Edison Wetlands Association

Last updated November 21, 2023

The Edison Wetlands Association was founded by noted activist Robert Spiegel in 1989 as a nonprofit environmental organization devoted to the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and the preservation of open space in densely populated central New Jersey.

EWA advocates for the cleanup of over 60 toxic waste sites, working to protect public health and the environment. EWA founded its Community Assistance Remediation Program in 2002 to empower disadvantaged grassroots citizens groups in the remediations and balanced redevelopments of local contaminated sites in their communities. Spiegel has testified three times on the Superfund before the U.S. Senate, as well as the United States National Academy of Sciences.

EWA's Conservation Program pursues the preservation of the little remaining open space in densely populated Middlesex County, as well as conservation measures. EWA developed the first-ever Middlesex County Birds report and checklist, as well as the Bald Eagle Sightings report, documenting the comeback of an endangered American icon in an urban and suburban crossroads.

EWA's leadership has been profiled in publications as diverse as the late Molly Ivins' bestselling 2003 book, Bushwhacked , and Tony Hiss's Geraldine R. Dodge publication, H2O: Highlands To Ocean . The organization is also regularly featured in United States national and regional media coverage.

Current Campaigns

American Cyanamid

History- The American Cyanamid site is approximately 575 acres in size, located adjacent to the Raritan River and lies above the Brunswick Aquifer, New Jersey's second largest source for drinking water. Located in Bound Brook, NJ approximately 14,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the site. During approximately 64 years of operation, the company American Cyanamid has produced over 800 chemicals including pharmaceutical, dyes and textile chemicals, organic pigments rubber compounds, and various intermediate chemicals. During this time plant operators routinely dumped hazardous wastes, sludge, and other by-products into lagoons and pits located on the property. The lagoons and pits contained approximately 877,000 tons of waste material, causing extensive soil and groundwater contamination. Plant operators routinely dumped hazardous wastes, sludge, and other by-products into lagoons and pits located on the property. These lagoons and pits contained approximately 877,000 tons of waste material, causing extensive soil and groundwater contamination. The ATSDR Health Assessment stated contaminated groundwater, soil, and surface water were the identifiable human exposure pathways associated with the site, and potential human exposure to contaminated well water may have occurred for approximately 45 years before a groundwater control program was initiated in 1982. The ATSDR Site Review and Update Report claimed that site data reviewed indicated that any on-site groundwater contaminants that were not captured by the production wells were ultimately discharged into the Raritan River. In 1983 the site was placed on the National Priorities list, and eventually listed as a Superfund Site. Two Administrative Consent Orders were signed, one requiring to pump and treat groundwater at the rate of 650,000 gallons per day. American Home Products Corporation, now known as Wyeth, purchased American Cyanamid Company in 1994 and assumed full responsibility for environmental remediation at the site. NJDEP is the lead agency for the site.

Current Battles- The EWA is currently pushing Pfizer to fully remediate the site, arguing that the site is highly toxic and places a significant risk not only to the residents of the town, but to the residents of nearby communities due to the sites close proximity to the Raritan River. Furthermore, they have expressed the concerns of members of the surrounding communities who believe that the EPA has been coerced into an incomplete cleanup plan that has Pfizers interests at heart over the publics. The EPA has suggested a remediation plan that includes environmental caps and redeveloping a portion of it in the future. This redevelopment will occur on the site which is located within a flood plain, something the EPA failed to address in their feasibility study released in early 2012. The mayor of Bridgewater, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and other key community leaders also came out to endorse the plan without considering the amount of increased flooding that is going to take place if such a plan is implemented. The EWA is pushing a different plan that encompasses a complete remediation of the soil that will not leave the community at further risk.

Pompton Lakes

History- The EWA is currently pushing for a Superfund status for Pompton Lakes, a community located in northern New Jersey. DuPont began manufacturing explosives in the town when it acquired Laflin & Rand Powder Company in 1902. During World War 1, employment and production at the factories surged, where the company size increased from 300 to a high of 7,500. Production mainly focused on munitions, including rifle and hand grenades, blasting caps, detonating fuses, boosters, and primer. During World War II production and employment once again increased, and employees were bussed in from surrounding cities to meet this demand. Once again production centered around munitions.

