Published in the Ocean County Observer
Margaret F. Bonafide
TOMS RIVER -- The federal Environmental Protection Agency will take public comment tonight on the decision to use a natural process called bioremediation to clean the source of contaminants at the Ciba-Geigy Superfund site.
The 7 p.m. session will be at the municipal building.
Bioremediation is a process of adding fertilizer to bacteria and microbes that are already in place in the contaminated soil. The bacteria and microbes break down the contaminants to a safe level. The cleanup method, introduced June 15, also will include taking the material in buried drums off the site to be disposed of in a landfill. Public comment to the EPA on the bioremediation will be considered until Aug. 15.
The contaminants have been linked to cancer and are part of a larger study to see if they are the cause of the many cases of childhood cancer in the area.
After being remediated, the soil will be back-filled into the excavated area, a Ciba official said. However, before it is back-filled, the soil must meet stringent tests to show that it meets the EPA's standards. Ciba will pay the cleanup's cost of $92 million.
Donna M. Jakubowski, Ciba Specialty director of external affairs, said that when Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp. spun off from Ciba-Geigy in 1997, there was an environmental fund set up to pay for the site's cleanup.
Published on July 12, 2000
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