Funding already in place
to complete creosote site cleanup
By:Alec Moore
Although the federal government is cutting funding for environmental cleanup projects at 33 toxic Superfund sites across the country, the Rustic Mall and creosote dump cleanup project in Manville is not one of them.
"Right now we’re continuing our cleanup," said Rich Puvogel, Environmental Protection Agency project manager for the creosote cleanup. "The funding that’s been committed to this project is being used right now," he added, noting that to his knowledge there are no plans to strip the Rustic Mall Superfund site of any kind of funding.
The Superfund projects that have been slated to receive the ax are primarily projects that have fallen hundreds of millions of dollars short of what is needed to keep those projects on schedule, according to Mr. Puvogel.
The cutbacks leave many towns throughout the state scratching their heads as to what they are going to do now that the EPA has pulled out of heading up the cleanup initiatives in their communities.
Edison was the sole municipality in New Jersey to have been stripped of federal aid for its cleanup efforts at an old chemical insecticide manufacturing plant that produced Agent Orange and other toxins.
Mayor Angelo Corradino said he was not particularly worried about the news that other Superfund projects had lost their funding.
"I think if they were going to pull our funding, Rich Puvogel would have let us know," said the mayor, who also cited that federal money contributed to the cleanup effort had already been committed to the project and subsequently spent.
Mr. Puvogel pointed out that the Rustic Mall creosote cleanup is on schedule. The project is expected to be completed within 18 to 24 months.