DESCRIPTION: The Maywood site is located in a highly developed area of northeastern New Jersey, in the boroughs of Maywood and Lodi and the township of Rochelle Park. It is located approximately 13 miles northeast of Newark, New Jersey. Contamination at the properties resulted from rare earth and thorium processing activities conducted at the Maywood Chemical Works (MCW) from the early 1900 through 1959. MCW stopped extracting thorium in 1959. The property was subsequently sold to the Stepan Company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, in 1959. The Maywood site is composed of the Maywood Interim Storage Site (MISS) and various nearby properties, including the Stepan Company property and numerous residential, commercial, and government properties in Maywood, Rochelle Park, and Lodi, New Jersey. Many of these properties have been remediated or are scheduled for remediation under an ongoing comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) non-time critical removal action.

AUTHORIZATION: Responsibility for the Maywood site was assigned to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a decontamination research and development project by the U.S. Congress through the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1984. DOE placed the site in their Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). In October 1997, responsibility for executing FUSRAP was transferred from DOE to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) by further Congressional action.

The Maywood site is listed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the National Priorities List (NPL). All USACE activities at the site are being coordinated with EPA Region II under CERCLA, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, and a negotiated Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA). The FFA was originally developed by DOE and EPA to outline responsibilities for each agency. Terms of the agreement are being renegotiated by USACE and EPA to incorporate the transfer of responsibilities from DOE to USACE.

Soils containing thorium, radium and uranium above site-specific cleanup levels (determined by risk analysis) are located on the site. Deposition of radionuclides was either by soil and sediment transport along the former Lodi Brook Channel, which crossed the MCW property; by emplacement of fill containing radionuclides; or by past waste disposal practices. Affected properties include 88 commercial, govemment owned, and residential tracts. The MISS, used for interim storage of excavated soils and demolition debris from early vicinity property removal actions, is located on a portion of the original MCW facility and is owned by the Federal government.

STATUS: USACE’ s responsibilities for the Maywood site will be defined in the negotiated FFA. The site is being addressed through separate Remedial/Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) reports. The RI/FS process evaluates the conditions at the site and possible cleanup alternatives. DOE and USACE have prepared an RI/FS that addresses the radioactive constituents at the site. The Stepan Company, performed an RI/FS focusing on chemicals under both an EPA administrative order of consent and an EPA administrative order. The Stepan Company is responsible for addressing non-radioactive chemical waste at Stepan Company, Sears, and adjacent properties. Although the USACE and Stepan RI/FS activities are being conducted independently, EPA oversight of both actions will ensure that sufficient coordination occurs between USACE and the Stepan Company to fully address the Maywood site. As part of the RI/FS process, USACE will develop a Proposed Plan (PP) and subsequent to agency and public review, will conclude the evaluation with the issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD) that will document the selected alternative for the site.

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