Home Care In Pompton Lakes, NJ

Site Description

E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Company is located at 2000 Cannonball Road, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. The DuPont Pompton Lakes Works site (DuPont) occupies approximately 572 acres of land in Pompton Lakes and Wanaque. On July 1, 2015, DuPont transitioned ownership of the Pompton Lakes Works site to The Chemours Company, FC, LLC (Chemours) in 2015.

Two parallel valleys (Wanaque River and Acid Brook) run through the site north to south. Land use in the vicinity of the site is predominantly residential and commercial, and includes undeveloped areas, an interstate highway (Route 287) and state-owned forest. DuPont operated at the site from 1902 to April 1994, when the facility closed. DuPont manufactured lead azide, aluminum, bronze shelled blasting caps and produced metal wires and aluminum and copper shells. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Administrative Consent Order (ACO), NJDEP Groundwater Permit (NJPDES-DGW), and the EPA HSWA Permit require cleanup of the facility (on-site and off-site).

DuPont operated at the site from 1902 to April 1994, when the facility closed. DuPont manufactured lead azide, aluminum, bronze shelled blasting caps and produced metal wires and aluminum and copper shells. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Administrative Consent Order (ACO), NJDEP Groundwater Permit (NJPDES-DGW), and the EPA HSWA Permit require cleanup of the facility (on-site and off-site).

Online Works Site Documents Available Here

Physical documents can be viewed at:

Pompton Lakes Public Library 333 Wanaque Avenue, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey

EPA RCRA Records Center 290 Broadway, 15th Floor, Room 1538 New York, NY 10007-1866 (212) 637-3043 Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4 PM

Background

E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Company manufactured explosives on this 572-acre site at the north end of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, from 1902-1994. Land use in the vicinity is primarily residential and commercial and includes undeveloped areas, an interstate highway (Route 287), and state-owned forest. Cleanup of the facility is required under a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) order, NJDEP groundwater permit and an EPA permit.

During the facility's operation, manufacturing and waste management practices resulted in contamination of surface water, soil and sediment, and groundwater both on and off-site. Wastes disposed of on-site included lead salts, mercury compounds, explosive powders, chlorinated solvents, waste wire drawing solution and detonated blasting caps. As a result, primary contaminants in the soil and sediment are lead and mercury.

Lead and mercury releases have migrated off-site via a surface water feature known as Acid Brook. This migration resulted in soil contamination at 140 homes near Acid Brook due to overflow from the Brook during flooding events. As a result, acid Brook and the adjacent impacted homes were remediated in the mid-1990s.

Groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds also migrated off-site with the potential for vapor intrusion from contaminated groundwater, impacting off-site residences and other structures. Vapor intrusion results from spilled or leaked chemicals and gives off gases or vapors that can migrate through the soil and into buildings through cracks in basements, foundations, sewer lines, and other openings. A groundwater extraction and treatment system was constructed on-site and has been operating since 1998. This system has reduced the concentrations of volatile organic compounds in on- and off-site groundwater over time.

A residential area of about 425 homes is considered the “vapor intrusion investigation area.” This area was a result of groundwater contamination that originated from the historical operations of the DuPont facility. These properties were eligible to undergo vapor intrusion testing, design and installation of a vapor mitigation system, and inspection and maintenance of the vapor mitigation system once installed. Approximately, 337 vapor mitigation systems have been installed.

An area totaling about 40acres within Pompton Lake (known as the Pompton Lake Study Area) was subject to soil removal and dredging of sediment due to contamination by lead and mercury. The source of this contamination in Pompton Lake was DuPont's historical operations that resulted in the migration of metals (particularly lead and mercury) from the facility via Acid Brook into Pompton Lake. As a result, approximately 146,600 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment were excavated, processed and disposed of at approved off-site landfills. Restoration of the Pompton Lake Study Area included new plantings and park amenities, as shown in figure 1 below.

POMPTON LAKES, New Jersey (WABC) -- The flooding in parts of New Jersey over the past few months left mounts of headaches for residents.

Countless residents from those affected areas came out to meet with New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection officials in Pompton Lakes Thursday night to learn about the Blue Acres Program.

The program is voluntary and it relocates flood-stricken residents who are considering government-funded buyouts of their homes.

It eligible, homeowners would be offered fair market value for their homes, using state and federal funds.

"I've been in this town 60 years," said David Woll of Pompton Lakes. "So, I've been through enough floods."

