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PRESS RELEASE: Thursday, February 12, 2004
PRINCETON GAMMA-TECH TO PAY $21.5 MILLION FOR CLEANUPS IN SOMERSET COUNTY
(#04022) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), the United States Department of Justice, and the state of New Jersey today announced a major settlement that will provide for the cleanup at two Superfund sites in Somerset County, New Jersey.
In a settlement with Princeton Gamma-Tech Inc., EPA and the state of New Jersey will receive $21.5 million for past and future cleanups
at the Montgomery Township Housing Development and the Rocky Hill
Municipal Well Superfund sites.
"This settlement is very good news for Montgomery Township and Rocky
Hill Borough residents," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "We
continue our resolve to pursue those who contaminate our environment they should pay for their past actions. This settlement benefits
taxpayers and the residents in the neighborhoods that need to be
cleaned up."
Under the umbrella settlement, EPA will receive $14,204,000 to be split
between the Montgomery Township Housing Development and Rocky Hill Municipal Well sites to fund future long-term cleanup work at the sites. New Jersey, which is also a party to the settlement, will receive $7,296,000 to reimburse its past and futures costs at these sites.
"Industries and individuals who seek to pollute our lands and waterways
will be held responsible for their actions," said Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Today's settlement strongly reflects the policy of this
administration and more importantly, is in the best interests of our
environment and the general public."
The 72-acre Montgomery Township Housing Development site and the
adjacent 2-acre Rocky Hill Municipal Well site are located in the southern part of the county.
Because they are near one another and are both primarily contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) in theground water, they are being addressed
together.
More than 70 affected residences in the Montgomery housing
development were connected to municipal water because private well water was contaminated.
EPA's cleanup plan for the sites includes extracting and treating contaminated ground water at the site. In addition, the Agency will seal private
wells within the contaminant plume. EPA will begin building the ground
water treatment plant at the sites this spring.
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