PJP Landfill

Last updated

The United States Environmental Protection Agency added the PJP Landfill site in Marion Section of Jersey City, New Jersey [1] to the Superfund National Priorities List on September 1, 1983, because hazardous chemicals were found in the soil and groundwater. The 87-acre site located in Hudson County contained a landfill that may have been used as early as 1968 to dispose of chemical and industrial wastes. In 1971 the State certified the landfill to receive solid wastes. Approximately 11,900 people currently reside within a one-mile radius of the site. The west side of the site is bordered by the Hackensack River which is used for boating and commercial shipping. Recently, AMB Corporation purchased a portion of the site. [2]

The initial response action began in 1985 when the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection extinguished the landfill fires, capped the landfill, and installed a gas venting system to prevent the buildup of gas within the landfill. The Remedial Action Construction began when the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA approved the Final Design Report. The report was developed to provide the proposed design for a cap cover system. It has four main objectives: to eliminate exposure to contaminated sediments in the Sip Avenue Ditch, prevent additional contaminant influx into the ground water via rainwater, remove contaminant sources that may impact ground water, and the implementation of models to evaluate if future actions are necessary to limit the leaching of contaminants into the Hackensack River.

In 2008, AMB Corporation bought approximately 51.76 acres of the site. This property will be capped and a warehouse will be constructed, while the rest of the property AMB owns will be turned into greenspace. [3] The remaining portion of the site is under the responsibility of Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. and CWM Chemical Services, LLC (collectively “CCS”). The work they are responsible for includes: a multi-layer, modified solid waste cap, wetlands reconstruction and enhancement efforts, and environmental monitoring.

The Remedial Action Construction began in 2008. It has been redeveloped, and is home to a warehouse and a walkway. [4] Some theorize that Jimmy Hoffa is buried there. [5]

The site was designated as the space for the first North American memorial for victims of the coronavirus pandemic. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey Meadowlands</span> Region of New Jersey, United States

New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for a large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of New York City. During the 20th century, much of the Meadowlands area was urbanized, and it became known for being the site of large landfills and decades of environmental abuse. A variety of projects are underway to restore and conserve the remaining ecological resources in the Meadowlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry's Creek</span> River known for its pollution in northeastern New Jersey, United States

Berry's Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Bergen County, New Jersey. The creek watershed contains a diverse array of wetlands, marshes, and wildlife. The creek runs through a densely populated region and has been subject to extensive industrial pollution during the 19th and 20th centuries. Several companies discharged toxic chemicals into the creek in the 20th century, and these chemicals have remained in the sediment. The creek has the highest concentrations of methyl mercury of any fresh-water sediment in the world. Portions of the creek watershed are Superfund sites and cleanup projects began in the late 20th century.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kin-Buc Landfill</span>

The Kin-Buc Landfill is a 220-acre (0.89 km2) Superfund site located in Edison, New Jersey where 70 million US gallons (260,000 m3) of liquid toxic waste and 1 million tons of solid waste were dumped. It was active from the late 1940s to 1976. It was ordered closed in 1977. Cleanup operations have been underway to address environmental issues with contamination from 1980s through to 2000s. This site was one of the largest superfund sites in New Jersey having taken in around 90 million US gallons (340,000 m3). The site is heavily contaminated with PCBs, which leaked into Edmonds Creek, a tributary of the Raritan River.

The Laurel Park, Inc. site, also known as Hunters Mountain Dump, or Murtha's Dump to locals, is a capped landfill that occupies approximately 20 acres (81,000 m2) of a 35-acre (140,000 m2) parcel of land in Naugatuck, Connecticut. The landfill has been in existence since the late 1940s, and several industries disposed of solvents, oils, hydrocarbons, chemical and liquid sludge, chemical solids, tires, and rubber products there. The facility continued to operate as a municipal landfill until 1987. It was owned and operated by Terrence and Howard Murtha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorney Road Landfill</span> Superfund site in Pennsylvania

Dorney Road Landfill is a 27-acre (11 ha) municipal and industrial landfill in Upper Macungie Township and Longswamp Township, Pennsylvania that was polluted with toxic waste from 1952 to 1978. The site is surrounded by rural residences and farmland. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1984. The site was remediated and removed from the National Priorities List in 2018.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landfills in the United States</span> American landfills

Municipal solid waste (MSW) – more commonly known as trash or garbage – consists of everyday items people use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps and papers. In 2018, Americans generated about 265.3 million tonnes of waste. In the United States, landfills are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states' environmental agencies. Municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLF) are required to be designed to protect the environment from contaminants that may be present in the solid waste stream.