For 10-year-old Melina, who says she was trapped inside her Wayne home during the recent storms, it's a tough decision.

"I like my school and I wanna stay in my school, but I don't like the flooding," she said.

Her family bought their Wayne home six years ago.

But the flooding problems have been worse than expected.

Meanwhile for towns and cities impacted by flooding, they face a different problem: if a homeowner or resident takes a buyout, where will they go?

"We got 50 homes bought out about 10 years ago. On our side of it, it's great for the residents," said Pompon Lakes Mayor Michael Serra. "But it's tough for the town. We're a small town. Our tax base is divided by 50 homes that are now left."

In Pompton Lakes, the mayor says many of the residents who are considering buyouts are older and tired of dealing with flooding.

They say they would like to stay in town, but there are few options.

"I would love to leave the state of New Jersey," said Woll. "It's getting too expensive."

The next forum will be held on Feb. 8 at the Lodi Public Library.

ALSO READ | School employees at New Jersey high school save sophomore when his heart stops beating

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In the wake of recent severe rainfall and flooding, Red Cross volunteers have been out in hard-hit communities, checking in with families as they begin to pick up the pieces. In the community of Pompton Lakes, many families were still recovering from river flooding just three weeks earlier.

Frank Renshaw and Vera Coppola canvassed the streets nearest the river, speaking to people who were cleaning out their basements, garages and first floors. Some were pulling up carpet and tearing down moldy drywall, while others were cleaning up debris in their yards. The volunteer duo offered families some lunch sandwiches and soup, along with water. They also offered clean-up kits, which include bleach, a bucket, scrubbers and sponges, mops, brooms, long-handle squeegees, garbage bags, and gloves.

Pompton Lakes resident Mevludie Kaba said her home looked like it was in the middle of a lake. An all too familiar scene. The family has lived in their home for 25 years and they’ve experienced their fair share of flooding -- she estimates about ten floods in that time. “But for the past ten years we haven’t had a flood, she said. “Things were fine.”

That was until three weeks ago when heavy rainfall flooded the nearby river resulting in about two feet of water in her home. Then, a second storm came through and they found themselves flooded again. “It’s been traumatizing, but we are stronger than you think.” Mevludie paused and then added, “I’m tired of being strong. This is emotional for us.”

After spending a few minutes sharing her story and thanking Frank and Vera for being there, the family took a lunch break before getting back to cleaning up.

It was a familiar site on neighboring streets – piles of garbage bags and wet carpet outside and at some homes, appliances like washers and dryers were taken out to the curb.

_{"My heart goes out to these families. I was on these same streets doing disaster assessment a couple weeks ago during the first flood."}

In her 11 years as a volunteer, Vera has deployed to Florida, Hawaii, Maine, and California to help after devastating disasters like wild-fires, hurricanes and massive flooding. She also helps families affected by home fires here in New Jersey as a Disaster Action Team member. She’s seen a lot, but this disaster in her own home state will leave a mark because it was one after another.

Red Cross teams know how difficult these experiences can be, which is why their help is so compassionate. Our mobile teams continue to provide support to families affected by these floods in New Jersey towns like New Milford, Paterson, Delran, Cinnaminson, Lodi, Denville, Little Falls, Wayne, and Lincoln Park.

WAYNE, NJ — State officials said they will not manually open the Pompton Lakes Dam floodgates ahead of the next major storm to hit New Jersey, despite pleas from four mayors downstream to lower the lake levels.

With the very real possibility of flooding in mind, the mayors of Wayne, Lincoln Park, Pequannock, and Pompton Lakes asked environmental officials to open the gates early. Officials said this could help prevent a flood surge if the water were to rise high enough to activate gates automatically, and potentially relieve downriver residents of having to evacuate, or seeing their homes and cars flooded again.

In a letter sent Monday, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said that lowering Pompton Lake would provide "no downstream benefits" and the water released would only represent a small amount of the total volume of runoff from the lake watershed.

"...based upon our review at the time, DEP cannot recommend early release from the facility a means of potential downstream flood mitigation," he wrote.

The entire state is under a flood watch, as a fierce storm with the potential to dump several inches of rain approaches on Tuesday. And in communities that are already water-logged, officials are worried about more flooding caused by melting snow and incoming rain.

Between 2 and 3 inches of rain are possible in Wayne Township on Tuesday, after a weekend that saw more than 4 inches of snow. And, forecasters predict that the Pompton River and Passaic River will rise close to or above major flood stage by Thursday afternoon.

