EPA Seeks Public Input on Cleanup Plan for Welsbach/Gas Mantle Superfund Site in Camden County, New Jersey (NJ)
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has proposed a plan to clean up radioactive
contamination on the portion of the Welsbach/General Gas Mantle
Superfund site located in Gloucester City, N.J. The site consists
of two former gas lamp manufacturing facilities –Welsbach in
Gloucester City and the General Gas Mantle property in Camden
County, New Jersey. The Welsbach Company and the General Gas Mantle
Company used the radioactive material thorium from the late 1890s
to 1941 to make the gas lamps manufactured at the facilities glow
brighter. It is believed that thorium-contaminated waste from the
manufacturing process was used as fill in the surrounding area. As
a result, the soil and buildings on the Welsbach and General Gas
Mantle properties, as well as surrounding properties, were
contaminated. EPA is encouraging public comments on the proposed
cleanup plan until August 22, 2011 and will discuss its proposed
plant at a public meeting on August 3 at 7:00 pm at Gloucester City
Courthouse at City Hall, 313 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City,
N.J.
“EPA has invested more than $200 million
in the cleanup of the Welsbach and General Gas Mantle facilities
and surrounding properties to ensure that the health of people who
live nearby is protected,” said EPA Regional Administrator
Judith A. Enck. “We encourage community residents to give us
feedback on our proposed plan to clean up the last remaining legacy
of radioactive contamination on the Welsbach
property.”
EPA added the Welsbach/General Gas Mantle site
to the federal Superfund list in 1996. Because of the nature, size
and complexity of the site, EPA divided the investigation and
cleanup into multiple phases. In 1999, EPA selected a plan for the
first phase of the cleanup, which included the excavation and
off-site disposal of radiologically contaminated soil and building
materials, and backfilling of the areas with clean soil. To date,
EPA has removed more than 200,000 cubic yards of radiologically
contaminated soil and building materials from more than 90
properties in the Gloucester City and Camden areas and has
investigated more than 900 properties.
The plan announced today addresses the Armstrong
Building, the last remaining building from Welsbach’s former
operations. The three-story building, located at Ellis and Essex
Streets in Gloucester City, is still used by a local company. The
property includes an active port, warehouse and logistics facility.
The building consists of six connected buildings containing
approximately 200,000 square feet of floor space. EPA is proposing
to decontaminate building surfaces and properly dispose of the
contaminated waste at an approved off-site facility. EPA will
conduct environmental monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of the
cleanup, which is estimated to cost $3.5 million.
Comments will be accepted until August 22, 2011.
Written comments may be mailed or emailed to:
Rick Robinson
Remedial Project Manager
New Jersey Remediation Branch
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
290 Broadway, 19th Floor
New York, New York 10007-1866
[email protected]
The EPA has a web page on the site at: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2.
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