On September 25, 2012, the EPA announced that the W.R. Grace & Co / Wayne Interim Storage site in Wayne Township, New Jersey has been officially cleaned up and removed from the Superfund list. 

The site was originally polluted with thorium and other rare earth metals which pose serious risk to the public’s health.  Multiple studies show that the inhalation of thorium dust is a direct cause of lung and pancreas cancer. 

Since the site has been removed from the Superfund list, the area no longer poses a risk to the public or the environment.  The site was managed by the U.S. Department of Energy from 1984 to 1997 before the management was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The contaminated area sat on six acres at 868 Black Oak Ridge Road in Wayne, New Jersey.  The property was initially owned by Rare Earths, Inc. between the years of 1948 and 1957, during which the company extracted thorium and other rare earth metals from monazite ore. 

The facility was bought by W.R. Grace & Co. Inc. in 1957, and the company continued to extract the minerals from the monazite ore until 1971.  The EPA reports that radioactive waste and other contaminated rubble was stored in 16 burial pits around the site. 

After the property was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they excavated approximately 135,000 cubic yards of contaminated rubble and soil.  The processing building was also decontaminated and demolished. 

EPA Regional Administrator, Judith A. Enck, stated, “Monitoring has found that the cleanup conducted at this site has removed a significant risk that was posed to this community.”

New York District Commander Col. Paul E. Owen stated, “It took several years of hard work, including the safe removal and disposal of approximately 135,000 cubic yards of contaminated material, and I’m proud to be celebrating the fruits of that labor—the de-listing of this site.”

Source: Environmental Protection Agency