State DEP Posts Public Comments on Garfield Avenue Chromium Cleanup
By Jon Whiten • Apr 29th, 2009 • Category: Blog, News
In response to an Open Public Records Act request by JCI, the Department of Environmental Protection has posted the eight letters it received during the one-month public comment period (which ended on April 15) on the proposed settlement between the state, the city and PPG Industries to clean up chromium contamination in Ward F.
The main concerns outlined in the letters are ones JCI has reported on over the past few months: the extent of excavation, medical monitoring of residents, the financial settlement, the timetable and the enforcement mechanism in the deal.
The city and the state are currently negotiating to add several provisions to the initial draft settlement, based in part on public input during the process, with PPG. At last week’s City Council meeting, corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis said the revised settlement could be completed in the next few weeks, depending on how the negotiations go.
Meanwhile, a question mark hangs over the extent of the cleanup proposed in the draft settlement, as DEP documents were recently uncovered that show the state’s current chromium cleanup standard is inadequate. The DEP is reviewing the documents and deciding if it will tighten the standards.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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