The end of the War brought in additional demands for manufacturing and explosives that lasted for roughly three decades. It was during this time where the contamination of the town became most prevalent. For decades the Acid Brook which ran through the munition factory carried contaminants such as mercury through the town into the Lake.^[1] Due to these issues, the company has been ordered by the New Jersey State, and Federal Government to remediate the site, however residents have complained that the company has dragged its feet. In 2008 it had been discovered that toxic vapors were seeping from the soil into around 430 homes that were located near the toxic groundwater. A 2009 study also had shown elevated cancer rates in the area ^[2]

DuPont has claimed that it had does all it can, and Bonnie Bellow a spokeswomen for the EPA stated that the reason why the site has not received a Superfund designation was because the plant was still in operation when cleanup efforts began in the 1980s. The EWA and the Citizens for a Clean Pompton Lakes have disagreed, believing that the government has taken much too long of a time in the cleanup, and that a Superfund designation would force DuPont to spend the more money and clean up the site faster. New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez also agreed, and sent a letter to federal EPA commissioner Lisa Jackson, asking why a Superfund designation has not even been considered for the site, even though it clearly meets all of the specifications.^[3]

New Green Media

Also run by the EWA is NewGreenMedia.tv ^{[ permanent dead link ]}, a website which presents a single clearinghouse for green, sustainable, and environmental news across New Jersey. The site is designed the population of New Jersey informed on the various issues that affect them. Examples of this include posting Administration warnings to the public to take precautions against mosquitos, information about the findings of algae located off of New Jersey Beaches, and reporting on calls from environmentalists to prevent further development from going into Barnegat Bay.

In addition to original stories and videos, NewGreenMedia provides daily breaking news from mainstream media, such as posting an NBC News report on dozens of dead birds falling from the sky onto New Jersey beaches.

Wild New Jersey

As the only daily nature blog in the Garden State, WildNewJersey.tv ^{[ permanent dead link ]} reaches over 140,000 readers as a one-stop source for everything need on wildlife and conservation in the Northeast. Founded by the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association, WildNewJersey.tv offers daily breaking news, features, photo investigations, and videos about New Jersey's wildlife, conservation, and nature events.

The blog is updated four times daily to cover everything from the bears and bobcats of the rugged northwest N.J., to birds of Cape May, to the skyscraper-dwelling peregrine falcons of Jersey City, to the dolphins, seals, and sharks of our coastline.

WildNewJersey.tv also depends on readers to contribute their own sightings and stories, press releases, eye-catching photos, colorful anecdotes, links to interesting articles and sites, and event announcements.

Triple C Ranch

In addition to its environmental justice, conservation, and sustainability efforts, EWA also runs the Triple C Ranch, which is also the last farms in Middlesex County New Jersey.

The 40-acre ranch is located in the center of the Dismal Swamp Conservation area, which consists of approximately 1,2000 acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands, upland forest, and meadows.

EWA had become involved with the farm after it had fallen into considerable disrepair, finally purchasing the property from the estate of Christopher C Christensen in April 2001. Since then EWA has rehabilitated the barn, chicken coop, and other structures located on the site. Furthermore, EWA created a network of trails in the area that provide a variation of recreational opportunity, ranging from fishing, wildlife photography and bird watching.

The farm is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday, 11-4 from May to Mid-November. Other activities the Triple C Ranch provides is the opportunity to interact with a host of animals, which include a pot bellied pig (Edison), 5 goats (Cowie, Peanut, Savannah, Creampuff and Peppy), a pony (Shorty), ram (Jack), chickens (Tofu and Sucky), roosters (Blackjack and Rusty), and ducks (Lucy and Patrick). The farm itself also lays host to many animals native to the area, including hawks, herons, turtles, and deer.

The EWA also provides an Environmental Education program designed to foster a love for the outdoors as well as environmental awareness. Some activities include environmental scavenger hunts, and wildlife analysis .

Related Research Articles

Environmental remediation is the cleanup of hazardous substances dealing with the removal, treatment and containment of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment. Remediation may be required by regulations before development of land revitalization projects. Developers who agree to voluntary cleanup may be offered incentives under state or municipal programs like New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Program. If remediation is done by removal the waste materials are simply transported off-site for disposal at another location. The waste material can also be contained by physical barriers like slurry walls. The use of slurry walls is well-established in the construction industry. The application of (low) pressure grouting, used to mitigate soil liquefaction risks in San Francisco and other earthquake zones, has achieved mixed results in field tests to create barriers, and site-specific results depend upon many variable conditions that can greatly impact outcomes.

