
Middlesexboro.Net





| Still Contaminated |
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| Tuesday, 24 February 2009 09:07 | |||
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Landfill trespassing, toxicity worries draw concerns in Middlesex Borough
Borough officials plan to increase anti-trespassing measures at the site of a former municipal landfill that was contaminated with uranium ore. Representatives from the borough met with officials from the state Department of Transportation, the federal Department of Energy and the Army Corps of Engineers on Feb. 3 for an update on the former Middlesex Landfill site on Mountain Avenue between Wellington Street and Pershing Avenue, according to Councilwoman Debra DeVuyst. At this month's meeting, Mayor John Fuhrmann said state and federal officials indicated that recent testing found lingering contamination.
"They found that there continues to be some toxicity there and to be pertinent we are going to put up "No Trespassing' signs and we will also increase the surveillance of the area," Fuhrmann said. DEP spokesman Larry Hajna referred questions on the matter to the Department of Energy because he said they were the agency conducting the testing. A Department of Energy spokeswoman did not respond to questions by deadline.
We spoke with someone at the NJDEP and were told a full report is still being prepared and will be available mid March. The site now falls under the "Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program" (FUSRAP) A gamma survey was conducted in Sept. of 2008 of the entire area in question and soil samples were taken and tested. The objective of a gamma survey is to determine if radioactive materials, especially uranium mill tailings, are present on individual properties. However they did find high levels of Uranium, Radium, and Thorium. For unrestricted use acceptable levels of Radium are anything below 3 Becquerel per gram. Radium levels as high as 108 Becquerel were found on the property with other findings of 40 Becquerel, 13.7 Becquerel and 8 along with Thorium levels as high as 35. Chemical pollutants were also found in water testing conducted in 2001
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 22 October 2009 14:14 |
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