EPA Addressing Cleaning Up Mercury-Contaminated Bergen Creek

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Federal officials announced plans Monday to replace mercury-contaminated sediment in Berry's Creek, a major tributary of the Hackensack River.

Sediment throughout the creek would be removed down to two feet deep as part of the $332-million plan. Sediment would be back filled and capped.

Mercury, PBCs, and chromium have all been found in high levels in the water, sediment and nearby plants, and animals, the EPA said in a news release. The EPA investigated the site for the past seven years to determine the extent of the contamination.

The Berry's Creek study area is part of the 38-acre Ventron/Velsicol Superfund site in Wood-Ridge and Carlstadt. Berry's Creek borders the site's east side.

The creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River. It travels through Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Moonachie, Rutherford, Teterboro, and Wood-Ridge. It includes approximately six miles of waterway and about 750 acres of marshes.

F.W. Berk and Company Inc. operated a mercury processing plant on the site beginning in 1929. The plant operated until 1974 when then-owner Ventron Corporation shut it down.

Various kinds of mercury were made at the plant. The plant also reclaimed mercury from customer waste products like batteries and thermometers.

EPA will issue a final plan after further studies determine whether the first cleanup is effective. A future cleanup plan for the marsh areas also will be developed.

“The actions proposed today will mean that we get to the worst pollution in this area first, while we continue to assess what other actions might be needed in the future,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “We know these heavily contaminated areas are contributing to environmental degradation in the Meadowlands, and if we can address these, we will go a long way toward addressing contamination throughout the Berry’s Creek area.”

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Investigators looking into the extent of the contamination at Berry's Creek in Bergen County. (Photos courtesy of The ELM Group, provided by the EPA)