The National Priorities List (NPL) is the priority list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanup) financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations outline a formal process for assessing hazardous waste sites and placing them on the NPL. The NPL is intended primarily to guide EPA in determining which sites are so contaminated as to warrant further investigation and significant cleanup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munisport</span>

Munisport Landfill is a closed landfill located in North Miami, Florida adjacent to a low-income community, a regional campus of Florida International University, Oleta River State Park, and estuarine Biscayne Bay.

AMCO Chemical was a chemical distribution company located in Oakland, California. The land the company operated on is designated as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund cleanup site.

Havertown Superfund is a 13-acre polluted groundwater site in Havertown, Pennsylvania contaminated by the dumping of industrial waste by National Wood Preservers from 1947 to 1991. The state first became aware of the pollution in 1962 and initiated legal action against the owners in 1973 to force them to cleanup the site. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranked the site the eighth worst cleanup project in the United States. The site was added to the National Priorities List in 1983 and designated as a Superfund cleanup site in the early 1990s. Remediation and monitoring efforts are ongoing and the EPA transferred control of the site to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in 2013.

The Lipari Landill is an inactive landfill on a 6-acre (2.4 ha) former gravel pit in Mantua Township, New Jersey. It was used from 1958 to 1971 as a dump site for household and industrial wastes. Toxic organic compounds and heavy metals dumped at the site have percolated into the ground water and leached into lakes and streams in the surrounding area. The site has been identified as the worst toxic dump in the United States and was ranked at the top of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund eligibility list.

The Del Amo Superfund Site is located in southern Los Angeles County between the cities of Torrance and Carson. It is a U.S. EPA Region 9 Superfund Site. The waste-disposal site of a rubber manufacturer is one of 94 Superfund Sites in California as of November 29, 2010.

The Ringwood Mines landfill site is a 500-acre former iron mining site located in the borough of Ringwood, New Jersey. From 1967 to 1980, the Ford Motor Company dumped hazardous waste on this land, which negatively affected the health and properties of Ramapough Mountain Indians. This led to Mann V. Ford, a 1997 lawsuit between Ramapough Lenape Tribe's lawsuit of the Ford Motor Company.

The Koppers Co., Inc. (KCI) Superfund Site is one of three Superfund sites in Oroville, California, along with Louisiana Pacific Sawmill and Western Pacific Railyard. The KCI Superfund Site is a 200-acre site which served as a wood treatment plant for 50 years. Wood was treated with many chemicals to prevent wood deterioration. The accumulation of these chemicals from spills, fires, and uses has caused this site to be contaminated with the hazardous waste material. Due to soil and groundwater contamination, the site was placed on the National Priorities List in 1984 for remedial action plans to clean up the site to protect surrounding residential areas concerning environmental and human health risks.

Hocomonco Pond is a recreational pond located in Westborough, Massachusetts near Route 9. Also called Hobomoc Pond, it was named for Hobomok, a Wamesit Indian evil spirit. The pond and adjacent land are a Superfund site.

The California Gulch site consists of approximately 18 square miles in Lake County, Colorado. The area includes the city of Leadville, parts of the Leadville Historic Mining District and a section of the Arkansas River from the confluence of California Gulch downstream to the confluence of Two-Bit Gulch. The site was listed as a Superfund site in 1983.

Kauffman & Minteer Inc. (K&M) was an industrial transportation company that operated from 1960 to 1981 in Burlington County, New Jersey. After cleaning their trucks, they dumped the waste water into a nearby lagoon that was not properly lined. The lagoon flooded and the waste water containing chemicals, migrated over to wetlands, causing damage to vegetation and seeping into underground drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got involved in 1989 and conducted a few remediation attempts but the extent of the damage is hard to determine as the different underground pathways of water are unpredictable. The site is currently an active superfund site that is closely monitored by the EPA.

Emmell's Septic Landfill (ESL) is located at 128 Zurich Ave, Galloway Township, New Jersey and takes up about 38 acres of space. The landfill was in operation from 1967 until 1979. ESL disposed of liquid and solid waste including many chemicals such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Trichloroethene and Vinyl chloride which all had their own effect on the environment and community. These chemicals affected the groundwater required millions of dollars to reconstruct the groundwater pathways and provide clean water to residents. The landfill holds a Hazardous Ranking Score of a 50/100, qualifying for the Superfund National Priority List. In August 1999, the state acknowledged the site's contamination and held town meetings and provided research upon the site such as groundwater samples. In July 1997, a sitewide investigation was called upon by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In total the clean up was estimated to cost $5 million to fund this superfund site, and a grant of $3.9 million was given by the Federal Government under the Recovery Act Funding (Previti). Today, the project is still ongoing however, greatly improved since the landfill was discovered.

