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CLIFTON – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting regional director George Pavlou, On-Scene Coordinator Paul Kahn, Mayor James Anzaldi and Fire Chief Joseph Verderosa in announcing the completed clean-up of the Abrachem Chemical facility where more than 1,600 abandoned drums filled with hazardous chemical threatened the community and environment.
“I am very appreciative of the EPA’s responsiveness to the deplorably hazardous conditions at this site. I also want to recognize the Clifton Fire Department who were called into service several times to help dispose of the potentially explosive chemicals,” said Pascrell, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. “Those dangerous chemicals are gone, thanks to the federal government, but so are those who are responsible for leaving this hazard behind. I urge all legal authorities that have any jurisdiction over this negligent crime to continue their efforts to bring them to justice.”
After a chemical release was reported at the site in October 2008, Pascrell sent a letter to New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram in January requesting an investigation of Abrachem and continued monitoring of two new facilities the company had opened, including one in Belleville within the 8th Congressional District.
When the EPA’s On-Scene Coordinators responded to the reported chemical release at the facility, they discovered that several large shipping containers packed with rusted and leaking drums of various unknown chemicals.
Abrachem officials initially said the company would perform a clean up, but later indicated that it was not able to meet the criteria that EPA believed to be adequate to prevent another chemical release. After the company refused to give the EPA voluntary access to the site, the EPA received authority from a federal magistrate to enter the site and conduct the cleanup.
During the cleanup process the EPA removed over 1,600 drums and other containers of hazardous substances, contaminants, and pollutants from 17 shipping containers. Numerous chemical companies aided in retrieving and/or disposing of approximately 600 drums that bore the name of an original supplier at no or minimal cost to the government.
The EPA estimates the total cost to the government of the clean at approximately $1.8 million. Using the authorities of the Superfund law, the EPA will attempt to recover the entire cost of the cleanup from Abrachem.
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