Township officials will voice their concerns over recommendations for remediation at the WWM Properties construction site when representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection make a presentation at the Township Council meeting on October 15.##M:[more]##
The DEP is expected to approve a proposal for remediation recommendations at shopping center site on the corner of Princeton-Hightstown and Southfield roads in November. With that, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he wants the process to move forward, but only after the DEP discusses the recommendations and after township concerns are addressed.
Construction at the shopping center — where a day care center, bank, pharmacy and several small retail establishments are proposed — was halted in 2005 when the DEP found that Ford Motor Co. and its contractor, Edgewood Properties, Inc., had shipped recycled concrete from the demolition of Ford’s former Edison Assembly Plant on Route 1 to various construction sites around the state, including West Windsor. Tests later found the cement to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A PCB is a mixture of individual chemicals no longer produced in the U.S. that can cause some health implications.
Subsequently, Edgewood has had to develop response plans, including remediation and removal of the material, implementation of dust control measures, and soil testing, and has had to submit progress reports to the state.
Edgewood cannot continue construction until the clean-up is deemed finished, all the criteria is met, and it gets the final approval from the DEP to move forward, Hseuh said.
Business Administrator Chris Marion said that at a meeting with the DEP earlier this month, the township received a report that was submitted by Edgewater to the DEP making recommendations for the remediation of the property.
Hseuh has said he believes the DEP will be approving those recommendations in November. Before that happens, Hseuh said he wants the DEP to hold a public meeting with the Township Council, in which DEP can make a presentation about the progress on the site and hear some additional comments and concerns from the township before it makes its decision. Some township officials, including Hseuh have some remaining concerns, he said.
“”We want to bring this project to the final conclusion,”” Hseuh said. “”We also request we openly discuss all of these issues in front of the public.””
One of Hseuh’s concerns is what he said is a recommendation to leave some materials on site, either by capping it or leaving it in a safe manner, and he wants all the materials to be taken off the site.
“”We want to make sure we get all the bases covered,”” Hseuh said. “”That’s why they are going to make the presentation. I don’t want to wait until after November.””
To prevent incidents like this from happening again, Hseuh said he also will be proposing a new ordinance he hopes the council will accept. That ordinance would require that if a developer wants to bring in outside materials, it would have to test those materials and submit the results to the township before moving forward.
