Sites in Reuse in New Jersey
American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid produced pharmaceuticals and other chemicals on the site for over 75 years. Plant operators routinely dumped wastes into lagoons and pits on the property, resulting in extensive soil and ground water contamination. In 1983, EPA added the 575-acre site to the National Priorities List (NPL). EPA, the state and the community collaborated to design and implement a cleanup plan that allowed for the redevelopment of the property. The location of the site is ideal for commercial uses and attracted several private developers. The end result is the $80-million Bridgewater Promenade, a multi-use complex that includes retail, hotel and office space. In addition, a 6,300-seat minor league baseball stadium opened on the site in summer 1999. A pharmaceutical company bought a portion of the site in 2009 and plans to pay for the future cleanup of the property, including treating waste material, constructing low permeability covers to prevent future contact with materials, constructing protective barrier covers, preserving wetland ecological habitats and implementing long term monitoring. After cleanup, the pharmaceutical company plans to reuse the site for commercial development and a walking trail network or an ecological preserve.
Updated 3/2012
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Asbestos Dump
The Asbestos Dump site consists of an 11-acre property in Millington, New Jersey and three separate satellite sites: 1) the 7-acre Dietzman Tract site, 2) the 30-acre New Vernon Road site, and 3) the 12-acre White Bridge Road site. Beginning in 1927, a succession of owners operated an asbestos products manufacturing plant at the Millington site. Landfilling and disposal of asbestos waste materials, including broken asbestos tiles and fibers, was carried out at the Millington site, as well as the three satellite sites until 1975. The site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. Removal actions at the sites included erecting signs and fences, capping, installing a soil cover over areas of exposed asbestos, stabilizing slopes along asbestos mounds, removing asbestos containing materials on the ground surface, and in-situ solidification and stabilization of asbestos containing materials. Asbestos materials were excavated and removed from the Dietzman Tract site, which is located within the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, as well as from 25-acres of the New Vernon Road site, which were integrated into the Refuge after remediation. The remaining five acres of the New Vernon Road site and the entirety of the White Bridge Road site have been redeveloped into residential properties. The White Bridge Road site was deleted from the NPL in 2002, and the entire four-site complex is expected to be deleted by September 2009.
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Brick Township
The 42-acre Brick Township Landfill Superfund site in Brick Township, New Jersey, operated for more than 30 years, accepting sewage, septage, solids, bulk liquids and other wastes. A private owner operated the landfill until 1973, when Brick Township acquired the property and continued operation of the landfill until its closing in 1979. Years of dumping resulted in contaminated ground water, sediment and soil. Residential areas and new development surround the site; approximately 3,000 people live within a 1-mile radius and ground water is the source of public and private drinking supplies for the 58,000 people living within a 3-mile radius of the site. After multiple samplings and immediate removals, EPA selected a final remedy for the site in September 2008.Cleanup at the site is underway and the Township and independent companies are already considering reuse options for the site. The Township recently entered into an agreement with Standard Alternative, LLC, to allow the company to lease site property to build an alternative energy system. The Township anticipates saving more than $9 million over the next 15 years through their power purchase agreement with Standard Alternative, LLC. Construction on the $37 million solar panel project is expected to begin after the completion of the site’s cap, scheduled for late 2012. After the first 15 years of operation of the solar array, the Township will take over the solar system entirely and produce enough energy to cover both the Township’s and the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority’s electricity needs.
Updated 3/2012
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Cooper Road Dump
The Cooper Road Dump Superfund site in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, has been cleaned up and redeveloped into a residential community. In 1982, several dozen vials containing hazardous liquids were discovered at the property, posing a threat to the local community. Some of the vials were broken, and hazardous waste leaked into area soil. In 1984, EPA added the site to its list of hazardous waste sites needing cleanup, the National Priorities List. The State of New Jersey oversaw the single phase cleanup, including the removal of 200 cubic yards of contaminated soils and other materials to a federally approved facility. Following cleanup, EPA surveyed the site to ensure that no significant contamination remained and deleted the site from the NPL in 1989. The 100-acre site is now home to a ten-unit housing development.
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DeRewal Chemical Co.
De Rewal Chemical Company, in Kingwood Township, New Jersey, stored chemical wastes containing heavy metals, acid solutions and fertilizers from 1970 to 1973. Several chemical spills in 1973 led to soil contamination, and the company ceased operations. The site was added to the National Priorities List in 1984. Since initial cleanup activities began in 1990, 60,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed and a ground water treatment system that treats 50,000 gallons of water per month has been put in place. During the cleanup phase at the site, 3,000 American Indian artifacts were recovered. Today these artifacts can be viewed at the Kingwood Township Municipal Building. The site has been redeveloped into a nature refuge where migratory bird watching is just one of several popular recreational activities. Residents and visitors now enjoy nature walks, canoeing, bike rides, and bird watching on what used to be the site of a waste repository.
