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Phase 2 work hours will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday, with Friday work as needed to meet the schedule, according to a release by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
The project is expected to be completed by Oct. 31. Depending on weather conditions at that time, final planting and seeding of the area may take place in spring 2017 for better results.
This is part of ongoing environmental cleanup activities at Redstone Park under the federal government’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
FUSRAP is managed by USACE and addresses waste generated by atomic research and production during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
The project was financed in part with federal money and in part by the company that still owns part of the site.
Maywood Chemical Company was sold in 1959 to The Stepan Company, an Illinois-based chemical company.
Maywood processed thorium, among other industrial chemicals.
Phase 2 includes,
- Excavate and remove contaminated soil around the roots of mature trees.
- Tree removal by a professional tree surgeon.
- Soil excavation, with transportation to a licensed offsite disposal facility.
Local officials have been consulted about tree replacement and will review the plan proposed by the Army Corps.
Portions of the park not affected by this work will remain open, except during the tree removal work. Temporary fences will be installed to separate work zones from the rest of the park.
- Dust suppression measures will be used, such as hosing down excavations to keep soil moist.
- Perimeter air monitors will also operate throughout the project to track dust emissions.
- Trucks and other equipment will be surveyed and decontaminated as needed prior to leaving the site.
Redstone Park will be brought into full compliance with current cleanup standards when work is completed. Future workers will be protected, and future land use restrictions would not be required.
All work has been coordinated with the EPA and the Borough of Lodi.
Questions or more information, contact: Jim Moore, USACE Project Manager, 917‐790‐8230 james.t.moore@usace.army.mil
The waste generated at the FUSRAP Maywood Site consisted primarily of a low‐level naturally occurring radioactive material called thorium.
Phase 1 of the cleanup, already completed, consisted of excavating contaminated soil around an underground storm water pipe in the eastern portion of Redstone Park.
After 1,327 cubic yards of soil were removed for safe offsite disposal, grass was replanted. A final reseeding will be done in conjunction with the restoration of the Phase 2 area.
Maywood is one of eight sites actively being cleaned up in the Bergen and Passaic counties under the federal Superfund program.
New Jersey has the most active Superfund sites in the country, with 113.
The Superfund program was started by Congress in 1980 to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites in response to the discovery in the 1970s of such toxic dumps as Love Canal in upstate New York.
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