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Press Release/Statement
Release Date: 04/16/2015
Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, (212-637-3664), [email protected]
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that the Borough of Ringwood has satisfied the criteria specified in EPA's June 30, 2014 final cleanup plan for the Ringwood Mines Superfund site that allows for a recycling center to be built on the O'Connor Disposal Area. Plans for addressing other areas of the Ringwood Mines site will remain the same as finalized in the June 30, 2014 final cleanup plan.
The EPA proposed a cleanup plan in 2013 that called for the O'Connor Disposal Area to be excavated. The Borough of Ringwood also announced plans in 2013 to build a recycling center on top of the O'Connor Disposal Area, making the EPA's option to excavate unworkable for the ultimate use of the land. As a result, EPA included in its June 2014 final cleanup plan, an option that would allow for the recycling center if the Borough was able to present information to confirm that a recycling center would be built on the Disposal Area.
Under Superfund, the EPA must ensure that any cleanup plan it selects is protective of people's health while respecting local land use decisions. In its final cleanup plan, the EPA required the Borough of Ringwood to provide information that showed that proper plans were in place to build the recycling center, that its construction would not take longer than excavation and that the necessary funds would be available. This information was submitted to the EPA in December 2014, and EPA has determined that it meets the requirements set out in the June 2014 final cleanup plan. Under the cleanup option selected today to accommodate the...