Source: http://www.nj.com, September 29, 2015
By: Dave Hutchinson
Wyeth Holdings, a subsidiary of Pfizer Corporation, has agreed to perform nearly $194 million worth of cleanup work at the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater Township, federal authorities said on Tuesday.
The cleanup work will address six disposal areas at the site, where chemicals were manufactured for nearly 100 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. The company will also pay $1 million for EPA’s past costs of overseeing cleanup work at the site.
“This agreement marks an important milestone in EPA’s work to clean up pollution throughout this complex site,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck in a release. “This will allow critical work to reduce problems posed by soil and groundwater contamination on parts of the site.”
The agreement also includes the closure of two waste disposal areas whose contents were previously excavated and sent off-site, the release said.
Wyeth will continue to operate a system for collecting and treating contaminated groundwater underneath the site to prevent it from seeping into the nearby Raritan River, Cuckel’s Brook and Middle Brook, the release said. A study to evaluate alternatives for cleaning up two additional waste disposal areas is ongoing, the release said.
“Pfizer has a long-standing commitment to protecting the environment, the health and safety of the general public and our employees, and the communities in which we operate,” Pfizer said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
“The company continues its dedication to remediating the Site, which has been impacted by historical operations at the American Cyanamid Superfund Site and will do so responsibly, effectively and in full cooperation with the USEPA, NJDEP and communities involved. The estimated costs for this site remediation are covered by financial accruals previously taken by the company.”
The original 575-acre site became one of the EPA’s first Superfund National Priority sites in 1983 after decades of dumping of contaminated waste materials including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-VOCs, metals, and other harmful chemicals. The site has housed chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing since 1915.
Contamination on a 140-acre parcel of the site was cleared and the EPA approved it for redevelopment in 1998, resulting in the building of the Bridgewater Promenade retail center, the Somerset Patriots TD Bank Ballpark and the adjacent NJ Transit parking lot.
In 2009, Pfizer purchased the Wyeth Holding Corporation, which owned American Cyanamid since 1994.
There are plans to develop the remaining 435 acres of the site but before that can happen it must be cleaned up. The soil, groundwater and waste disposal areas are contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. The extent and nature of potential health effects depend on many factors, including the level of contamination to which people are exposed and how long people may be exposed to the contaminants.
The groundwater underlying the site is highly contaminated with benzene and other contaminants. Many of the site contaminants are known or suspected to cause cancer in people and animals, and benzene can cause cancer in people.