Congressman wants to ensure
funding is in place for cleanup
MARLBORO — U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) has written to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the agency to expedite cleanup funding for the 15-acre Imperial Oil Company Superfund site off Tennent Road.
In a press release, Pallone said he wants assurances from EPA that when the design phase is completed later this year the federal funds will be in place so the cleanup phase can begin immediately.
"While I appreciate the federal funding several sites in central New Jersey received last year to begin cleanup, I am fully aware of the delays that were created when EPA did not provide the funding in a timely fashion," Pallone wrote in his letter.
"I am hopeful that Imperial Oil will not face the same delays that occurred at Burnt Fly Bog (in Marlboro) and Chemical Insecticide Corporation (CIC) in Edison. It is my hope that EPA will coordinate its planning in order to ensure the necessary cleanup funds are ready for use immediately after the completion of the design phase later this year," he wrote.
In writing to the agency several months before cleanup is scheduled to begin, Pallone said he is hoping to avoid cleanup delays similar to those witnessed at Burnt Fly Bog and CIC last year.
Despite the fact the EPA regional office had requested $22 million for Burnt Fly Bog and $28.5 million for CIC during fiscal year 2002, nearly three-quarters of the fiscal year went by without either site receiving any funding, according to the press release.
It wasn’t until Pallone and U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, requested the EPA’s inspector general to investigate funding shortfalls that these delays were brought to light.
According to the press release, these revelations forced the EPA to finally provide $20.1 million to Burnt Fly Bog and $19.1 million to CIC on the last day of the fiscal year.
Pallone has said he wants assurances that similar delays do not occur at Imperial Oil.