Rockaway Borough Well Field
Rockaway Township, New Jersey

Site Description

The Rockaway Borough Well Field site covers a two-mile area in Rockaway Township, Morris County, NJ. The site includes three water supply wells located in the sole-source aquifer for Rockaway Borough and surrounding communities. The contaminated wells are about 750 feet from the Rockaway River and are located in a suburban residential setting. Thirteen volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been detected in the well water and trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene are the primary contaminants of concern. The Borough?s municipal wells supply drinking water to about 11,000 people.

EPA has identified two plumes of ground water contamination at the site, Wall Street/East Main (WS/EM) and Klockner and Klockner (K&K). To address the site, EPA has divided it into four projects: 1) treatment by the Borough of its water supply; 2) extraction and treatment of ground water affected by the two contaminant plumes; 3) clean up of the K&K area contamination source; and 4) clean up of the WS/EM source area.

Current Site Status and Cleanup Actions to Date

• Since the contamination of VOCs was found in municipal wells in the early 1980s, the Borough put an activated carbon water treatment in place to lower contaminant concentrations. The Borough has since upgraded its existing treatment system further to make sure it complies with drinking water standards.
• In 2006, a ground water treatment system to address contamination from the K&K plume was installed by the potentially responsible party.
• EPA selected a cleanup plan in 2006 to address the source of contamination for the WS/EM part of the site. The plan calls for the excavation and off-site treatment and disposal of approximately 40 cubic yards of soil.
• In 2007, EPA selected a cleanup plan for the K&K Source area, which calls for soil vapor extraction, excavation of approximately 150 cubic yards of VOC-contaminated soil, and excavation of approximately 27 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil.
• In May 2007, EPA began construction of the WS/EM ground water treatment system.

Current Funding Status

• In Fiscal Year 2008, EPA obligated approximately $1.4 million to conduct excavation and treatment of contamination in the WS/EM area.
• To date, EPA has obligated a total of approximately $7.4 million for cleanup activities at this site.

For more information on this site, please read the Rockaway Borough site fact sheet (PDF) (2 pp, 5K, http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/0200766c.pdf) on the Region 2 Superfund web site.