"After years of delays and missed deadlines by the responsible party, it is time to shut this place down and clean it up," said Campbell. "Our court action is another example of DEP advancing protection of the Raritan River watershed from uncontrolled waste sites."
DEP will authorize $500,000 in public funds to begin testing and cleanup work at the Boro Auto site due to negligence by the responsible parties that have caused discharges of hazardous substances into the environment, including PCBs and gasoline. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for December 17 in Superior Court, Chancery Division, Middlesex County.
"We will continue to protect land, water and air from contamination through aggressive environmental enforcement," said Attorney General Peter Harvey.
DEP's initial scope of work calls for the classification and removal of on-site waste piles. Also, the site must be graded and a cap and storm water collection and treatment system installed. In terms of off-site properties, a remedial investigation is necessary of the sites to determine the extent of contamination.
"The Edison Wetlands Association believes the DEP must immediately move to close and cleanup the Boro Auto Wrecking site," said Robert Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association. "Twenty years ago the DEP ordered the owners to address contamination at the site and to date nothing has been done. The Edison Wetlands Association fully supports adding this site to the Raritan River Initiative to expedite its cleanup."
Boro Auto is a salvage and metal recycling facility in operation since 1935. The facility has several buildings and concrete pads within a large, fenced-in storage yard used for offices, equipment maintenance and scrap storage.
Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap are stockpiled in the open yard along with large soil and debris piles. Boro Auto processes automobile engines and transmissions and other types of scrap metal. The metal scrap is crushed, stripped of non-metallic materials, weighed and shipped off-site for recycling.