Site Background
The Berry’s Creek Study Area (BCSA) is part of the Ventron/Velsicol Superfund Site located in Bergen County, New Jersey. The BCSA is an approximately 6.5-mile-long tributary of the Hackensack River. This website is administered by the BCSA Cooperating Potentially Responsible Parties Group (the BCSA Group). The content within this website has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide relevant information to the public.
Links are provided on this page for:
the Proposed Plan;
a Story Map describing the history of the site, the studies conducted and the plans for cleaning up the site;
site photos;
key documents;
a project timeline;
a list of upcoming project events; and
EPA contacts.
The BCSA has been extensively studied between 2008 and 2017. The findings from the studies have been summarized in the Remedial Investigation (RI) and Feasibility Study (FS) Reports that were submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2018. The Remedial Investigation Report concluded that mercury, PCBs, and some metals are the primary contaminants and have been found at elevated concentrations in the surface water, sediment and biota, in the area. People are at risk from consuming fish. Birds are also at risk from foraging in the waterway.
Due to the complexity of the site, EPA has determined that a phased approach to cleanup of the area is appropriate. The Feasibility Study Report evaluated several potential cleanup options that control the sources of contaminants to the marshes and, to a lesser degree downstream, and reduce the highest risks. For the first phase, the remediation will clean up waterways in Upper Berry’s Creek and Middle Berry’s Creek, along with the Upper Peach Island Creek waterways and marshes.
Project Events
Upcoming Events
No public events currently scheduled
Key Links
Project Contacts
EPA Remedial Project Manager:
Doug Tomchuk
212-637-3956
tomchuk.doug@epa.gov
EPA Community Involvement Coordinator:
Shereen Kandil
212-637-4333
kandil.shereen@epa.gov