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Federal Creosote
The Federal Creosote site occupies approximately 50 acres of a highly developed residential/commercial area in the Borough of Manville, Somerset County, New Jersey. The site operated as a coal tar wood treatment facility from 1911 to 1956. After operations ceased and the wood treatment facility was dismantled, the property was purchased by a developer, who built the Claremont Development on the site in the 1960s. This residential development consisted of 137 single family homes built on 35 acres of the site. The remaining 15 acres of the site were developed into the Rustic Mall which consists of commercial and retail establishments. Investigations by EPA revealed that creosoting materials and contaminated soils associated with the wood treating facility were not removed prior to construction of the Claremont Development and Rustic Mall, and high levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found on portions of the site. The property was added to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1999. Site cleanup addresses areas of the residential development that contain source material in buried lagoons, residential soil contamination, soil contamination at the commercial mall, and site wide ground water. Remediation of 93 residential properties has been completed and 19 property owners had to be permanently relocated to allow for excavation of 275,000 tons of soil and materials for thermal treatment and disposal offsite. An additional 64,000 tons of contaminated soils at the commercial mall were also excavated and treated offsite. A long-term ground water monitoring program with institutional controls to restrict ground water use was also put in place. The site remedy was consistent with the future uses contemplated in Manville's Town Center redevelopment plans, and will include a mixture of green space, additional housing, and commercial space. The site has been vacant since the construction of the remedy was completed in 2008 but the Borough Council and the Zoning Board of Adjustment have approved Big Apple Circus' temporary use of the site. In late September 2010, the Big Apple Circus will use the property to begin their tour's 33rd season and will perform their show "Dance On."
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Krysowaty Farm
The 1-acre Krysowaty Farm site in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey operated as a waste disposal area from 1965 until 1970. Drums of paint and dye wastes were dumped, crushed and buried at the site along with demolition debris, tires, automobiles, bulk wastes, solvents, and waste sludge. Odors in well water spurred a site investigation in 1979 which found that ground water, soil, and debris on the site were contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, base and neutral compounds, and traces of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The site was added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. In 1984, 500 drums and 13,700 cubic yards of contaminated soil and wastes were excavated and properly disposed of off-site. The site was backfilled, covered with clean soil, and seeded. Additionally, the Hillsborough Township built a permanent alternate water supply to residents impacted by contaminated well water. The site was removed from the NPL in 1989, and Schaffernoth’s Nursery, a tree, shrub and garden center presently operates on the site.
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Lipari Landfill
An area that once tormented surrounding residents with strong chemical odors and toxic contaminants has become a recreational centerpiece enjoyed by the community of Pitman, New Jersey, approximately 20 miles south of Philadelphia. The source of the original problem was the long inactive Lipari Landfill, filled with more than a dozen years worth of chemical and industrial wastes containing volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. Though the landfill had closed in 1971, it emitted chemical odors and fumes powerful enough to cause respiratory problems for some nearby residents. In response, EPA installed a security fence around the landfill, placed the site on its National Priorities List, confined the landfill to prevent further contaminant migration, and initiated a large-scale cleanup effort. EPA worked with a potentially responsible party (PRP) to excavate and treat contaminated soils and sediments from affected wetland areas outside of the landfill. Additionally, EPA installed a pump system that has thus far extracted and treated more than 100 million gallons of leachate from the site's ground water. EPA facilitated partnerships among the Borough of Pitman, affected communities, the State of New Jersey, and the PRP, enabling cleanup to proceed without unnecessary complications and expediting a redevelopment plan. While remediation of the landfill continues, the once-toxic surrounding area is now home to six recreational sports fields, a nature trail, a paved and lighted parking lot, streams, and marshes. Alcyon Lake, which for years had been posted as hazardous to local residents, was returned to its former beauty and reopened to the public in 1995. Today, Alcyon Lake and Alcyon Park are both popular with local Pitman residents.
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Pepe Field
E.F. Drew Company used the 3-acre Pepe Field site in Boonton, New Jersey, as a landfill for almost 30 years. From the 1920s until 1950, the company disposed of unknown quantities of processing waste from the manufacture of edible oils and cleaning products for household and industrial use. The site remained vacant until the Town of Boonton purchased the property in the mid-1960s for recreational purposes. The Town covered the site with soil and built recreational amenities. However, because of the biological decay of waste material beneath the field, the area was subject to strong hydrogen sulfide odors. In 1969, the Town implemented an odor abatement plan for the site, and closed the recreational facility for many years. In 1983, EPA added the site to its list of priority hazardous waste sites, the National Priorities List (NPL). Remedies implemented at the site included leachate collection and treatment, stabilization and excavation of wastes, installation of a cover, installation of a landfill gas collection and treatment system, and monitoring of the ground water. The cleanup also included restoration of the park. The on-site recreational facilities now include a regulation little league field, walking paths, a playground, a basketball court, gazebo, and concession stand. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen and then EPA Administrator Carol Browner announced the re-opening of the park in November 2000. EPA also transferred ownership of an adjacent residential property from the federal government to the Town of Boonton for use in conjunction with the park. Residents of Boonton now enjoy baseball and hotdogs on fields that were once a city eyesore. In July 2003, EPA deleted the site from the NPL.
