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PHILIP n. MURPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION CATHERINE R. MCCABE

Governor Site Remediation and Waste Management Program Commissioner
401 East State Street

SHEILA Y. OLIVER PO. Box 420, Mail Code 401-06

Lt. Governor Trenton, NE 08625-0420

Tel: (609) 2924250
Fax: (609) 777-1914

December 3, 2018

Mayor John Roth
475 Corporate Drive
Mahwah,NJ 07430

Dear Mayor Roth and Town Council Members:

The New Jersey Department Of Environmental Protection (DEP) is in receipt of your October 1,
2018 letter regarding proposed sampling Of the waters and the sediment within Pleasant Brook.
While this matter was resolved in coordination with Kevin Boswell, Township Engineer, DEP
appreciates the opportunity to provide you and concerned residents with information regarding
the Apple Ridge Golf Course Development cleanup and Licensed Site Remediation
Professional (LSRP) Program.

The contamination identi?ed at the Apple Ridge Golf Course Development Site was associated
with the legal application of historically applied pesticides at the golf course, formerly an apple
orchard. Historically applied pesticides refers to chemicals that have been used and are no longer
used for pest control. In this case, arsenic was the primary contaminant of concern.

The remediating party, Apple Ridge Mahwah, LLC., hired a licensed site remediation
professional (LSRP) to conduct the remediation. Pursuant to the Site Remediation Reform Act,
have responsibility for oversight of environmental investigation and cleanups. The
highest priority is protection of public health and safety and the environment and must
follow all applicable regulation and pertinent guidance and apply professional judgement where
appropriate. For more information regarding the LSRP program, please see the attached fact
sheet.

In this case, the LSRP removed the most heavily contaminated historically applied pesticide
containing soil at this site. Blending of HAP contaminated soil at former agricultural properties,
as well as former golf courses, has been and will continue to be, an appropriate remedy as
outlined in the Historically Applied Pesticide Site Technical Guidance document. Over 1,100
environmental samples were collected at the site in accordance with DEP guidance and, based on
the results, an entire site, unrestricted Response Action Outcome (RAO) was issued on January
30, 2018.

New Jersey is an Equal Opporumhj: Enmloyer Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclobie

 

The LSRP and a representative from Apple Ridge Mahwah, LLC., certi?ed all key documents
submitted to the DEP concerning the remediation of the identi?ed contaminants as true, accurate
and complete. Copies of all submitted documents can be requested through the Of?ce of Record
Access at .gov/dep/opra/.

Upon receipt of the certi?ed key documents, the DEP inspected the documents and reviewed
pertinent components of the documents to ensure the LSRP adhered to applicable regulation and
applied appropriate technical guidance. Upon completion of the inspection and review process,
the DEP determined that the remediation conducted, and the RAO issued, were protective of
public health and safety and the environment. As such, the remediation associated with the Apple
Ridge Golf Course was considered complete.

The DEP is aware that the Upper Saddle River Borough collected samples per the request of
some residents to try to alleviate their concerns. The sampling locations for the sampling event
that occurred on October 16, 2018 were acceptable. The concentrations of arsenic detected in
both the ?ltered and un?ltered samples are well below the Surface Water Quality Standards
Freshwater Aquatic Chronic number of 150 parts per billion. Although it is inappropriate to
compare the surface water sampling results to the New Jersey Drinking Water Standards, the
results are also below those much more conservative standards. These results are believed to be
representative of naturally occurring arsenic in native soil and not indicative of arsenic
associated with historically applied pesticide use. The difference between the arsenic
concentrations detected in the ?ltered and un?ltered samples is associated with suspended soil
particles (turbidity) in the water sample. Controlling the surface water turbidity can be
accomplished with improved soil conservation and construction practices, not through any action
associated with the implemented remedial action.

Also, two additional rounds of samples were collected on October 29, 2018 and November 12,
2018. These samples were collected after rain events to capture a worst?case scenario. The
results are consistent with the previous sampling event and are all well below the Surface Water
Quality Standards Freshwater Aquatic Chronic number of 150 parts per billion.

It should also be noted the sampling results con?rm determination that the historically
applied pesticides at the Apple Ridge Golf Course have been satisfactorily remediated and the
?nal remediation document issued by the LSRP is protective. Consequently, Site
Remediation and Waste Management Program considers this case to be closed.

For more information regarding sampling your potable wells for arsenic, please contact your
local or county health department. For more information regarding the sampling conducted by
Upper Saddle River Borough mentioned above, please contact Kevin Boswell at
For soil erosion questions, please contact the Department of
Agriculture or the Bergen Soil Conservation District.

 

Thank you for your continued cooperation. If you have questions regarding this correspondence,

please call my of?ce at (609) 2924250.

Cc:

  

Site emediation a Waste Management Program

Holly T. Schepisi

Mayor Joanne Minichetti, Upper Saddle River

Lloyd Naideck, DEP Of?ce of Government Affairs

Kerry Kirk P?ugh, DEP Local Govemment Assistance
Richelle Wormley, DEP Compliance Enforcement
Brendon Shank, DEP Communications

Lynne Mitchell, DEP Bureau of Remedial Action Permitting