By Catherine Wilde
Staff Writer | April 29

Closter — A plan to investigate contamination on the former Closter Dock Service Center site on Closter Dock Road has been approved by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

According to DEP spokesman Larry Haijna, earlier testing showed contaminated groundwater, which is confined to the scope of the property. The approved plan calls for additional groundwater testing to confirm the contaminants are limited to the site and also to determine whether the contamination is naturally biodegrading.

The sources of contamination, which were leaking underground fuel tanks, were removed in 1991 and 1,200 tons of contaminated soil was excavated in 2004, Haijna said.

The DEP informed the property owner, Stella Selloni, of the plan’s approval in early April. The report is due back in September with the sampling results and then the next step can be decided, Haijna said.

"This is for groundwater testing and to evaluate the site and conditions pertaining to groundwater. Once we have the report in our hands and feel enough testing has been done we will decide on what the next step will be," he said.

Selloni said her husband, who has since died, operated the site as a Sunoco station and then removed the fuel tanks to lease it as a repair shop. The site has been vacant since 2000 and Selloni said she has been "cleaning it up so [she] can sell or lease it" but now her children hope to convert it to a 7/11.

"My children would like to put in a 7/11 but the Borough would have to approve the 24-hour [use]," she said.

Mayor Sophie Heymann declined to comment on whether or not Borough officials would approve such a use, saying, "there is nothing before any of our boards… and there has been no presentation" about the idea.

E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706