EPA unveils $163M cleanup of Hudson River off Edgewater. Here's what they'll do
Enough contaminated river mud would be scooped out of the Hudson River in Edgewater to fill more than 18,000 dump trucks under a $163 million plan unveiled Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean a Superfund site.
The ambitious proposal has been two decades in the making and addresses the tar, oil, arsenic and other pollutants that migrated from the Quanta Resources property on River Road into a large portion of the Hudson during the decades when Edgewater was an industrial hub, before it transformed into a high-end bedroom community.
Under the plan, approximately 260,000 cubic yards of sediment would be dredged from the Hudson at 10 to 30 feet deep, and 239,000 cubic yards of clean backfill would replace it. The contaminated mud would be transported to a facility that handles such material for disposal.
Pier removed, protective cap installed
A pier at 115 River Road would have to be demolished. A protective cap would be placed over areas of the river floor that are considered less contaminated.
While no date has been set for work to begin, EPA officials estimate the plan will take three to four years to complete.
The work would be paid for by Honeywell, the international conglomerate that inherited the liability of the Quanta property, which has been a Superfund for 21 years.
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr, D-Paterson, who represents Edgewater, said the project will allow the town to "continue to grow and attract new neighbors for the next generation of our state."
Entombing pollution on Quanta site
A $78 million project to entomb the pollution on the land portion of the site was completed in 2021 after some delays when work prompted fumes to waft throughout nearby residential developments. Coal tar and other pollution were not removed, but were mixed with concrete to keep them from migrating into the Hudson and elsewhere.
Pollution at the site dates back almost 150 years. Coal tar for paving and roofing was manufactured at the site from about 1876 to 1967. In 1977, a company began recycling waste oil on the site before it was shut down by authorities for a massive amount of pollution that had accumulated. The site languished for decades until it was named a federal Superfund site in 2002.
Upcoming meeting and public comment period
EPA will host a public meeting on the proposed plan at the Edgewater Community Center Gymnasium at 1167 River Road on July 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
A 30-day public comment period for the proposed plan began Friday. Comments can be sent to Thomas Dobinson, U.S. EPA, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866 or dobinson.thomas@epa.gov.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: EPA unveils $163M cleanup of Hudson River at Edgewater site
