New Jersey to commence $5.8 million cleanup of Superfund site

TRENTON, N.J. (April 16) -- The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced the start of a $5.8 million soil remediation project April 15 at properties next to the Imperial Oil Superfund site in Marlboro Township.

The state will pay for 10 percent of the cleanup, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pay for the remaining 90 percent. The remediation will include the removal of more than 18,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and soil near the Imperial Oil site. The contamination includes PCBs, arsenic, lead and petroleum hydrocarbons.

Industrial operations began at the 15-acre site in 1912 with the manufacture of arsenic compounds. An oil reclamation facility operated at the site from 1950 until 1969, when Imperial Oil Co. began operating an oil blending plant.

New Jersey DEP officials said they expect to have to remove another 83,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the site in January 2005.