Chemical Drum Cleanup In Howell Topic Of EPA Meeting Tuesday

HOWELL, NJ — The federal Environmental Protection Agency will meet with the Howell and Farmingdale communities on Tuesday, March 21, to discuss the removal of drums containing chemical waste from the site of a former industrial site at 15 Marl Road.

Howell informed the community about three weeks ago that the EPA was on the site of the former Compounders Inc. site to clean up hundreds of deteriorating 55-gallon drums containing chemicals such as adhesives and asphalt.

The drums were discovered in February by Howell firefighters responding to a call at the former industrial plant. The drums had caught fire. The cause is being investigated.

Now federal environmental workers will be at the site for several weeks to manage their removal, the township has said.

The community outreach meeting with the EPA will include several members of the EPA’s Region 2 Office who will be in attendance to give more information about the activity at the property, as well as to answer any questions from residents, the township has said.

The meeting is March 21 at 6 p.m. at Howell's municipal building, main meeting room, 4567 Route 9, second floor, Howell, 07731. The Township Council meeting is to follow.

If you cannot attend the meeting, a live stream will be available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/c/HowellTownshipTV, according to the township website.

The meeting will also be live streamed on YouTube, and a link will be posted on the Township website prior to the meeting, Howell township officials said.

Compounders Inc. manufactured a number of chemical compounds, including glues, adhesives, and asphalt materials, the EPA has said. The company closed in 2019.

The Howell Office of Emergency Management has issued a map it previously prepared as a precaution showing streets in Farmingdale that are in an evacuation zone of the cleanup area.

Click here to see the map on the township Facebook site and you can read a previous Patch story here.

The map shows a half-mile radius and a one-mile radius of the cleanup area. The cleanup site is the last parcel of land in the township before the Borough of Farmingdale, explained Michael Mannino, the site coordinator for the EPA - hence the evacuation plan for Farmingdale.

Victor Cook, head of the Office of Emergency Management in the township, said the town was being proactive in preparing the map and that Howell immediately notified county and state environmental offices of the drums, once they were discovered at the fire.

The EPA has said there is a 24/7 security service posted at the property.

The EPA is currently working with the current property owner to establish a fence around the area of concern, as well as establish a workplan to secure and remove the drums and containers from the property.

EPA officials said the agency will be "establishing perimeter air monitoring during any work with the drums and containers to ensure that there is no off-site travel of materials during removal activities."

The EPA said there will also be increased traffic in the area during the operations at the site.

Howell has published the map of potential evacuation routes the borough of Farmingdale should access in the event of any problem at the cleanup site.

The map was put out as a precaution and to provide greater preparation. There is no immediate threat, the township has said.

Farmingdale is the most affected because the Marl Road site is the last parcel in Howell, right on the border of the borough.

The Borough of Farmingdale is on top of the issue and is being kept informed, the mayor said in a previous Patch story.

"I continue to stay in the loop but out of the way, allowing Howell OEM, the (Monmouth) County Hazmat, DEP and EPA to all do their jobs," said Farmingdale Mayor James A. Daly in a response to Patch on the cleanup.

"However, to know the real level of concern, all of this requires proper classification and cataloging and then remediation, which the EPA is on top of, and we are staying out of their way to let them resolve the issue," Daly said.