| DuPont wants to clean up its former Pompton Lakes munitions plant — contaminated with a litany of elements that can cause cancer and other illnesses — using far weaker standards than the state usually requires, a strategy that echoes prior attempts by polluters to push for less extensive cleanups at other sites in North Jersey. In its proposal, which was obtained by The Record through a federal public records request, DuPont says it would leave some of the contaminated soil in place and cap it. Other sections would be excavated, with some of that soil sealed in two old tunnels carved out of a ridge on the property. The plan is drawing strong criticism from state and federal environmental agencies that must sign off before any action can take place. Negotiations with the company are ongoing. The proposal is also sparking concern from neighbors whose homes now sit over a plume of groundwater contaminated by toxic substances that migrated from the plant. DuPont’s sprawling 600-acre campus was once dotted with buildings that made ammunition for the United States for more than a century; a powder factory was considered so vital during the Spanish-American War that... |
