Township officials conduct site visit of Ellis Property Superfund Site on Sharp Road

Councilwoman Pat Hansen and other Township officials joined with representatives of the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers earlier today to view the most recent remediation work taking place at Ellis Property Superfund Site on Sharp Road.

As has been the case for the past several decades, the site currently remains safe and secured, and residents are not in danger.

The property was once used for drum reconditioning and storage before a fire in the late 1970s. Spills, chemical storage and discharges associated with reconditioning are believed to have contributed to contamination at the property.

A water treatment plant has been operating at the site since the late 1990s. However, in recent years, EPA officials determined the use of a thermal heating system would be more suitable due to marl in the local soil slowing results from the water treatment.

This current work (announced in late 2019) is meant to remediate contaminated soil though a combination of soil excavation (completed in June of 2020) and then switching to the use a thermal heating system to trap and remove of vapors (currently operating since January 2022)

Officials have estimated the site could be remediated in a timespan of just two to three years from the start of this most recent work that began in 2020. If the water treatment system had been left in place alone, officials had estimated a remediation time of 30 years or more.

To learn a detailed history of the site and work conducted, please visit: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0200620