If the US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, goes ahead with plans to dredge mercury-containing sediment from the contaminated Pompton Lake in the state of New Jersey, chemical giant DuPont could be called upon to fund and carry out a cleanup.

The tentative plans foresee the chemical group dredging sediment from the Acid Brook Delta, which flows into the lake. It would also be called onto remove contaminated sediment from two other areas of the lake, replace the shoreline soil with clean soil and transport the toxic sludge to a licensed disposal facility.

DuPont manufactured explosive powder and other heavy-metal based products at a lakeshore site from 1902 to 1994.

Nearby residents have asked EPA to also include contaminated hot spots in the Ramapo River, which runs through the lake and also to add the former DuPont plant to the Superfund program, which they believe would facilitate a more specific cleanup.

A public hearing is to be held on Nov. 12.