Source: Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), December 24, 2013
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removed 650 tons of lead-contaminated soil from a former playground and nearby areas on a housing complex in the Ironbound section of Newark, the agency said yesterday.
The $1.4 million cleanup project focused on the Millard E. Terrell Homes on Riverview Court. The EPA found high levels of the toxic metal in samples collected there in December 2012 and worked over the past year to remove dirty soil.
“Exposure to lead can have lifelong effects on children’s health and their development, which is why the EPA took steps to reduce potential exposure to lead in the soil at the housing complex,” Judith Enck, the agency’s regional administrator, said in a statement.
The EPA began looking at the site to see whether a nearby industrial facility had left any contamination there. Scientists found high levels of the metal in the top 2 feet of soil where the playground was located. The agency conducted cleanup work through the spring and summer, when it also found contamination in other areas of the complex and removed it.
The neighboring property owner, 99 Chapel Street Partners, will install a barrier wall along the property line to stop further contamination of the housing complex property, the EPA said.