Maywood Superfund site

Last updated

The Maywood Chemical Company processed radioactive thorium waste from 1916 through 1955 in Maywood / Rochelle Park, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deemed Maywood Chemical a Superfund site in 1983 and has since been in the clean process. [1] [2]

Contents

Origins

Maywood was established as a borough in 1894. Stepan Company purchased Maywood works in 1959 and renamed it Maywood Chemical Company. Maywood became a Superfund location in 1983 after radioactive thorium waste was processed through the borough.

Town history

Maywood was established as a borough on June 29, 1894. Maywood borders Hackensack, Lodi, Rochelle Park, and Paramus. Maywood is a mid-class community that features about 9,555 people living in community, the census is made up of about 74% white, 5% Black or African American, 10% Asian, and 6% other.

Company history

Maywood Chemical Company was involved in the creation of the Superfund site. This was mainly because of act of processing radioactive thorium waste from 1916 through 1955. Maywood Chemical was formerly known as Maywood Works before it was purchased by Stepan Company in 1955.

Superfund designation

Maywood Chemical Company was designated as a Superfund site in 1983. Since the designation, there has been state intervention which has involved community members filing a lawsuit against Stepan Company in 1997. [3] National intervention has involved the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who helped with cleanup. [1]

State intervention

548 residents filed a lawsuit against Stepan Company in 1997 claiming that the operations of Maywood Chemical Works caused health problems that involved cancer and deficit disorder. The Lawsuit was filed after a study from the New Jersey Department of Health showed that the rate of brain and nervous system cancer was twice the national average. The lawsuit was settled in 1999. [3]

National intervention

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has stepped in to help Maywood Chemical Company with the cleanup of the chemical waste within the Superfund site and is responsible of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action (FUSRAP) contaminants which relates to all contaminations on the property, which is thorium. Stepan Company is responsible for all non-FUSRAP contamination, which is radiological soil cleanup. [4]

Health and environmental hazards

The health and environmental hazards of radioactive thorium consists of effects in plant growth and dangers to humans and animals that involves cancers and disorders when exposed to thorium for periods of time. [5]

Dangers to humans

Some effects to humans and animals consists of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and cancer. [1] If inhaled, the thorium may stay in the lungs for an extensive period of time. All left over thorium in the body will be inserted into the bloodstream and then placed in the bones. This can cause lung and bone cancer. [6]

Dangers to environment

The effects are not as harmful to the environment. Effects are only expected to occur when there are large amounts of exposure. [6] [1] When effected, thorium can be found in soil, rocks, water, and air, which then become hazardous to the area. [5]

Cleanup

Maywood Chemical Company is currently in the cleanup stage and being cleaned by two entities, the U.S. Army Corps and Stepan Company. Cleanup includes the removal of soils contaminated with pollutants such as radioactive thorium [7]

Initial cleanup

The initial cleanup consisted of testing in 1980-1983 from the State, EPA, and the Department of Energy (DOE). Testing revealed that there were low levels of contamination at several locations. The site was then assigned to the DOE in 1984. The removal of soil was immediately started. [1]

Current status

Maywood Chemical is still currently listed as a Superfund site. The USACE and Stepan Company are currently working to clean the site. The ongoing cleanup process involves soil cleanup work, removal and disposal of contaminated materials, and restricted land use. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superfund</span> US federal program to investigate / clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances

Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program is designed to investigate and cleanup sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as Superfund sites. There are 40,000 federal Superfund sites across the country, and approximately 1,300 of those sites have been listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). Sites on the NPL are considered the most highly contaminated and undergo longer-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanups).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Mountain Arsenal</span> Former U.S. Army chemical weapons manufacturing site

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was a United States chemical weapons manufacturing center located in the Denver Metropolitan Area in Commerce City, Colorado. The site was completed December 1942, operated by the United States Army throughout the later 20th century and was controversial among local residents until its closure in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weldon Spring Ordnance Works</span>

Weldon Spring Ordnance Works (WSOW) was a 17,323-acre (70.10 km2) U.S. Government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) facility in St. Charles County, Missouri, 55 km west of St. Louis. The site was originally operated by the Atlas Powder Company during World War II from 1941 to 1945 to produce explosives. The Atomic Energy Commission acquired part of the property in 1955, and Mallinckrodt, Inc. processed uranium ore from 1957 to 1966 under contract. The site has been divided into several parcels, and ownership has transferred over the years. Two portions of the original WSOW property are now Superfund sites that require substantial cleanup efforts. The environmental remediation of the WSOW site is currently designated as a major project of the Defense Environmental Restoration Program of the United States Department of Defense. Part of the original property is still used by the Army Reserve as the Weldon Spring Training Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Havertown Superfund</span> Superfund site in Pennsylvania

Havertown Superfund is a 13-acre polluted groundwater site in Havertown, Pennsylvania contaminated by the dumping of industrial waste by National Wood Preservers from 1947 to 1991. The state first became aware of the pollution in 1962 and initiated legal action against the owners in 1973 to force them to cleanup the site. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranked the site the eighth worst cleanup project in the United States. The site was added to the National Priorities List in 1983 and designated as a Superfund cleanup site in the early 1990s. Remediation and monitoring efforts are ongoing and the EPA transferred control of the site to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in 2013.

