The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a plan to clean up a nine mile stretch of Bound Brook as the final phase of the cleanup of the Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Superfund site in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
Cornell-Dubilier Electronics, Inc. manufactured electronics parts at a 26-acre facility at 333 Hamilton Boulevard in South Plainfield from 1936 to 1962. PCBs and solvents were used in the manufacturing process, and the company disposed of PCB-contaminated materials and other hazardous waste at the facility.
Bound Brook passes next to the former Cornell-Dubilier Electronics facility and was contaminated with PCBs as a result of waste disposal at the facility, including releases that continued long after its closure.
“ PCBs are suspected carcinogens and within and near the Bound Brook they are present at levels that pose an unacceptable risk to people’s health, ” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck . “This comprehensive cleanup will reduce risks to the community from the toxic legacy of the Cornell-Dubilier Superfund site.”
The proposed plan includes dredging PCB-contaminated sediment, excavating soil from the flood plains, excavating an area next to the former Cornell-Dubilier facility where PCB-containing capacitors were buried, relocating a 36-inch waterline that crosses the former facility, and containing groundwater that discharges from the facility to Bound Brook.
The EPA will hold a public meeting on October 21, 2014 to explain the proposed plan and is encouraging public comments. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the South Plainfield Senior Center, 90 Maple Avenue, South Plainfield, NJ. Comments will be accepted until November 14, 2014.