CORNELL DUBI ELECTRONICS EPA REGION 2 CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 12 Middlesex County South Plainfield NEW JERSEY Other Names: Hamilton Industrial Park EPA ID# NJD041828906 Site Description The Cornell Dubilier Electronics site is located at 333 Hamilton Boulevard in South Plainfield, New Jersey. During its years of operation at the site (1936 to 1962), Cornell Dubilier Electronics, Inc. manufactured electronic parts and components, including capacitors. It is reported that transformer oils were tested for an unknown period of time during plant operations. It is alleged that during their operations, Cornell Dubilier Electronics, Inc. dumped PCB-contaminated materials and other hazardous substances directly onto site soils. The site is currently known as Hamilton Industrial Park and is occupied by an estimated 15 commercial businesses. Through the years, numerous companies have operated at the site as tenants. It is estimated that approximately 540 people reside within 0.25 miles of the site, and the nearest residential homes are less than 200 feet from the site. The total population estimated to live within one mile of the site is 8,700. An unnamed tributary to the Bound Brook traverses the southeast corner of the site property. Water bodies that join the unnamed tributary are designated by the State of New Jersey for the maintenance, migration, and propagation of the natural and established biota. An investigation conducted by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in the vicinity of Hamilton Boulevard during the period of 1988-1991 revealed significant ground water contamination consisting of mainly trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene. Due to widespread contamination, all residential wells in the area were reportedly closed and residences were hooked up to a water main providing potable water from another location. Site Responsibility: NPL LISTING HISTORY Proposed Date: 09/25/97 Final Date: 07/28/98 This site is being addressed through Federal and potential responsible parties' actions. CORNELL DUBILIER ELECTRONICS 1 APRIL 2002 ------- Threats and Contaminants The soil at the site is contaminated with VOCs, semi-volatile organic compounds, inorganic constituents, and PCBs. In addition, building interiors at the site have been found to contain elevated levels of PCBs and metals. Site access is controlled by a fence and the driveways and parking areas within the industrial park have been paved. Prior to implementation of an EPA removal action, described below, contaminated surface water runoff from the site entered an unnamed tributary of the Bound Brook. Fish collected from the Bound Brook as part of an EPA study were found to contain PCBs at levels higher than the amount allowed by the Food and Drug Administration. As a result, NJDEP issued a Fish Advisory and posted signs warning people not to eat fish taken from these waters. An ecological risk assessment conducted by EPA for the Bound Brook, and its associated stream corridor adjacent to and downstream of the site, determined that the structure and function of this stream ecosystem is at risk from chemical contamination. In addition, soil sampling and building interior vacuum sampling of residences located near the site on Spicer Avenue and Delmore Avenue found low level PCB contamination. As a result, EPA performed a removal action, and potentially responsible parties performed additional removal actions to cleanup PCBs on these residential properties. Cleanup Approach he site is being addressed in two stages: emergency actions and a long term remedial phase directed at cleanup of the entire site. Response Action Status ^ Emergency Actions: On March 25, 1997, EPA issued an Administrative Order to the current property owner to conduct the following interim remedial action: (1) limit access to areas of known PCB contamination; (2) take necessary actions to limit the movement of contaminants to the nearby Bound Brook through surface water run-off; and (3) pave driveways and parking areas within the industrial park. Implementation of this action was completed in the fall of 1997. In March 1998, EPA initiated a removal action to clean the interiors of residential homes located near the Site where PCBs were found in indoor house dust at levels of potential health concern. The cleaning was completed in April 1998. Beginning in 1998, some of the PRPs entered into a series of separate Administrative Consent Orders for a removal action to remove and dispose of contaminated soil from fourteen residential properties located near the site and delineation of contamination at other properties. Removal activities required under the first two orders were completed in September 1999 and January 2000, respectively. Removal activities under the third order are currently ongoing. A phased approach is being employed to determine the extent of PCB contamination in the residential community and characterize health risks. Entire Site: In April 2000, EPA began the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study CORNELL DUBILIER ELECTRONICS 2 APRIL 2002 ------- for the site. The RI includes sampling of the on-site soil, building interiors, groundwater, Bound Brook corridor, and soil from adjacent residential properties. The RI/FS is currently ongoing. Phase I field investigations were completed in October 2000. To expedite the cleanup of the CDE site, EPA has divided the site into operable units. EPA intends to issue a Proposed Plan to address contaminated soils at residential, municipal, and commercial properties in the vicinity of the Cornell-Dubilier Electronics facility (Operable Unit 1) in the spring of 2002. It is anticipated that the RI/FS for the second operable unit (OU2), addressing the remediation of source materials, including contaminated facility soils and buildings, wil be completed in the Fall of 2002. The third and final operable unit (OU3) will address the contaminated groundwater and contaminated sediments at the Bound Brook. It is anticipated that Phase II sampling activities for OU3 will begin in the Fall of 2002. Cleanup Progress (Threat Mitigated by Physical Cleanup Work) By constructing a fence to limit site access and paving driveways and parking areas within the industrial park, EPA and the potentially responsible parties have reduced the potential for exposure to and off-site migration of hazardous materials while the remedial investigation for this site is being conducted. In addition, by removing PCB contamination from nearby residential lots, EPA and the potentially responsible parties have removed, at these residences, the exposure to indoor dust and surface soils contaminated with PCBs. CORNELL DUBILIER ELECTRONICS 3 APRIL 2002 ------- |