The former Operating Industries Inc. Landfill is a Superfund site located in Monterey Park, California at 900 N Potrero Grande Drive. From 1948 to 1984, the landfill accepted 30 million tons of solid municipal waste and 300 million US gallons (1,100,000 m3) of liquid chemicals. Accumulating over time, the chemical waste polluted the air, leached into groundwater, and posed a fire hazard, spurring severely critical public health complaints. Recognizing OII Landfill's heavy pollution, EPA placed the financial responsibility of the dump's clean-up on the main waste-contributing companies, winning hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for the protection of human health and the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shpack Landfill</span> Hazardous waste site in Massachusetts

Shpack Landfill is a hazardous waste site in Norton, Massachusetts. After assessment by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it was added to the National Priorities List in October 1986 for long-term remedial action. The site cleanup is directed by the federal Superfund program. The Superfund site covers 9.4 acres, mostly within Norton, with 3.4 acres in the adjoining city of Attleboro. The Norton site was operated as a landfill dump accepting domestic and industrial wastes, including low-level radioactive waste, between 1946 and 1965. The source of most of the radioactive waste, consisting of uranium and radium, was Metals and Controls Inc. which made enriched uranium fuel elements for the U.S. Navy under contract with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Metals and Controls merged with Texas Instruments in 1959. The Shpack landfill operation was shut down by a court order in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Waste Disposal Inc. Superfund site</span> Waste disposal

The Waste Disposal Inc. Superfund site is an oil-related contaminated site in the highly industrialized city of Santa Fe Springs in Los Angeles County, California. It is approximately 38 acres (15 ha), with St Paul's high school immediately adjacent to the northeast corner of the site. Approximately 15,000 residents of Santa Fe Springs obtain drinking water from wells within three miles (4.8 km) of the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Lake Landfill</span> EPA superfund site in Missouri, US

West Lake Landfill is a closed, unlined mixed-waste landfill located in Bridgeton, Missouri. It was featured in the 2015 documentaries The First Secret City, The Safe Side of the Fence and the 2017 HBO documentary Atomic Homefront. Its contents have been shown to include radioactive waste; it is thus also an EPA Superfund cleanup site.

Water in Arkansas is an important issue encompassing the conservation, protection, management, distribution and use of the water resource in the state. Arkansas contains a mixture of groundwater and surface water, with a variety of state and federal agencies responsible for the regulation of the water resource. In accordance with agency rules, state, and federal law, the state's water treatment facilities utilize engineering, chemistry, science and technology to treat raw water from the environment to potable water standards and distribute it through water mains to homes, farms, business and industrial customers. Following use, wastewater is collected in collection and conveyance systems, decentralized sewer systems or septic tanks and treated in accordance with regulations at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) before being discharged to the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combe Fill South Superfund Site</span> Superfund site on the border of Chester Township and Washington Township, New Jersey

The Combe Fill South Landfill is located on the border of Chester and Washington townships, both of which are in Morris County, in the state of New Jersey. The Landfill was put on the National Priority List by the EPA in September 1983 due to the site being tested for potentially dangerous chemicals, such as benzene, methylene chloride, and chloroform. Despite attempts to clean up, the site has remained an active Superfund as of September 25, 2017.

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.

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.

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.

The Maywood Chemical Company processed radioactive thorium waste from 1916 through 1955 in Maywood / Rochelle Park, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deemed Maywood Chemical a Superfund site in 1983 and has since been in the clean process.

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

Skyway Park is a 32-acre (13 ha) park being developed in Jersey City, New Jersey on the Hackensack River, partly under the Pulaski Skyway, from which it takes its name. The brownfield land was the site of the PJP Landfill. It is a component of the Hackensack River Greenway, a linear park along the banks of the river and Newark Bay.

References

  1. Site Review and Update: PJP Landfill (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 19 Sep 2015
  2. US Environmental Protection Agency, page last updated 14 April 2011. Accessed on 24 January 2012.
  3. "Jersey City park to be built on former PJP landfill site". 29 May 2012.
  4. "Cleanup of formerly smoldering PJP Landfill wins EPA award". 4 July 2018.
  5. "Could Hoffa be buried in the former PJP Landfill in Jersey City?". 24 November 2019.
  6. "Former toxic landfill in Jersey City to become public park with COVID-19 memorial". 6sqft. Retrieved 2020-12-15.

40°43′53″N74°05′15″W / 40.7313°N 74.0876°W / 40.7313; -74.0876