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Pijak Farm
The Pijak Farm site occupies approximately 87 acres in Plumstead Township, New Jersey. From 1963 to 1970, drums and free-flowing liquids from a facility disposing of specialty and research chemicals were dumped into a natural ditch that ran through the site, and later, they were covered with soil. Ground water is the only source of drinking water in the vicinity of the site, and is also used for crop irrigation and stock watering in surrounding agricultural areas. Ground water contamination by organic chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, and pthalates, resulted in the site being added to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. A removal action provided for off-site disposal of approximately 4,000 cubic yards of waste material and contaminated soil. Ground water monitoring conducted over a five-year period concluded that the remedy was effective and the site was deleted from the NPL in 1997. The site remains an active farm facility.
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Ringwood Mines/Landfill
Magnetite mines were operated on the 500-acre Ringwood Mines/Landfill site in Ringwood Borough, New Jersey, as early as the 1700s, ending in the early 1900s, and wastes were landfilled at the site from the 1960s until 1976. Paint sludge at the site was a primary concern because it contained several contaminants, such as lead and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Metals and VOCs found in drinking water and soils at the site led to its placement on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. After removal actions and restricting access, the site was deleted from the NPL in 1994. Further development on the site discovered additional caches of landfilled paint sludge, resulting in the site being restored to the NPL in 2006 for further removal actions and monitoring. An industrial refuse disposal area, a municipal recycling center, the Ringwood Borough garage, a park with rugged forest and open vegetated areas, and 50 private homes are located on the site.
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Roebling Steel
The Roebling Steel Company Superfund site, a 200-acre site located next to the Delaware River in Florence Township, New Jersey, was the location of steel wire and cable manufacturing facilities until the 1980s. In later years, portions of the site were used for various industrial operations; raw materials and waste products from these operations were stored or buried on site, contaminating sediments, ground water, and soil with heavy metals. Cleanup activities to date have included a series of major removal actions, building demolition and shoreline restoration. Funded by a Superfund Redevelopment pilot grant, Burlington County developed a reuse plan for the site that identified several community priorities, including new commercial and industrial development as well as historic preservation. EPA is currently considering prospective purchaser agreements (PPAs) with potential investors or developers interested in economic redevelopment opportunities at the site without assuming potential liability for site cleanup costs. A PPA with New Jersey Transit enabled the construction of a parking lot for a light rail commuter station stop on site in 2005. Rehabilitation of the historic Main Gate House, a former gateway to the Roebling Mill, began in 2004 and was completed in 2009. Today, the structure is part of the Roebling Museum, providing 7,000 square feet of exhibit space documenting the community’s rich social and industrial history.
Updated 5/2011
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Welsbach & General Gas Mantle (Camden Radiation)
The Welsbach Company and the General Gas Mantle Company were involved in the production of gas mantles from the late 1890s to 1941. The companies used thorium, a radionuclide that emits gamma radiation during radioactive decay, as a constituent in their manufacturing process. In the early 1990s, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) investigated over 1,100 properties in Camden and Gloucester City, New Jersey, for radiological contamination. In addition to the property housing the production facilities, many nearby residential areas also exhibited elevated levels of gamma radiation. After a remedy was selected in July 1999, cleanup efforts began. These efforts included massive excavations and off-site disposals of radiologically contaminated soil and waste materials from both residential and industrial properties in Camden and Gloucester City, as well as demolition and off-site disposal of the General Gas Mantle Building (GGM) in Camden. In June 2009, EPA started cleanup of the radiologically contaminated soils around the former General Gas Mantle facility in Camden, a designated Brownfields Showcase Community, with more than $25 million in Recovery Act funds. EPA believes the cleanup of the General Gas Mantle property will serve as a catalyst for redevelopment of the area.
The South Camden Theatre Company, a not-for-profit theatre located in Camden, New Jersey, in association with Heart of Camden, a not-for-profit redevelopment organization, broke ground in 2008 on a new 4,000 square foot, 99-seat theatre on a remediated portion of the Welsbach site. The Waterfront South Theatre, which opened its doors in September 2010, creates a space for theatre, music and art in downtown Camden and is used by the South Camden Theatre Company as well as local high school and elementary school programs. The Waterfront South Theatre was built thanks to financial support from local groups and coordination with EPA, whose support was instrumental in bringing the project to fruition and making the start of construction possible. As cleanup remains ongoing, redevelopment efforts on remediated portions of the site have helped restore neighborhoods and other community assets. These efforts have recently included the successful restoration of the William Flynn Veterans Sports Complex, which includes three baseball fields, a football practice field and parking area. The community celebrated the return of this recreational resource in a grand reopening of the Complex in November, 2011.
Updated 11/2011
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