EPA prepares cleanup at Horseshoe Rd. site Contaminated soil to be removed via rail spur, starting in May BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Federal officials plan to remove almost 900,000 cubic yards of contaminated dirt from a local Superfund site in May. The potential for human exposure to toxic substances at the Horseshoe Road site in Sayreville requires immediate action, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has been meeting regularly with residents near the site. Borough Councilwoman Kathy Makowski said she and two other members of the governing body attended the EPA's March 11 presentation regarding the Horseshoe Road site, and learned that the EPA has started mobilizing for cleanup work at the site. "It was a very informative presentation," Makowski said. The risks are minimal at the 12-acre Horseshoe Road property, located between Main Street and the Raritan River, but access to the land and the contaminants within remains a concern for the EPA. The former chemical processing site includes three areas, known as the Horseshoe Road Drum Dump, the former Atlantic Development Corp. facility, and the Sayreville Pesticide Dump. The neighboring Atlantic Resources site is not included on the National Priorities List (NPL) and the potential or actual human exposures are under control at that site, according to the EPA's Superfund Site Progress Profile. S everal dozen homes are within a half-mile of the Horseshoe Road site, and there are public drinking water wells within four miles of the property. However, those drinking water wells come from a different aquifer and according to the EPA there is no potential for groundwater to be affected by contaminants on the Horseshoe Road site. John Osolin, EPA remedial project manager for the Horseshoe Road site, told Greater Media Newspapers that preparations are ongoing at the site. Roads will be widened, and trailer facilities, a water treatment plant and a railroad spur will be built, he said. The railroad spur is being put in because of the large amount of material that is being removed from the area and due to concerns from residents about transporting the contaminated soil from the site through residential streets. "The spur was the best solution," Osolin said. The EPA will review the contractor's choices of locations where the material will be transported, he said. It will go to different landfills and incinerators, depending on the types of material. "Basically, the contractor goes out and finds acceptable facilities, sends us copies and we make sure that they are in compliance," Osolin said. Elizabeth Totman, spokeswoman for the Superfund department of the EPA, said this method of cleaning up the site was chosen as the most effective after an investigation and remedial studies were performed. The process is expected to cost $46 million. "Our first priority is health and the safety of the environment," Totman said. The EPA is often able to have funding approved for efforts such as this one by requesting money in small increments as the project progresses, she said. "We have been very fortunate to get funding as we go along," Totman said. Osolin said the EPA has consent decrees from the various parties responsible for the contamination. He added that the EPA has reached court-approved settlements with those parties, who will conduct the remedial investigation of the sediments in the marsh and the river and also perform the remediation work at the Atlantic Resources Superfund site. The responsible parties and the EPA razed the buildings at the two Superfund sites between 2001 and 2003. EPA officials are now hoping that cleanup work can be done concurrently at both the Atlantic Resources and Horseshoe Road sites as the second phase, but traffic issues might make that difficult. Osolin said the responsible parties will also clean up the marsh and river, which is considered the "third operable unit." The Horseshoe Road site has not been used for chemical disposal since the early 1980s, according to regional content documents obtained from the EPA's Web site. A brush fire at the Horseshoe Road Drum Dump in 1981 brought the site to the agency's attention, and led to the exposure of 70 partially filled drums of silver cyanide, acetonitrile and ethyl acetate. An NPL description of the site written prior to cleanup procedures in 1993 said the areas have the same potentially responsible parties for the contamination, and at least 18 entities were involved in the four areas from 1965 to 1981. Chemicals of concern on the property include methoxychlor, benzine, chlorobenzene, methylene chloroxide, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and volatile organic compounds, Osolin said. PCBs and arsenic are carcinogens, while methoxychlor is a pesticide. Epoxy resins, polymer pigments and roofing materials like coal tar are at Atlantic Resources, according to Osolin. The Atlantic Resources facility was a metal recycling center that used precious metals. Osolin has said that vapor intrusion, where volatile organic solvents trapped in the ground put off gas into a building if one is built there, is one of the issues of concern that will now be addressed. He said there is no potential for groundwater to be affected by the contaminants, because clay and other impermeable materials keep contaminants out of nearby wells. Osolin addressed the concern that the process of cleaning up the site could stir up chemicals in the air. He said that foam is kept on the site in order to cover and cap the area in the event that this occurs. "The contractor has been doing this for years and we have all sorts of things in place, [such as] Hazmat teams, foam on the site," Osolin said. "The contractors and oversight personnel are trained to deal with this type of thing." "We have certainly taken all of the steps to ensure that this does not happen," Osolin added. "We are prepared for an emergency."