In 1990, the Allied Paper, Inc./Portage Creek/Kalamazoo River in southwestern Michigan was declared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be a Superfund site – in other words, an abandoned industrial site containing significant amounts of toxic waste. The EPA and companies responsible for the waste in this area, which includes a three-mile section of Portage Creek as well as part of the Kalamazoo River, into which it flows, are currently involved in an effort to reduce the amount of toxic waste at the site, which is contaminated by PCBs from paper mills and other factories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Dump</span> Superfund site in Pennsylvania

Wade Dump was a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial waste storage and disposal facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was located at 1 Flower Street on the western bank of the Delaware River just north of the Commodore Barry Bridge.

Imperial Oil is a current Superfund site located off Orchard Place near Route 79 in Morganville, Marlboro Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. This site is one of 114 Superfund sites in New Jersey. It is in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 Superfund area of control and organization. The 15-acre (61,000 m2) Imperial Oil Co./Champion Chemicals site consisted of six production, storage, and maintenance buildings and 56 above-ground storage tanks.

The Omega Chemical Corporation was a refrigerant and solvent recycling company that operated from 1976 to 1991 in Whittier, California. Due to improper waste handling and removal, the soil and groundwater beneath the property became contaminated and the area is now referred to as the Omega Chemical Superfund Site. Cleanup of the site began in 1995 with the removal of hazardous waste receptacles and a multimillion-dollar soil vaporization detoxifying system.

The Del Amo Superfund Site is located in southern Los Angeles County between the cities of Torrance and Carson. It is a U.S. EPA Region 9 Superfund Site. The waste-disposal site of a rubber manufacturer is one of 94 Superfund Sites in California as of November 29, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shpack Landfill</span> Hazardous waste site in Massachusetts

Shpack Landfill is a hazardous waste site in Norton, Massachusetts. After assessment by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it was added to the National Priorities List in October 1986 for long-term remedial action. The site cleanup is directed by the federal Superfund program. The Superfund site covers 9.4 acres, mostly within Norton, with 3.4 acres in the adjoining city of Attleboro. The Norton site was operated as a landfill dump accepting domestic and industrial wastes, including low-level radioactive waste, between 1946 and 1965. The source of most of the radioactive waste, consisting of uranium and radium, was Metals and Controls Inc. which made enriched uranium fuel elements for the U.S. Navy under contract with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Metals and Controls merged with Texas Instruments in 1959. The Shpack landfill operation was shut down by a court order in 1965.

Halaco Engineering Co. operated a scrap metal recycling facility at 6200 Perkins Road, Oxnard, Ventura County, California from 1965 to 2004. The state placed the facility on the California Hazardous Waste Priority List in 2007. The facility includes a smelter area west and the Waste Management Unit (WMU) east of the Oxnard Industrial Drain (OID). Attention was brought to the Halaco site through illegal waste disposal without permits. Further investigation yielded a discovery of harmful contaminants. Remediation of surrounding contaminated areas including the wetlands was completed in 2007. Restoration of the wetlands and management of the WMU are ongoing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koppers Co., Inc. Superfund Site</span>

The Koppers Co., Inc. (KCI) Superfund Site is one of three Superfund sites in Oroville, California, along with Louisiana Pacific Sawmill and Western Pacific Railyard. The KCI Superfund Site is a 200-acre site which served as a wood treatment plant for 50 years. Wood was treated with many chemicals to prevent wood deterioration. The accumulation of these chemicals from spills, fires, and uses has caused this site to be contaminated with the hazardous waste material. Due to soil and groundwater contamination, the site was placed on the National Priorities List in 1984 for remedial action plans to clean up the site to protect surrounding residential areas concerning environmental and human health risks.

Emmell's Septic Landfill (ESL) is located at 128 Zurich Ave, Galloway Township, New Jersey and takes up about 38 acres of space. The landfill was in operation from 1967 until 1979. ESL disposed of liquid and solid waste including many chemicals such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Trichloroethene and Vinyl chloride which all had their own effect on the environment and community. These chemicals affected the groundwater required millions of dollars to reconstruct the groundwater pathways and provide clean water to residents. The landfill holds a Hazardous Ranking Score of a 50/100, qualifying for the Superfund National Priority List. In August 1999, the state acknowledged the site's contamination and held town meetings and provided research upon the site such as groundwater samples. In July 1997, a sitewide investigation was called upon by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In total the clean up was estimated to cost $5 million to fund this superfund site, and a grant of $3.9 million was given by the Federal Government under the Recovery Act Funding (Previti). Today, the project is still ongoing however, greatly improved since the landfill was discovered.

