DuPont’s mammoth cleanup of pollution from its former munitions factory is now targeting tainted silt carried by Acid Brook to the edge of the Pompton Lake.
The work continues a two-decade effort by the corporation to clean its 576-acre grounds on a forested ridge in Pompton Lakes and Wanaque, as well as Acid Brook, streamside properties, and the delta where Acid Brook meets Pompton Lake.
Contaminants include heavy metals and other pollutants left during almost a century of operation.
Meanwhile, local officials are expressing mixed feelings about the cleanup, praising DuPont’s good-faith efforts while chafing at the time it is taking to clean up one of the last major developable properties in the borough.
The wooded lake delta is next to the borough of Pompton Lakes’ Lakeside Park and the Lakeside Middle School’s athletic field, off Lakeside Avenue.
David Epps, project director for DuPont, said that “DuPont has been working since 1993 collecting 1,500 samples, and our plans are to have a remedial action selection report to the Department of Environmental Protection in 2008.”
The state DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are overseeing and must approve the investigation and cleanup.