Pompton Lakes DuPont Site Isn't On Superfund List, People Want To Know Why

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — The issue of why the old DuPoint factory a Superfund site? That is the question activists are demanding Rep. Rodney Felinghuysen answer.

Environmentalists will speak Tuesday on the need of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to place the Pompton Lakes land on the National Priorities List and why there is an increased need to fund the federal Superfund program. They will also implore Frelinghuysen to tour the longtime contaminated site.

DuPont ran a munitions facility on the site for much of the 20th century and a toxic plume has contaminated the drinking water of more than 450 homes. The groundwater is contaminated with cancer-causing solvents PGE and TCE, which were dumped on the site and seeped into the groundwater.

Officials learned the solvents were being vaporized up through the soil and into some residents' basements.

There is a plan to flush away the contaminated groundwater. Clean water would be pumped into the ground and the contaminating groundwater would be pushed out, a process known as hydraulic surcharging.

Members of Citizens For A Clean Pompton Lakes, the New Jersey Sierra Club, BlueWave NJ, NJ 11th for Change and other organizations will be at Terhune Memorial Park in Wayne at 11 a.m. to discuss the cleanup plan and why the site is not listed on the federal Superfund list. Terhune Park is located within sight of Pompton Lake.

They will also discuss why Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11th), according to the Sierra Club, has failed to fully fund the Superfund program and address toxic sites in his congressional district.

"The Pompton Lakes site has not been designated a Superfund site, but it poses a serious enough danger to public health that it should be," the Sierra Club said in a news release. "[The] congressman could use his influence to get the site placed on the Superfund list and advocate for a full clean-up."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency previously approved $43 million to remove more than 130,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the site. Groups are concerned that the work will not be done due to a proposed 30 percent budget cut to the EPA under President Donald Trump's budget. The lake has been dredged for several months.

Frelinghuysen is chairman of the powerful U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations.

A representative from Frelinghuysen's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Photo: Pompton Lake/Wikimedia Commons, public domain photo