The Diamond Head Oil Refinery is a former oil reprocessing facility located in Kearny, New Jersey, United States, that was designated as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It opened up in 1946, but then stopped production in 1979 and has been inactive since then. The refinery was shut down in 1980 and the EPA designated it as a Superfund site in 1991 due to the discovery of toxic chemicals in the soil and the surface water. This created a dangerous work environment for the workers at the facility. The EPA proposed a clean up plan for the site, but it has yet to take effect. So far, the Diamond Head site is still in the process of being cleaned up. Although cleanup plans were discussed and finalized, the future of the Diamond Head Oil Refinery and its cleanup state is unknown.

Bog Creek Farm, located in Howell Township, New Jersey, is a designated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site. Lying on 12 acres of land, Bog Creek Farm is home to several hazardous and life-threatening contamination beginning in 1973 and continuing for a year. Over a decade later, actions began to take place to clean and restore the contaminated soil and water. Bog Creek Farm is situated near several other farms that house horses, growing crops and flowers, and livestock. Less than a mile down the road lies Allaire State Park, a park used by golfers, hunters, and fisherman.

The Chemical Control Corporation superfund site is located at 22 South Front St. Elizabeth, New Jersey. Once a marsh, the 2-acre (0.81 ha) area next to the Elizabeth River is primarily flat land that is slightly above sea-level. The company, known as the Chemical Control Corporation, worked as a hazardous waste disposal plant from 1972 until its condemnation in 1979. Before the April 21, 1980 fire, it was reported that over 50,000 drums of chemicals, ranging from dioxin, benzene, cyanide, toluene, ethylene dichloride and more, were present on the site. State intervention was taken prior to the fire, but it became a matter of national intervention following the fire due to the level of contamination that impacted the environment and community. Cleanup operations have been underway since the early 1980s. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering removing the site from the National Priorities List because of the extensive cleanup that has been done.

The Orange Valley Regional Groundwater Superfund site is a group of wells in Orange and West Orange, two municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The groundwater in the public wells are contaminated with the hazardous chemicals of Trichloroethylene (TCE), Dichloroethene (DCE), Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethene), 1,1-Dichloroethene (1,1-DCE), and 1,2-Dichloroethene (1,2-DCE). These chemicals pose a huge risk to the towns nearby population, as the wells are a source of public drinking water. In March 2012, the site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site</span>

The Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site consists of a seawall along the coast of the Raritan Bay in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, United States. The seawall itself is made of slag. In this seawall, are large concentrations of lead, antimony, arsenic, and copper. The lead in particular has contaminated the nearby soil and surface water. The slag deposits are a by-product from NL Industries, a lead smelting company, dumping its wastes in the Raritan River. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) investigated the area and found large concentrations of metals to be dangerous to human health. The NJDEP called the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate the area further, which resulted in some of the slag being physically removed and the toxic areas being fenced off.

The Burnt Fly Bog Superfund Site is located in Marlboro Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Contamination began in the 1950s and 1960s. It was used as a dumping ground for hazardous chemicals and oils. This site was used to reprocess or recycle oil, and it was also used as a landfill during the 1950s. The contamination affected the surface water and soil. The EPA got involved in the 1980s and addressed the situation. Human health concerns were a main part of the EPA getting involved because residents lived only about 1,000 to 2,000 feet around the site. Major components of the remedy included excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil from Northerly Wetlands, Tar Patch Area. The back filling of the areas addressed, monitoring of the surface water and sediments, and biological sampling in the Westerly Wetlands. The current status of the site is complete. The remedial stages were completed in the late 1990s and a five-year monitoring of the surface water was completed around 2004.

The Garfield Groundwater Contamination site is a Superfund site located in Garfield, New Jersey. The site was formally occupied by E.C Electroplating, an electroplating company that used chromic acid solution in their products. In 1983, a tank at the E.C Electroplating property malfunctioned and spilled chromic acid into the groundwater underneath the property that subsequently spread to the surrounding area. The contamination presented a health risk to Garfield residents in the area due to exposure to hexavalent chromium, a toxic form of chromium. The site was designated a Superfund site in 2011. Cleanup of the site is ongoing as of 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Maywood Chemical Company Maywood/Rochelle Park, NJ". EPA.gov. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  2. ↑ "EPA lays out plans to clean contaminated former chemical company site in Maywood, Rochelle Park". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  3. 1 2 Sissell, Kara (November 3, 1999). "Stepan settles New Jersey case". Chemical Week. 161 (41): 40. ProQuest   222522831.
  4. ↑ Parisi, Albert J. (1987-08-09). "Thorium site still troubles Maywood". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  5. 1 2 "Thorium". lenntech. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  6. 1 2 "ToxFAQs for Thorium". ATSDR. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Cotter Corp Maywood Chemical Superfund site". Asbury Park Press. 2004-12-16. p. 3. Retrieved 2017-11-28.

40°57′19″N74°04′45″W / 40.9553°N 74.0791°W / 40.9553; -74.0791

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.