Bog Creek Farm, located in Howell Township, New Jersey, is a designated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site. Lying on 12 acres of land, Bog Creek Farm is home to several hazardous and life-threatening contamination beginning in 1973 and continuing for a year. Over a decade later, actions began to take place to clean and restore the contaminated soil and water. Bog Creek Farm is situated near several other farms that house horses, growing crops and flowers, and livestock. Less than a mile down the road lies Allaire State Park, a park used by golfers, hunters, and fisherman.

The Horseshoe Road Complex Superfund Site in Sayreville, New Jersey is a 12-acre property located near the Raritan River. The industrial site has been out of operation since the early 1980s after a fire revealed 70 drums containing silver cyanide, ethyl acetate, and acetonitrile. The drums caught the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by 1995 the Horseshoe Road Complex was on the National Priorities List. The site had three areas consisting of the Atlantic Development Corporation (ADC), Horseshoe Road Drum Dump, and Sayreville Pesticide Dump. The neighboring Atlantic Resources Corporation, the location for precious metal recovery, is addressed with the Horseshoe Road Complex (HRC) site due to the intermixing of chemical contamination. The on-site contamination is not an immediate threat to the surrounding community, although prolonged or repeated exposure to the site itself, will result in health effects. The HRC Superfund site is now in its final steps of cleanup in accordance to the EPA's plan.

Brook Industrial Park (BIP) is an industrial area occupying 4.5 acres of the Borough of Bound Brook, New Jersey, in the United States of America. It is located on the northern bank of the Raritan River. Industrial, chemical and pesticide operations began in 1971 and eventually lead to the contamination of groundwater and exposure of workers to harmful dioxins. Throughout 1980 to 1988 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) conducted studies to determine if there were any threats being posed on the workers, community or environment by the BIP companies in their disposal of processed and stored chemicals.

The Orange Valley Regional Groundwater Superfund site is a group of wells in Orange and West Orange, two municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The groundwater in the public wells are contaminated with the hazardous chemicals of Trichloroethylene (TCE), Dichloroethene (DCE), Tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethene), 1,1-Dichloroethene (1,1-DCE), and 1,2-Dichloroethene (1,2-DCE). These chemicals pose a huge risk to the towns nearby population, as the wells are a source of public drinking water. In March 2012, the site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site</span>

The Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site consists of a seawall along the coast of the Raritan Bay in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, United States. The seawall itself is made of slag. In this seawall, are large concentrations of lead, antimony, arsenic, and copper. The lead in particular has contaminated the nearby soil and surface water. The slag deposits are a by-product from NL Industries, a lead smelting company, dumping its wastes in the Raritan River. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) investigated the area and found large concentrations of metals to be dangerous to human health. The NJDEP called the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate the area further, which resulted in some of the slag being physically removed and the toxic areas being fenced off.

Forest Waste Products is a 120-acre (49-hectare) Superfund site in Forest Township northwest of Otisville, Michigan.

The Garfield Groundwater Contamination site is a Superfund site located in Garfield, New Jersey. The site was formally occupied by E.C Electroplating, an electroplating company that used chromic acid solution in their products. In 1983, a tank at the E.C Electroplating property malfunctioned and spilled chromic acid into the groundwater underneath the property that subsequently spread to the surrounding area. The contamination presented a health risk to Garfield residents in the area due to exposure to hexavalent chromium, a toxic form of chromium. The site was designated a Superfund site in 2011. Cleanup of the site is ongoing as of 2022.

References

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[1] ttp://www.northjersey.com/news/139143759_Planners_to_quiz_DuPont_on_delta_cleanup.html ^{[ bare URL ]}

[2] ttp://www.northjersey.com/news/Citizens_rally_in_Pompton_Lakes_set_before_EPA_hearing_on_DuPont_cleanup.html ^{[ bare URL ]}

[3] ttp://www.northjersey.com/news/137548268_Superfund_designation_sought_for_DuPont_site.html?c=y&page=1 ^{[ bare URL ]}

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