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Novak Sanitary Landfill

Information Update, May 1995

Updating Site Activities

This fact sheet provides a brief update on activities at the Novak Sanitary Landfill Superfund Site located in South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. This site is being handled under the federal Superfund program. This program provides money to clean-up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now working to design details of the site cleanup.

Residential Well Sampling

In June 1995, EPA will sample residential wells located next to the site. Analyzing the samples will determine if contamination from the site has affected those wells over the last year. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADER) sampled these wells in June 1994, and did not find any unsafe levels of contamination. Individual sampling results were provided to each resident.

Cleanup Progress

In September 1993, after reviewing your comments, EPA decided on a clean-up plan for the site. The plan calls for these major actions:

EPA is now talking with a number of potentially responsible parties associated with the site. (Potentially responsible parties are companies that may have owned or operated a Superfund site, transported hazardous waste to the site, or disposed of hazardous waste there.) EPA is trying to secure an agreement with these parties to do the site clean-up. This process is known as "Consent Decree" negotiations.

Residents may remember that some of these companies investigated the site contamination several years ago. Information produced during that investigation helped EPA to decide on an appropriate clean-up method.

Some companies contributed very small amounts of contamination to the site. EPA is encouraging these companies to pay a small portion of the site costs up-front. This would end their liability and involvement in the site. This process is known as "de minimis" negotiations. A "cash-out" settlement like this enables EPA and these small contributors to spend less money on legal costs. It also makes more money available for clean-up. (See back page for a list of companies potentially responsible for the contamination at the site.)

Next Steps

A contractor will be hired to draw up a plan for the cleanup. The plan will include designs and specifications for the clean-up actions. EPA will then review the plan. Once EPA approves the plan, the contractor will begin the cleanup.

Potentially Responsible Parties for the Site

For More Information EPA Contact

EPA is available to assist the community with questions or comments regarding the Novak Sanitary Landfill Site or the residential well sampling. Lisa Brown, EPA's Community Involvement Facilitator, keeps local residents, officials, and media members informed of ongoing site work. Lisa can be reached at the address and telephone number listed below.

Lisa Brown (3EA30)
Community Involvement Facilitator
U.S. EPA Region III
1650 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
215-814-5528
800- 553-2509
brown.lisa@epa.gov

Information Repository

EPA maintains an information repository where community members can review site-related documents. The repository includes the Administrative Record file, which contains the Proposed Plan report, the Record of Decision, and other documents used by EPA to select a site clean-up action. The repository is located at:

The Parkland Library
4422 Walbert Avenue
Allentown, PA 18104
610-398-1361

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