Biden-Harris Administration Announces Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Continue Cleanup Projects for Three New Jersey Superfund Sites

NEW YORK (February 13, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the second wave of approximately $1 billion in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to start new cleanup projects at 22 Superfund sites and expedite over 100 other ongoing cleanups across the country. The New Jersey sites included are the Matteo & Sons, Inc. Superfund site in West Deptford, the Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Inc. Superfund site in South Plainfield, the Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund site in Byram Township.

Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed, including in manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining sites. Superfund cleanups help transform contaminated properties and create jobs in overburdened communities, while repurposing these sites for a wide range of uses, including public parks, retail businesses, office space, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation. In addition, these sites can support natural areas, parks, and recreation facilities, providing greenspace and safe places for families to play outside.

“For years, we’ve been trying to get this contaminated site cleaned up. Thanks to President Biden and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which I proudly helped pass in Congress, we’re finally getting the job done,” said Representative Donald Norcross. “West Deptford families and business community don’t want to live and work near contaminated Superfund sites. It’s bad for our health and it’s bad for business. I’ll continue fighting in Congress to improve the environmental health and safety of South Jersey communities.”

“Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we are moving faster than ever before to progress clean up at contaminated sites – from manufacturing facilities to landfills – in communities across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan “But our work is not yet finished – we’re continuing to build on this momentum to ensure that communities living near many of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination finally get the investments and protections they deserve.”

“Today marks another important step in our ongoing efforts to clean up contaminated sites in New Jersey, which has the most Superfund sites in the country,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “With these new funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are excited to continue our cleanup efforts by removing contaminated waste and soil, ensuring access to clean drinking water, and bringing more sites closer to finishing cleanup.

“New Jersey boasts the most Superfund sites in the country because we seek them out and clean them up—a mark not of indignity, but of our resolve,” said State Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette. “Thanks to the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Garden State champions in Congress like Rep. Frank Pallone, who fought for its passage, our partners at USEPA now have the resources to accelerate long-overdue cleanup activities, including the removal of toxic contaminants from sediments of the Bound Brook in South Plainfield. On behalf of the people of New Jersey, and their environment, I thank our partners at USEPA for this and other critical work to clean up past environmental harms all across our state.”

The Matteo & Sons Inc Superfund site is an 80-acre area in West Deptford, NJ that was previously used for lead battery recycling and waste disposal. These activities contaminated the soil, sediment, and groundwater, leading to environmental concerns at the site and in the surrounding community. The EPA will use funding from BIL to clean up the site by removing contaminated waste and soil and placing an asphalt cap over the affected area within the scrap metal recycling facility. EPA will begin the cleanup work estimated to cost $72.2 million with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The $1 billion investment announced today is the second wave of funding from the $3.5 billion allocated for Superfund cleanup work in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With the first wave of funding announced in December 2021, EPA deployed more than $1 billion for cleanup activities at more than 100 Superfund National Priorities List sites across the country. Thanks to this historic funding, EPA started 81 new cleanup projects in 2022, including projects at 44 sites previously on the backlog. By starting four times as many construction projects as the year before, EPA is aggressively bringing more sites across the country closer to finishing cleanup. In addition to funding cleanup construction work, this investment is enabling EPA to increase funding for and accelerate essential work needed to prepare sites for construction and ensure that communities are meaningfully involved in the cleanup process. In 2022, EPA more than doubled its spending for Superfund pre-construction activities like remedial investigations, feasibility studies, remedial designs, and community involvement.

EPA is committed to carrying out this work in line with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative by advancing environmental justice and incorporating equity considerations into all aspects of the Superfund cleanup process. This will help ensure that historic and ongoing impacts of contamination on overburdened communities are fully considered and addressed. Out of the 22 sites to receive funding for new cleanup projects, 60% are in communities with the potential for environmental justice concerns based on data from EJSCREEN, an environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic socioeconomic indicators.

Background:

In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, known as Superfund. The law gave EPA the authority and funds to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up the most contaminated sites across the country. When no viable responsible party is found or cannot afford the cleanup, EPA steps in to address risks to human health and the environment using funds appropriated by Congress, like the funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

For more information on each site, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-sites-new-construction-projects-receive-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-funding

To see highlights from the first year of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding at Superfund sites, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/infrastructure/cleaning-superfund-sites-highlights-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-funding

For more information about EPA’s Superfund program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund

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