"A full cleanup of the contamination at the Cosden Chemical Coatings Corporation Superfund site is critical to ensuring environmental and public health in Beverly, New Jersey," Lisa F. Garcia, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said in a recent news release.
Following a successful pilot study finished in 2021, the EPA submitted an update to its initial cleanup plan for the site, the news release said.
By injecting chemical oxidants directly into the aquifer, the new cleanup technology being proposed will augment prior groundwater treatment by assisting in the breakdown of harmful chemicals into less toxic byproducts, the agency said.
"Carried out by EPA, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE], the successful pilot study demonstrated a unique ability to address the remaining groundwater contaminants at this site, and EPA is committed to employing all available technologies to get the job done," Garcia said in the release.
The groundwater remediation method, known as in-situ chemical oxidation, makes use of a variety of oxidizing agents to encourage the reduction of dangerous substances, the release said. In 2021, the EPA and USACE successfully proved that chemical oxidation could convert the residual dangerous chemicals of the Cosden site groundwater into less deadly byproducts through a network of 30 monitoring wells.
