Headway made in lake cleanup
After a few meetings and months of planning, progress at Kirkwood Lake is making headway.
However, having the contamination left by the former Sherwin-Williams dumpsite cleaned up is far from finished.
Camden County Department of Parks is working on clearing brush, eliminating some of the problem spatterdocks lilies (a large plant with heart-shaped leaves that often floats on the surface of shallow water) and cleaning up trash — the beginning stages in revitalizing its appearance.
Residents from Kirkwood Lake and Gibbsboro gathered at the Camden County Public Works in December. They brought concerns with not only possible contamination, but also questioned the cleanup timeline.
At the meeting, the Environmental Protection Agency’s remedial project manger, Ray Klimcsak, said the Sherwin-Williams superfund site is one of three in the area currently under remedial investigation.
Route 561 dumpsite, and the United States Avenue burn site, along with bodies of water located in the county and Voorhees, were affected by contaminants.
Kirkwood Lake, Bridgewood Lake, portions of Honey Run, White Sands Branch and Hilliards Creek contain contaminants from the 60-acre site of the former Sherwin-Williams paint plant, officials said.
Kirkwood Lake is the furthest downstream, and contains lower levels of contaminants compared to the sites further upstream, Klimcsak said.
Although the EPA, county and state DEP said the sediments in the lake could not be addressed until upstream sources are addressed, residents were concerned the lake would not be there for much longer.
A few residents said the water is getting shallower, and the spatterdock population is increasing.
Lake resident Alice Johnston said the county and township have pulled together to address the spatterdock and debris issues. Johnston said the low levels of contaminants have not prevented the lake’s appearance from declining.
“It’s starting to look shabby,” she said.
According to Frank Moran, director of the county’s Department of Parks, a team will be sent in to clear the trash and debris from the area.
Looking across the lake from Johnston’s backyard, old piles of trash are hidden behind trees. When walking around the lake and onto the trash site, broken bottles, old tires and more were entangled and buried beneath vegetation and dirt.
Moran said the area appears to be an old personal dumpsite.
“It’s apparent that the area, many years ago, was the out-of-sight, out-of-mind dump site for whoever owned that property,” Moran said, adding the county would prepare the site for heavy machinery to reach the area and remove the trash along with any vegetation they can reach without setting foot into the lake.
According to a group of residents, the water flow at the dam was better than they have seen it in awhile.
The growing number of spatterdocks early in the season is more concerning.
There were several different methods for removing the vegetation.
Herbicide is the preferred method since it wouldn’t greatly disturb water sediments.
Noll said the EPA is not fond of harvesting the spatterdocks, but they are still waiting to see what the state will allow.
Environmental Resolutions completed testing, and said the earliest date for the herbicide spraying would be June.
“The process the county needs to go through takes a little bit of time,” Noll said.
When initial testing was done on the lake, the EPA found two to three times more in lead than the DEP’s residential criteria.
Resident Kathie Ehly has spent more than 60 years on the lake and would like to see it back to the way it used to be.
“I am glad people are showing interest in this,” Ehly said.
Johnson said many use the lake to fish, boat and enjoy the view.
“We have to be good stewards of our environment,” Johnston said.
Mayor Michael Mignogna said residents, along with state and county representatives, have shown a “real interest” in addressing and resolving the problems at hand.
“In the interim, we have formed a coalition with the residents and county to help improve the quality of life,” he said.
The residents have also created a Facebook page, Kirkwood Lake Cleanup, to keep others informed.
On May 18, the Green Acres County Stewards are organizing a cleanup of Kirkwood Lake to pick up trash around the area.
Residents who are interested in volunteering should contact Johnston at [email protected].
