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DLPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTTON 

P.O.Box402 

MAIL CODE 401-07 

Trenton, NJ 08625-0402 

TEL:# (609) 292-2885 

FAX# (609) 292-7695 

CHRIS CHRISTIE 

Governor 

!UM GUADAGNO 

Lt. Governor 

BOB MARTIN 

Conimissioner 

July 9, 2015 

Judith Enck, Administrator 

U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency Region 2 

290 Broadway 

New York, NY 10007-1866 

Re: Nomination for National Priorities List of Superfund Sites 

Former Kil-Tone Company 

527 East Chestnut Street 

City of Vineland, Cumberland County 

NJDEP/SRP PI#648249 

Dear Ms. Enck: 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) nominates the former KilTone Company site in the City of Vineland, Cumberland County for inclusion on the National 

Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. Elevated levels of arsenic and lead contamination found 

in soil at commercial and residential properties associated with the Kil-Tone Company's former 

pesticide operations require further immediate and long-term actions to protect public health. 

Significant arsenic and lead contamination in sediment and surface water also were measured in 

a waterway leading from the former Kil-Tone Company site to the Maurice River. 

NJDEP referred the former Kil-Tone Company site to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) on November 14, 2014 for removal action consideration under the federal Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). EPA accepted the referral 

and initiated additional sampling to confirm NJDEP results and investigate additional properties. 

NJDEP soil sampling in August 2014 in the area of the former Kil-Tone Company site, an active 

Vineland pesticide plant for many years during the 1910s through the 1930s, found elevated 

levels of arsenic at 12 residential and commercial properties, nine of which exhibited surface (0­

6 inch) contamination above state cleanup standards. Elevated levels of lead contamination were 

found in soil at six residential and commercial properties, five of which also exhibited arsenic 

contamination. NJDEP conducted the site investigation work under an EPA grant at the former 

Kil-Tone Company site and adjacent properties. The former Kil-Tone Company site is owned by 

1Vev<1 Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer• Prinled on Recycled Paper and Recyclable 
Urban Manufacturing LLC, also known as Urban Sign and Crane, which purchased the property 

in 2008 for the manufacturing of commercial signs. 

EPA conducted sampling in January and February 2015 at 27 residential properties located 

closest to the former Kil-Tone Company site. Results of this sampling indicated elevated 

concentrations of lead and arsenic exceeding EP A's removal management levels and state 

cleanup standards in the surface soils at 19 of the 27 residential properties sampled. EPA plans 

to install interim remedies during summer 2015 that will include a temporary soil and grass 

cover and also provide raised garden beds. The interim action will be taken on 18 properties 

that are closest to the former Kil-Tone Company site uutil a more permanent action can be 

taken to address the elevated arsenic and lead concentrations. EPA also conducted sediment, 

flood plain and surface water sampling along the Tarkiln Branch and portions of the Parvin 

Branch that found elevated arsenic and lead contamination from the former Kil-Tone Company 

site along the tributaries of the Maurice River. 

The former Kil-Tone Company manufactured arsenic-based pesticides at the Vineland site 

from the late 1910s until the late 1930s. John Lucas & Company, Inc. acquired the former KilTone Company in the 1920s, forming Lucas Kil-Tone Co., which eventually became a 

subsidiary of Sherwin Williams Co. in the 1930s. NJDEP will work with EPA to ensure 

potential responsible parties are identified and pursued to conduct and fund all required 

remedial actions for this site. 

NJDEP requests EPA Region 2's Emergency and Remedial Response Division expand upon 

past removal assessment studies at the former Kil-Tone Company site to fully delineate soil 

and grouud water contamination and implement appropriate permanent measures to protect 

human health and ensure safe reuse of the commercial and residential properties. Due to the 

scope of remedial work anticipated to investigate and clean up arsenic and lead contamination 

in soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water, it is appropriate that the former Kil-Tone 

Company site be proposed for the NPL. 

NJDEP appreciates the opportunity to participate in the dee' ion-making process to nominate 

the former Kil-Tone Company site for Nfl+ status and is I oking forward to future cooperation 

with EPA during remedial work at the 

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I}qb Martin 

Clpmmissioner 

C: Mark J. Pedersen, Assistant Commissioner, DEP, Site Remediation Program 

Kem1eth J. Kloo, Director, DEP, Division of Remediation Management 

Walter Mugdan, Director, EPA, Emergency and Remedial Response Division 

Angela Carpenter, Deputy Director, EPA, Emergency and Remedial Response Division