Federal authorities are seeking a court order to force polluters to pay millions to clean up a toxic site on the Raritan Bay, a site featured in our Hazard NJ podcast series.

The EPA today announced a proposed $151 million settlement with the company NL Industries, its former customers and the town of Old Bridge, all to finish remediating stretches of the bayshore where the company, which used to be called National Lead dumped toxic waste today.

Beaches in the Lawrence Harbor section of Old Bridge remain closed to the public to limit the risk of exposure to lead and other contaminants.

Meanwhile, cleanup work was delayed for years as NL Industries fought claims that it was liable.

Eventually, though, pressure from Representative Frank Pallone caused the EPA to step in and begin the cleanup work on its own.

The proposed consent decree would reimburse the agency for the work done so far and provide more money for the rest of the effort.

It also sets aside roughly $18 million to fund projects that will restore natural resources damaged by the original pollution.