Wayne Mayor Christopher Vergano had said he wanted to "give every advantage possible to those residents living south of the gates that are still recovering from our recent flooding" in a post Sunday, when he said he had reached out to state officials. In December, hundreds of residents had to evacuate their homes and dozens were rescued when a storm caused the Passaic River to rise and begin flooding Wayne Township and other local communities.

In his letter to the mayors, LaTourette also said that the DEP must adhere to the operating protocol for the Pompton Lakes Dam. The facility, built in 2007, is designed to reduce upstream flood damage to homes in Bergen County while not contributing to downstream flooding.

LaTourette also said that managing the floodgates "as a surrogate for proactive downstream flood risk reduction" could potentially lull residents into " a false sense of security while offering only a perceived benefit to potential downstream flood victims."

Vergano said he was "truly disappointed" in the DEP's decision in a follow-up statement on Monday.

"This was our proactive suggestion to help mitigate a terrible situation that is going to occur over the next few days," he said.

"We are going to see extreme flooding and the State has refused to help our residents," Vergano wrote.

A flood watch is in effect in Wayne from Tuesday at 6 p.m. until Wednesday at 6 p.m. Also, a wind advisory is in effect from Tuesday at 6 p.m. until Wednesday at 6 a.m.

HAWTHORNE − Dominic Passero had to miss honors calculus class on Friday. Hawthorne needed its left-footed senior on special teams, not derivatives.

Passero made two field goals and swung the momentum with an interception to send 13th-ranked Hawthorne past No. 15 Pompton Lakes, 20-14, on Friday afternoon.

The unusual 2 p.m. start time allowed the Bears to claw their way to first place in natural daylight and before the start of Rosh Hashanah.

Hawthorne pushed the game back from Thursday night after completing the rest of a postponed game this Monday.

"Our coaches did a great job," Hawthorne coach John Passero said. "These games with Pompton are always tough games. Last year we lost 10-7 and at halftime today, we were up 10-7. So it was a hard-fought game. We made a couple more plays than them. Give credit to both teams for a great game at a weird time."

Check out the photo gallery, then continue reading.

Defense and special teams made all the difference for Hawthorne (3-0) in a game in which neither team moved the ball with ease. Senior Cormac Smith picked off a pass for the Bears and senior Matt Lorper scored on a punt return early in the third quarter.

Lorper spun off a tackler near midfield, then followed a convoy of blockers down the left side to put Hawthorne up 17-7. It was his second touchdown of the day after scoring on a wheel-route catch late in the second quarter.

"Last year we started off 1-5 and we weren't really happy with it," Lorper said. "We got bigger, stronger and faster. We got smarter and we improved."

What it means

The return of nine offensive starters and nine defensive starters is starting to pay dividends for Hawthorne.

The Bears have moved a half-game past Pompton Lakes (2-1) in the NJIC Meadowlands with two divisional games still to play. The program's last division title came in 2012.

In the big picture, the Bears have now won three of their last four against Pompton Lakes.

"Our confidence going into the season was through the roof and the coaches had confidence in us to let us do our thing," said Dominic Passero, who's started all four years for his father. "I'm just really thankful for this group of guys."

Pompton Lakes scored both touchdowns on passes from Joey Aungst to Tyler Benway.

By the numbers

Hawthorne relied on the hard-nose rushing by Smith, who wore down the Cardinals defense with 149 yards on 32 carries.

Passero finished the day with five punts, two field goals (from 27 and 28 yards) and a crucial interception from his own endzone to preseve a 10-point lead near the end of the third quarter.

"I knew they were going to throw a deep ball," Dominic Passero said. "I went back and saw the ball go up. I jumped as high as I could and caught it. It was very exhilarating."

Hawthorne linebacker Jake Brudzynski all but sealed the deal by snuffing out an onside kick with under two minutes to go. Quarterback Tyler Menne then pushed the pile enough on a 4th-and-1 to clinch the victory.

Next up

Hawthorne rides down to Depken Field to face Hasbrouck Heights (1-2) on Friday.

Pompton Lakes heads back home for a Saturday showdown with Saddle Brook (1-1).

Last words

"We knew we only had a couple days to get ready," Dominic Passero said. "Right after St. Mary, this is probably the biggest game of our life. We knew that we had to stay locked in every day and stay 100 percent. Be 1-0 every single day."