Sierra Club: EPA Protects Byram’s Water: Will Trump Cut Funding for a Clean-Up?
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
EPA Protects Byram’s Water: Will Trump Cut Funding for a Clean-Up?
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed constructing a water line to connect certain residents to a drinking water supply as part of the cleanup of the Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund site in Byram Township. Under the proposal, EPA will connect about 18 impacted properties to the water system. These residences currently use private wells with water treatment systems that were installed during the earlier stages of the cleanup of this site. The Superfund Site is in a wooded area near the intersection of the Mansfield bike path and Stanhope-Sparta Road. Sludge was dumped in trenches in the area and has contaminated the groundwater with volatile organic compounds. EPA will hold a public meeting on June 27th, 2017 to explain the proposal, and take public comments. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Byram Township Municipal Building at 10 Mansfield Drive in Byram Township, NJ.
“It is important that the EPA is building a water line to protect drinking water for residents who live near the Mansfield Superfund Site. This toxic site has been contaminating the groundwater of the neighboring community with trichloroethene, volatile organic compounds and benzene compounds, which are cancer causing chemicals. There were first a lot of delays to get this site listed as Superfund and then it took six years for them to create a water line so this is a long time coming. Now the residents do not have to worry that their drinking water is contaminated and their public health is threatened,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Now that the residents near the Superfund Site are getting a new water supply source, the EPA needs to put a proper clean-up plan in place. Without adequately removing these toxins Byram’s drinking water will be put at risk as well as the could even impact drinking water for people in the Highlands.”
The groundwater is used by some nearby residents as drinking water. Vapors from the contaminated groundwater underneath area homes have seeped into some basements. Sampling by the Sussex County Department of Health in 2005 identified trichloroethylene, an organic solvent used in industrial processes, in residential drinking water wells along Brookwood and Ross Roads in Byram Township. Exposure to contaminants found at the site can have serious health impacts, damage the liver, impair the nervous system or increase the risk of cancer.
“Here we are in the Highlands protecting the water supply of 5.5 million people and these homes in Bryam don’t have clean water. Even though the EPA has proposed a $8.7 million clean-up, we don’t even though if that will move forward with all of President Trump’s rollbacks to the Superfund Program. Under Trump’s budget, he wants to cut funding for Superfund Sites by 30 percent, slash funding by 43 percent for hundreds of other toxic sites polluting our communities. New Jersey will be the most impacted state to deal with these cuts because we have the most Superfund sites in the nation. At the same time, Trump also wants to cut back 50 percent of funding for states to protect our water. This would be a disaster for New Jersey because it will mean toxic sites will go unmonitored and won’t be cleaned-up,” said Jeff Tittel. “Without funding, there will be more pollution in the ground impacting communities around the sites. This will mean there won’t be staff to help ensure there is a clean up or a real incentive because the EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt cares more about polluters than public health.”
The site was first addressed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, with the EPA taking over when the site was added to the Superfund list in 2011. NJDEP installed carbon water filtration and treatment systems in 18 homes to remove contaminants from the drinking water, and installed systems to reduce the intrusion of chemical vapors into the basements of several of the homes that tested positive for air pollutants. In 2012, the EPA removed 11,700 tons of contaminated material from the dump areas. Studies to determine the feasibility of an alternative water supply and to more fully determine the nature and extent of the groundwater contamination are underway. These studies are expected to be completed in 2017 and 2018.
“We need a real clean-up of the Mansfield Superfund Site to protect public health and the environment, but it may not happen with Trump in office. We are glad EPA is moving forward with a clean-up plan because we cannot allow these toxins to stay in the ground. They will continue to impact that groundwater and could get into the drinking water. This pollution could even end up in nearby streams. Vapors from the contamination will end up in homes effecting people’s health,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The problem is the EPA may not be able to move forward if the Trump Administration cuts funding for Superfund. This site not only impacts the residents nearby in Byram, but could threaten the drinking water for millions of people in the Highlands. We cannot let polluters of the hook by walking away from this site. We must continue to demand EPA protect the environment and not cut back on Superfund sites.”
The EPA press release can be found below:
EPA Proposal Ensures Clean Drinking Water for Residents Impacted by Mansfield Dump Superfund Site in Byram, N.J.
Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y. – June 13, 2017) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed constructing a water line to connect certain residents to a drinking water supply as part of the cleanup of the Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund site in Byram Township, N.J. Under the proposal, EPA will connect about 18 impacted properties to the water system. These residences currently use private wells with water treatment systems that were installed during the earlier stages of the cleanup of this site.
“EPA is protecting residents of Byram from the threats of contaminated groundwater,” said Catherine McCabe, Acting Regional Administrator. “This proposal ensures that people whose drinking water was impacted by the contamination at the site have a permanent source of clean drinking water.”
The Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund site is located near the intersection of the Mansfield bike path and Stanhope-Sparta Road. Sludge-like waste was dumped in trenches in the area and has contaminated the groundwater with volatile organic compounds, which are chemicals that easily become vapors or gases. The groundwater is used as a source of drinking water by all 18 impacted residents covered under the EPA’s water line construction proposal, and by a number of other area residents. Vapors from the contaminated groundwater underneath some area homes have seeped into basements. Sampling by the Sussex County Department of Health in 2005 identified trichloroethylene, an organic solvent used in industrial processes, in residential drinking water wells along Brookwood and Ross Roads in Byram Township. Exposure to contaminants found at the site can have serious health impacts, damage the liver, impair the nervous system or increase the risk of cancer.
Because of the nature and complexity of contamination at the site, the investigation and cleanup of the site has been conducted in stages by EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). Between 2005 and 2006, carbon water filtration and treatment systems were installed at the impacted properties to remove contaminants from their drinking water. In addition, NJDEP installed systems to reduce the intrusion of chemical vapors into the basements of five of the homes that tested positive for air pollutants. In 2012, the EPA removed 11,700 tons of contaminated material from the dump areas. EPA has completed the first phase of the investigation into the nature and extent of the groundwater contamination, and evaluated various options for an alternative water supply. Results from the second phase of EPA’s investigation, which is ongoing, will serve as the basis for future cleanup proposals.
EPA’s cleanup proposal announced today addresses the private drinking water wells impacted by groundwater contamination from the site by calling for a water line to be constructed to connect residents to a permanent alternate water supply. Those residents who choose to be connected to the water line will then have their private wells taken out of service. While engineering plans are being developed and the new water line is constructed, carbon water filtration and treatment systems will continue to be maintained and operated. Area groundwater will continue to be monitored. If monitoring reveals any potential impacts to homes beyond the approximately 18 impacted homes, connections to those homes will be offered, as necessary. In the next phase of the cleanup, contaminated groundwater will be addressed by EPA in a future cleanup proposal. The cost of this stage of the cleanup is estimated at $8.7 million.
EPA will hold a public meeting on June 27th, 2017 to explain the proposal, and take public comments. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Byram Township Municipal Building at 10 Mansfield Drive in Byram Township, NJ. Comments will be accepted until July 13th, 2017.
Written comments may be mailed or emailed to:
Anne Rosenblatt, Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Tel. (212) 637-4308
The cleanup proposal will be available at www.epa.gov/superfund/mansfield-trail
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