EPA Moves Forward With $332M Cleanup Of Bergen Creek

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $332 million cleanup plan to remove mercury, chromium, and other contaminants from Berry's Creek in southern Bergen County.

Berry's Creek is a 4-and-a-half mile tributary of the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands that runs through several towns in southern Bergen County, including Teterboro, Rutherford, and East Rutherford, and includes 750 acres of marshes.

Mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, chromium, and methyl mercury are at high levels in the water and sediment, posing a threat to local animal life.

The cleanup plan includes removing sediment up to two feet deep in portions of the creek, which will be backfilled and capped. Also, 27 acres in the Upper Peach Island Creek marsh, where some of the highest surface concentration of contaminants were found, will be capped.

The EPA expects that the $332 million proposed for the cleanup would be paid for by a group of parties deemed responsible for the contamination. The EPA will oversee the cleanup.

A mercury processing plant operated on the Ventron/Velsicol site form 1929 until 1974. Process waste containing mercury and other contaminants was disposed of on the 40-acre property and into Berry's Creek.

Soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediments on and off site are contaminated.

Berry's Creek has also been impacted by two other federal Superfund sites, the Universal Oil Products and Scientific Chemical Processing locations, along with several hazardous waste sites managed by the state.

The 19-acre part of the site between a developed area and Berry's Creek was used as a dumping area for various materials, including demolition material and domestic solid waste, after 1960.

Beginning in the 1970s, the state Department of Environmental Protection oversaw investigations that looked into the soil, groundwater, surface, water, sediment , and air quality at the site.

The area is a part of the Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site, which was added to the federal Superfund program's National Priorities List in September 1984.

Federal officials praised the cleanup plan.

"Today’s record of decision gets us one step closer to that goal. Remediating Superfund sites goes a long way to protecting natural resources and public health. And it is only right that the polluters, and not the taxpayers, are expected to bear the financial responsibility for cleaning up the mess they created,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ-9th). "I also believe that advancing work at the heavily-contaminated Berry’s Creek Study Area can allow us to start addressing the broader problems throughout the Meadowlands and Hackensack River."

The New Jersey Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental advocacy nonprofit, said the cleanup is "long overdue." Jeff Tittel, the club's director, was critical of the plan.

"We are concerned that this plan only stabilizing the site without providing a long-term solution. Our biggest concern is that that they plan to cap the contamination and the cap may wash out in the tidal river," Tittel said in a statement. "They will only dredge one to two feet of contaminated soil which means millions of tons of toxic sediment will still be left in the creek. The EPA must put forth a real remediation plan, not a cap that will fail."

For more information on the cleanup plan, Berry's Creek, or the Ventron/Velsicol Superfund site, click here.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Part of Berry's Creek in southern Bergen County that will be remediated thanks to plan that got underway Tuesday to remove contaminated sediment from the creek. (Courtesy of U.S. EPA)