Officials toured the remediated Middlesex Sampling Plant FUSRAP Site during visit
November 28, 2023
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On Oct. 11, 2023, leaders from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came together in Middlesex, New Jersey, to celebrate LM’s receipt of a National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Award. The Middlesex Sampling Plant Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program site was selected for the award in June 2023 — the first time a FUSRAP site has been awarded this honor.
The award recognizes the outstanding efforts supporting the reuse and restoration of the site for use as a Middlesex Borough Department of Public Works and Office of Emergency Management facility and a public road that will provide access to an adjacent $40 million warehouse development and a larger community redevelopment zone. The success at the Middlesex Sampling Plant wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of the Borough of Middlesex, Claremont Development, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, USACE, the U.S. General Services Administration, EPA, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Before the awards ceremony, leadership from all parties toured the warehouse development adjacent to the Middlesex Sampling Plant Site. The warehouse development will provide increased tax revenue and create more than 150 jobs in the community.
DOE began cleanup at the U.S. government-owned Middlesex Sampling Plant site in 1980 under FUSRAP. In 1997, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over site cleanup under the same program, remediating surface soils to an unrestricted-use level. After USACE completes the groundwater cleanup, LM will take over long-term stewardship of the site, which includes routine inspections, monitoring, maintenance, records-related activities, and stakeholder support.
In 2018, the Borough of Middlesex proposed acquiring the site for the Department of Public Works and Office of Emergency Management facility and public road. The current Public Works facility in Middlesex is being considered for conversion to a senior center. EPA approved the Finding of Suitability for Early Transfer in October 2023.
This is the fifth LM site recognized with an EPA Reuse Award. In the National Priorities List category, EPA recognized the Fernald Preserve, Ohio, Site in 2019; the Weldon Spring Site, Missouri, in 2020; and the Rocky Flats Site, Colorado, in 2021. In the non-NPL category, Las Colonias Park in Grand Junction, Colorado — site of the former Climax uranium mill — received the award in 2021.