News Releases from Region 05

EPA orders cleanup of New Jersey Zinc/Mobil Chemical Corp. Site in DePue, Illinois

For Immediate Release: No. 20-OPA005

DEPUE, Illinois (FEBRUARY 18, 2020) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
recently issued a unilateral administrative order to two potentially responsible parties
(PRPs) to clean up contaminated soil in a portion of the New Jersey Zinc/Mobil
Chemical Corp. Site in the Village of DePue. EPA estimates the cleanup cost will cost
TCI Pacific Communications and CBS/Westinghouse of PA, Inc. about $10 million.

The order requires the PRPs to design a remedy and devise a cleanup plan for soil in
residential areas, public property, parks, alleys, a school, and other miscellaneous
properties known as Operable Unit 4 (OU4).

The OU4 cleanup must satisfy all the requirements outlined in the Illinois EPA’s June
2017 Record of Decision. EPA plans to hold a public meeting in the community to
discuss soil sampling and cleanup and to answer questions before work begins this
spring.

Background

The DePue/New Jersey Zinc/Mobil Chemical Superfund site is a 950-acre area that
once housed a zinc smelter and a phosphate fertilizer plant. The site is contaminated
with elevated levels of metals that include zinc, lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium,
copper, and manganese.

In October 2019 at the request of Illinois EPA, the federal agency assumed the lead for
the cleanup because the state’s negotiations with PRPs had reached an impasse.
Under federal Superfund law, EPA has additional authorities to help leverage
completion of the cleanup.

For more information, please visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/depue-newjersey-zinc.

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