The site where the Diamond Head Oil Refinery used to be located in Kearny was contaminated with toxic metals since the late 1970s.
The federal money to clean up contaminants has dried up over the past 36 years.
This will change in the New Year. Federal money will be injected into the nationalSuperfund program to launch cleanup efforts at the former refinery site and six other sites across New Jersey that have been left untreated.
President Joe Biden signed legislation in November under the provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure DealIt will reinstate taxes on the sale certain chemicals and revive a source for money.The nation’s Superfund program, a 1980 project that paid to clean up toxic areas across the United States. It has been in existence since 1980.
Superfund money in New Jersey will be used to clean up the Diamond Head Oil Refinery site at Kearny and the former Kil-Tone Company site at Vineland. It will also go to cleanup projects at the former Kil-Tone Company site site in Vineland.
The Garden State has been known for having the most Superfund sites in America for years.
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It’s a legacy that Lisa Garcia, the newly appointedadministrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’sRegion 2, which includes New Jersey, wants to change.
Garcia stated, “New Jersey still has superfund sites.” “It’s great to know that some superfund sites are being cleaned up.”
New Jersey’s industrial past, prominence in the nation’s chemical productionsector through 20th century, combined with lax pollution control and illegal dumping, sealed the state’s fate in Superfund sites.
In the 1970s, when environmental activism and awareness grew, there was a turnaround. Beginning with the federal regulations regarding chemical dumping, stricter state and federal regulations were adopted.Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1996.
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Superfund projects now eligible for federal funding of $1 billion under the new Federal Spending Act Bipartisan Infrastructure Dealwill launchthe cleanup of 49 backloggedsitesaround the country, including the seven in New Jersey, andspeed up cleanup efforts at other existing Superfundsites, according to the EPA.
Superfund funds and oversees the cleanup of 22 sites in Ocean County and Monmouth County.
Garcia stated that Superfund cleanup was a priority for the administration, even before the money arrived.”It’s exciting to have the resources flowing, to allow for us those opportunities to bring benefits to the community.”
Garcia, who has long-standing connections to New Jersey and New York, was raised in New York by a Puerto Rican family. The new regional director said that she is well-versed in the Garden State’s pollution problems. She previously served as the director of Indian affairs, environmental justice and Indian affairs at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. She also taught at Rutgers Law School as an associate professor.
Garcia stated that Garcia was open to working with the New Jersey Governor. The EPA’s strategy for New Jersey’s long-standing environmental issues is part of Phil Murphy’s administration, which Garcia said was a partnership with the governor.
She stated, “We’re there to help.”
New Jersey’s Superfund site is under the watch of the regional director. In addition, portions of New Jersey’s lead pipe drinking-water infrastructure will be replaced by the EPA in 2022. The EPA will also clean up sites containing PFOS, PFAScontamination, and other organic pollutants known as “forever chemical” due to their resistance to environmental degradation.
She said that “The EPA is looking into the different mechanisms to regulate it” (chemical contamination).
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New Jersey’s dense, urbanpopulation makeswater cleanup projects and replacing lead lines particularlychallenging, Garciasaid. Biden’s signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure deal commits$55Billion to the efforts. Nearly $170M would go to New Jersey. Garcia stated that EPA assistance would be first given to communities that are overburdened by pollution and historically underserved.
Garcia stated that the federal agency will work collaboratively with “the communities, local governments, and the state” because solutions are often better when you take all the ideas and try to find solutions together.
Amanda Oglesby, a Ocean County native, covers the surrounding areas of Brick, Barnegat, and Lacey townships. For more than a decade, she has been with the Press. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, [email protected] or 732-557-5701.
