Already home to the largest number of Superfund toxic-waste sites in the nation, New Jersey expects to add 15 to 25 more properties to the National Priorities List in the next five years, state and federal authorities said.
And while adding to the list means the state is eligible for more federal cleanup money, it also means New Jersey has yet to see the end of its terrible legacy of contamination, one that in some instances dates back a century.
"We are still discovering cases we believe are going to involve multimillion-dollar remediation costs," said Ed Putnam, head of the Publicly Funded Remediation Program for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "If you need substantial remediation funding, in order to get it from the Superfund, you need to be on the National Priority List."
"Superfund" is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, a federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances that threaten public health. Polluters are held liable under the law for cleanup costs, but a special trust fund was created for situations where the responsible parties could not be found, no longer existed or didn’t have enough money.
New Jersey holds the dubious title of Superfund Central, having received $3 billion from the Superfund in the past 30 years. Even so, and even with $150 million more from the federal stimulus package, only 29 of the state’s 142 hazardous-waste sites have been cleaned up, Putnam said.
While newly listed sites means new funding eligibility, the competition for those federal dollars is also expected to increase.
The General Accountability Office, in an audit released last week, predicted more states will be vying in the next five years to enter properties onto the National Priorities List. The GAO also concluded the remediation costs for the more than 1,200 sites already on the national list will "exceed current funding levels" at the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the program.
On average, 16 new sites joined the list each year between 2005 and 2009, with New Jersey adding six during that period. The GAO predicted 20 to 25 additions would be made to the list annually over the next five years, as EPA funds diminish.
