What’s New with Emerging Contaminants?

On March 13, 2019 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection established new groundwater standards for the “emerging contaminants” perfuorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perflourooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) that could have sweeping implications for the cleanup of contaminated sites and property transactions throughout the State.   The NJDEP posted the new standards on their website along with a short guidance document to assist parties currently investigating and remediating contaminated sites.

The NJDEP requires that all parties, except those that received an unrestricted use final remediation document prior to March 13, 2019, to include an evaluation of PFOA/PFOS in their next remedial phase report, even those that have a regulatory deadline to submit the Remedial Action Report by May 7, 2019.  NJDEP is requiring sites with limited restricted use or restricted use final remediation documents to complete the PFOA/PFOS evaluation and include the results of the evaluation with the next biennial certifications.

For those parties currently operating under the May 7, 2019, Remedial Action Report regulatory deadline, to obtain an extension a request would be required to be submitted to NJDEP before April 7, 2019 if the evaluation for PFOS/PFOA cannot be completed.

The new PFOS/PFOA regulations can have significant impact on the investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites, and more will likely be forthcoming from the NJDEP.  Please contact us if you would like assistance in evaluating options associated with PFOS/PFOA at your site.