immediate, intense action,” the EPA said.

Berry’s Creek, a tributary to the Hackensack River, travels through Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, Rutherford, Teterboro and Wood-Ridge. According to the EPA, it includes about six miles of waterway and approximately 750 acres of marshes.

A public meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Hasbrouck Heights Free Public Library. Public comments will be accepted at the meeting, and until Jan. 23 via regular mail or email to Eugenia Naranjo, Project Manager; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 290 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007; [email protected].