Feds seeking damages against DuPont for contamination in Pompton Lakes

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: BY JAMES M. O’NEILL STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

NOVEMBER 27, 2014, 11:10 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2014, 7:53 AM

The federal government is seeking significant damages from DuPont for decades of pollution that has contaminated soil and water on the company’s sprawling 600-acre property where the facility played a key role in making ammunition for both world wars, and in adjacent neighborhoods in Pompton Lakes.

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Contamination from the DuPont facility includes mercury, lead and other heavy metals, as well as the solvents TCE and PCE, which are likely human carcinogens. The contamination affected more than 200 areas on DuPont’s own property, and also migrated off the property by way of the Wanaque River and Acid Brook, which flow through the site. Acid Brook has deposited mercury and lead into the sediment of Pompton Lake, and the contamination has also spread beyond the lake for at least three miles down the Ramapo River.

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Maximum measured mercury concentrations in Pompton Lake sediment at the mouth of Acid Brook exceeded the state wildlife criteria by a factor of more than 12,600.

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“While we are pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service will exact compensation for environmental damages, the long-suffering people of Pompton Lakes will still be living in a contaminated environment,” said Bill Wolfe, director of New Jersey Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, who has been a vocal environmental advocate for residents during the process to develop cleanup plans for the lake.

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-seeking-damages-against-dupont-for-contamination-in-pompton-lakes-1.1142783

[proverbialwisdom]

1. Broadly related.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/05/04/long-awaited-dep-study-says-pfc-contamination-widespread-in-new-jersey-s-water/

LONG-AWAITED DEP STUDY SAYS PFC CONTAMINATION WIDESPREAD IN STATE’S WATER

JON HURDLE | MAY 5, 2014

Twenty-county survey, completed in 2010, was only released recently, despite repeated calls to make data public

Two-thirds of New Jersey’s public water systems tested in a statewide survey were found to contain perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), which have been linked to some cancers in humans and reproductive and developmental problems in animals, according to a newly released survey from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

The survey found that 22 of 33 samples, or 67 percent, taken from 31 municipal water systems contained the man-made chemicals, which are used in consumer products such as water and stain repellant, food packaging, and textile coatings.

The survey, which tested for 10 different PFCs, was conducted in 20 counties during 2009 and 2010 but was not published until May 1 this year despite repeated calls from the environmental group the Delaware Riverkeeper Network for the DEP to release the results.

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[bahrbearian]

2. "the US should apologize to DuPont and pay DuPont for the clean up "

soon to be heard in D.C.

[hollysmom]

3. Dupont was also responsible for the pollution in Tom's River.

There was a cancer cluster there.

[LiberalEsto]

6. I believe International Flavors & Fragrances and GAF also played roles there.

New Jersey was a beautiful state before the chemical corporations turned it into their private toilet.

[hollysmom]

7. OH please IFF poisoned the air and caused most of my breathing problems

After they made soap smells, I can no longer stand the smell of soap and have to tell hotels and tell friends when I stay with them, I can not stand the smell of laundry - they have to use unscented when I sleep there. I cannot tell you haw many times I got up and left beds to sleep on a couch when the sheet smelled of dryer sheet. people don't like when you do that. The other side would me being not able to do anything the next day with no sleep and breathing problems all night.

[independentpiney]

9. You may be thinking of Ciba-Geigy in Toms River

I did some of the remediation work when they were completing the shutdown in the 90's. Du Pont did have a plant in the Sayreville area with some nasty soils we had to dig in putting in a sanitary line. New Jersey was a great place to be in the environmental remediation field, as long as you got paid.

[hollysmom]

10. I hope you got paid!

Wouldn't surprise me if I was confused - it seems to be a normal state recently.
Pre3tty sure about the cancer cluster there.
What scares me were all those companies that left this state because the environmental rules were considered too hard.

I had a friend who did the environmental tracking system for the country, where they tracked all disposal of toxic waste and Louisiana wanted not part of it and pretty much ignored it, so they had to "do something" so they would not be found out by the US government,

Now I know there is Dioxin poisoning in the Newark bay and there is radium poisoning from old watches (I had one) in Montcair that glowed in the dark, but I have to wonder what is going on in the gulf states with the newer poisons.

[LiberalEsto]

4. Good. I grew up near there.

I remember going out in a rowboat and ice-skating on Pompton Lake as a kid. The lake is half in the town of Pompton Lakes and half in my home town, Wayne.

Sunnybank, the home of writer Albert Payson Terhune, was on the lake, though I think he died many years before I was born. He wrote Lad, A Dog and numerous other dog stories that I loved as a kid.

They should take all the mercury and dump it on the grounds of the DuPonts' estate.

[Hoppy]

5. We're strong in N.J. We can take whatever cancer agents DuPont throws at us.

Just ask our gub'ner. We don't need no E.P.A. interference. They wouldn't put up with the feds interfering in Iowa, why should we put up with them in N.J.?

[PeoViejo]

8. The Bayonne Blues n/t