Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is toxic, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is corrosive, among other traits. As of 2022, humanity produces 300-500 million metric tons of hazardous waste annually. Some common examples are electronics, batteries, and paints. An important aspect of managing hazardous waste is safe disposal. Hazardous waste can be stored in hazardous waste landfills, burned, or recycled into something new. Managing hazardous waste is important to achieve worldwide sustainability. Hazardous waste is regulated on national scale by national governments as well as on an international scale by the United Nations (UN) and international treaties.
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program is designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as Superfund sites. Of all the sites selected for possible action under this program, 1178 remain on the National Priorities List (NPL) that makes them eligible for cleanup under the Superfund program. Sites on the NPL are considered the most highly contaminated and undergo longer-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanups). The state of New Jersey, the fifth smallest state in the U.S., is the location of about ten percent of the priority Superfund sites, a disproportionate amount.
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.
The Hercules 009 Landfill Superfund site is a 16.5-acre (67,000 m2) property that is bordered by Georgia State Route 25 on the west; an automobile dealership on the north; a juvenile slash pine forest on the east; and several homes, a church, a school, and a strip shopping center to the south/southeast of the property. Hercules Inc. was issued a permit in 1975 by the GaEPD to use 7 acres (28,000 m2) at the northern end of the property as a landfill to dispose of toxaphene-contaminated wastewater sludge generated during the manufacturing processes. The 009 Landfill was constructed at the northern end of the property as six cells, each approximately 100 to 200 feet (61 m) wide and 400 feet (120 m) long. Toxaphene has been detected at levels exceeding 15,000 parts per million at the Hercules 009 Landfill Site.
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 Brio Superfund site is a former industrial location in Harris County, Texas, at the intersection of Beamer Road and Dixie Farm Road, about 16 miles southeast of downtown Houston and adjacent to the Dixie Oil Processors Superfund site. It is a federal Superfund site, although it was deleted from the National Priorities List in December 2006. A neighboring residential subdivision called South Bend, now abandoned was located along and north of the northern boundary of Brio North. The former South Bend neighborhood had about 670 homes, an elementary school, and a Little League baseball field. The Brio Superfund site documents are located at the San Jacinto College South Campus Library, which houses Brio Site Repository Documents, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrative Records, and documents concerning the adjoining Dixie Oil Processors site.
Wade Dump was a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial waste storage and disposal facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was located at 1 Flower Street on the western bank of the Delaware River just north of the Commodore Barry Bridge.
Pemaco is a former chemical mixing company and facility located on the Los Angeles River in Maywood, a small city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California.
The Omega Chemical Corporation was a refrigerant and solvent recycling company that operated from 1976 to 1991 in Whittier, California. Due to improper waste handling and removal, the soil and groundwater beneath the property became contaminated and the area is now referred to as the Omega Chemical Superfund Site. Cleanup of the site began in 1995 with the removal of hazardous waste receptacles and a multimillion-dollar soil vaporization detoxifying system.
The Oakdale Dump is an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site located in Oakdale, Minnesota, and comprises three non-contiguous properties that were used for dumping from the late 1940s until the 1950s by the 3M corporation. The properties are named the Abresch, Brockman, and Eberle sites for their respective property owners at the time of disposal activities. The Abresch site is the largest of the three properties at about 55 acres. The Brockman site is located immediately southwest of the Abresch site and encompasses 5 acres. The Eberle site is located roughly 2,500 feet north of the Abresch site and encompasses 2 acres.
The Nebraska Ordnance Plant is a former United States Army ammunition plant located approximately ½ mile south of Mead, Nebraska and 30 miles west of Omaha, Nebraska in Saunders County. It originally extended across 17,250 acres (69.8 km2) producing weapons from 1942-45 after which the Army used it as a bomb factory during the Vietnam War. Environmental investigations in the 1980's found the soil and groundwater contaminated with the explosive RDX and the degreaser trichloroethylene. In 1990, federal agencies added the site to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site. Remediation included soil excavation and water treatment, the latter of which has been ongoing since 1997. Water is contained and treated at 4 treatment plants and the known plumes are monitored at hundreds of wells. The latest wells, dug deeper into the bedrock than previously, showed RDX and TCE above desired action levels in April 2016.
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.
The CPS Madison Industries Superfund Site is located in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Since 1967, site operators had improperly handed high-risk substances by expelling them into public sewer systems throughout the township. Established in 1962, CPS Madison Industries, located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, has remained a large competitor in the copper and zinc industry producing compounds primarily for food additives, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals. CPS Madison Industries was declared to be a superfund site as of September 8, 1983, due to its improper handlings of Volatile Organic Compounds, and has since been undergoing groundwater pump and treatment systems since 1991.
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.
Price Landfill is a 26-acre site located in Pleasantville, Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Price Landfill is also known as Price Sanitary Landfill, Prices Pit, Price Landfill No.1 and Price Chemical Dump. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) added Price Landfill to the Superfund National Priorities List on September 20, 1983, because of the hazardous chemicals found on the site and in the groundwater. The site was originally owned by Mr. Charles Price and was used to mine sand and gravel, which was shut down in 1968. The site was then turned into a private landfill in 1969 and then a commercial solid waste landfill in 1971. At this point the landfill was used to dispose of liquid waste by companies, specifically Atlantic City Electric Company. The liquid waste consisted of industrial chemicals, oils and greases/sludges, septic tank and sewer wastes, which were disposed on the site for 8 years, ending altogether in 1976, but in the meantime, having contaminated the groundwater, soil, air, and nearby creeks, specifically Absecon Creek. Chemicals dumped on the site are believed to be 1,2-Dichloroethane, arsenic, benzene, chloroform, lead, and vinyl chloride, all of which contaminated the groundwater, soil, air, and nearby creeks. The USEPA originally got involved in 1982 by beginning to correct the damage. Currently the USEPA states that they are continuing to monitor and treat the groundwater and land, and that hazards to humans are controlled.
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.
