Stimulus $ will help clean local toxic site

The federal government has allocated funding to finish cleanup efforts at New Jersey's federal Superfund sites, including the Imperial Oil site in the Morganville section of Marlboro.

New Jersey is slated to receive $160 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (federal stimulus) that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in February. The state leads the nation with 114 Superfund sites listed on the National Priorities List.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased funding to the Superfund program, which is run by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, by $600 million to clean up toxic sites across the country.

Imperial Oil is expected to receive between $10 million and $25 million for the cleanup, according to information provided by officials last week.

The 15-acre Imperial Oil site off Tennent Road at Orchard Place in Marlboro was declared a Superfund site in the early 1980s. Remediation work on-site and offsite has been undertaken at various times during the 25 years since Imperial Oil was identified as a contaminated location.

According to previously published articles, contaminants found on-site include arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls and lead, all of which likely came from the processing of used oils on the property dating back to the 1950s. The company is no longer active.

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik was excited to learn that federal money has been allocated for the cleanup.

"With this allocation of federal funds, the final stages of the cleanup of the Imperial Oil site can begin. This will bring the saga of this contaminated site, which began over 25 years ago, to its proper conclusion, for the benefit of all Marlboro residents," Hornik said.

"My administration, Sen. (Frank) Lautenberg and Sen. (Robert) Menendez, Congressman (Rush) Holt, Congressman (Frank) Pallone, activist Tina Freedman and others have been working diligently to raise awareness about the contamination at Imperial Oil. I am very pleased this coordinated effort has paid off and our community will finally be able to sleep better at night knowing this site has been cleaned up to acceptable standards," the mayor added.

Hornik noted that his father, Marlboro's late mayor Saul Hornik, pushed to have Imperial Oil placed on the U.S. Superfund list in the 1980s. He said he will be pleased to be Marlboro's mayor when the job is finally complete.

Pallone, whose congressional district includes Marlboro, said he has fought for years to reinstate the Superfund tax so that polluters once again pay the costs of cleaning up contamination they caused.

The congressman is the lead sponsor of the Superfund Polluter Pays Act of 2009, an act which would reauthorize the original Superfund fees through the fiscal year 2019, making polluters, and not taxpayers, cover the costs of cleaning the toxic sites.

"The Superfund program has been faced with inadequate funding since 2003, making it nearly impossible to remediate the 1,255 Superfund sites across the country. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has provided the necessary and immediate funds to help accelerate the hazardous waste cleanup of (these) sites and ensure the public health of nearby residents. However, there are still many sites in New Jersey and across the country that will need funding for future cleanups and that is why we must reinstate the polluter pays tax so that the industries polluting our land and water are responsible for the cleanup of these sites," Pallone said.

Menendez said, "The expeditious cleanup of Superfund sites in New Jersey means better public health for area residents, and the potential to turn contaminated land into economically productive property. It is important to remove all of the hazardous waste that harms the environment, but more importantly, to make the areas safe and productive. I look forward to seeing all of these New Jersey Superfund sites being freed of harmful pollutants while stimulating local economies."

Lautenberg chairs the Superfund, Toxic and Environmental Health Subcommittee, which oversees the federal Superfund. According to a press release, Lautenberg plans to introduce legislation to ensure that polluters pay for Superfund cleanups and also to increase the pace of those cleanups.

"New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state in the country. It is critical that we clean up these polluted sites as soon as possible to protect the health of New Jersey families," Lautenberg said.