MORRIS COUNTY LANDFILL
REMOVED FROM SUPERFUND LIST
Operation and Maintenance Work Continues at Combe Fill North
Landfill
(04/73) TRENTON -- Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell today
announced removal of the Combe Fill North Landfill in Mount
Olive, Morris County from the National Priorities List of
Superfund sites in New Jersey.
"The good news is that removing this landfill from
the Superfund list closes a final chapter on a hazardous
waste legacy that the Mt. Olive community has lived with
for many years," said Commissioner Campbell. "To
continue progress at similar sites across New Jersey, we
need leadership at the federal level to reinstate a stable
source of funding for the Superfund program that now puts
the burden on taxpayers not polluters to pay for cleanups."
In 1991, DEP completed remedial work at the landfill, including
installation of a clay cap, landfill gas venting system
and perimeter fencing around the site. In 2000, DEP installed
drainage channels on the cap to alleviate storm water ponding
caused by landfill settlement.
Since 1991, DEP has conducted long-term monitoring of the
ground water around the landfill. In 2001, a group of potentially
responsible parties entered into an administrative consent
order with DEP to fund the ground water monitoring and other
routine maintenance of the landfill.
Cleanup costs for past work at the site include $15,439,000
in federal funds from the Superfund Trust and $2,822,000
in state funds. DEP and the Department of Law and Public
Safety settled with the potentially responsible parties
for $4,650,000 to pay the state for both its past remedial
costs and future expenditures for maintenance activities
at the site. The settlement required an initial payment
of $2,676,180 for past costs and 21 annual payments of $98,691
to cover future costs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved removal
of the site from the Superfund list on June 2, 2004.
Combe Fill North Landfill occupies 65 acres of a 102-acre
property located on Gold Mine Road predominantly surrounded
by commercial properties. The site operated as a sanitary
municipal landfill from 1966 to 1978, accepting municipal
and industrial waste and small amounts of dry sewage sludge.
Combe Fill Corporation purchased the landfill in 1978. The
following year ground water contamination was found beneath
the site that included volatile organic compounds.
The landfill was not properly closed in 1981 due the bankruptcy
of Combe Fill Corporation. DEP subsequently cited the corporation
for several violations, including improper landfill cover
that resulted in windblown debris and inadequate leachate
control. The Combe Fill North Landfill was added to the
National Priorities List of Superfund sites in 1983.
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