Archive: March 30, 2022

Contact: Lisa McClain-Vanderpool, 303-312-6077, [email protected]

EPA awards Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment $1,170,000 to improve water quality in the Lower Arkansas and Lower Gunnison River basins

EPA and the state partner with the agriculture industry to restore watersheds

DENVER – (October 17, 2019) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1,170,000 to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to improve water quality in streams, rivers and lakes. The funding comes through a Nonpoint Source Program Clean Water Act (Section 319) grant, which is given to states to implement programs that address various sources of pollution in surface and groundwater to meet and maintain water quality standards.

“EPA is partnering with CDPHE to restore water quality in two critical river basins, the Lower Arkansas and the Lower Gunnison,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gregory Sopkin. “These rivers are important environmental, economic and recreational resources for the state of Colorado.  By working together to reduce pollutants, we will continue to improve these beautiful, natural resources well into the future.”

These watershed projects will result in a significant reduction of pollutants such as selenium, metals and nutrients. CDPHE will use the grant money to support the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District to implement agricultural best management practices that improve water quality in the Arkansas River. In addition, work on the Lower Aspen Canal pipeline and interconnect will be carried out in partnership with the Crawford Water Conservancy District to address water quality issues in the Gunnison River basin. The grant will also fund outreach, education and planning.

Funding for this project is one part of EPA’s overall effort to ensure that America’s waters are clean and safe. This year, EPA is distributing more than $165 million in section 319 grants to states, territories, and tribes to reduce nonpoint runoff in urban and rural settings, including efforts to reduce excess nutrients that can enter our waters and cause public health and environmental challenges. Over the last two years, states restored over 80 waters and reduced over 17 million pounds of nitrogen, nearly 4 million pounds of phosphorus, and 3.5 million tons of excess sediment through section 319 projects. This 319 grant received by Colorado complements the $12.7 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund grant Colorado received this year.

For more information regarding EPA’s Nonpoint Source grant program visit: https://www.epa.gov/nps/319-grant-program-states-and-territories

EPA Finalizes Decision on Cleanup Plan for Lightman Drum Company Superfund Site

C Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, [email protected]

WINSLOW TOWNSHIP, N.J. (October 17, 2019) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its decision to amend part of its previous 2009 plan to clean up an area of the Lightman Drum Company Superfund site in Winslow Township, New Jersey. The amendment revises the plan to require continued monitoring of natural decreases of contaminants in former areas of highly-contaminated groundwater, or hot spots, and no longer requires groundwater to be extracted and treated.

“We are pleased that the EPA’s cleanup work has brought us to a point where contamination levels in groundwater at the Lightman Drum Company site are falling naturally,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “Our goal is to continue closely monitoring the groundwater to ensure the water keeps improving.”

EPA’s amendment to the previous cleanup plan recommends a process of monitored natural attenuation – a naturally occurring reduction of levels of contamination – in the former hot spots. Part of EPA’s original cleanup plan selected in 2009 required treating the groundwater in hot spots that contained high concentrations of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). However, because contaminated soil that was the original source of contamination to the groundwater was cleaned up through excavation and through in-place treatment, groundwater contaminant levels are decreasing naturally and are no longer considered hot spots. Existing monitoring and control networks will continue to function in former hot spots for the duration of the project to assess natural attenuation progress and effectiveness.

The Lightman Drum Company Superfund site covers about 15 acres in Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey. From 1974 to 1979, the Lightman Drum Company was an industrial waste hauling and drum reclamation business that stored chemical residues in underground storage tanks, drums and trailers. Drums were emptied into a pit in a wooded area of the property, and facility operations contaminated soil and groundwater with various hazardous chemicals, such as pesticides, oil sludges, paints and ink. In October 1999, EPA placed the site on the Superfund National Priorities List, and contaminated soil was removed in 2007. In 2009, EPA issued a Record of Decision, or cleanup plan, that required treatment of contaminated soil source areas and contaminated groundwater.

EPA held a public meeting in September 2019 to explain its proposed amendment to the Lightman Drum Company Superfund site 2009 Record of Decision and to solicit public comments. To read the EPA’s selected cleanup plan amendment, please visit www.epa.gov/superfund/lightman-drum.

For information about Superfund and the NPL: https://www.epa.gov/superfund

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

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