The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 28 a final $79-million cleanup plan for the Raritan Bay Slag Superfund site in central New Jersey. The cost and cleanup are set to be covered by the corporate successor to the firm believed to have contributed most of the site's waste slag, which contains lead.

The waste, which came from a smelter once operated by now defunct manufacturer National Lead, was used in the 1960s to construct a seawall and jetty along the southern shore of Raritan Bay, says the agency.

EPA added the site to the federal Superfund cleanup list in 2009 after sampling confirmed contamination. Hurricane Sandy's storm surge also resulted in significant damage to the site, says EPA.

The agency says a successor firm, Dallas-based NL Industries, will be responsible for cleanup costs but did not confirm how soon it would award a remediation contract. The preferred cleanup plan includes, among other things, excavation, dredging and off-site disposal, according to EPA.

But in a June 1 published report in New Jersey, the firm is critical of the plan and says EPA declined to accept its own proposal.