Hazard Podcast - Toxic Sites in a Tinderbox

The Pinelands, a million-acre swath of pine forest dominating South Jersey, is one of America’s most unique environments. The Pinelands have always been a place prone to catch fire. Today, climate change is making the area’s wildfire season more unpredictable. The fear is not only fire, but its impact on the area’s legacy of illegal toxic dumping.

Support for Hazard NJ is provided by Peril and Promise, a public media reporting initiative covering the human stories of climate change and its solutions, with major funding provided by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos and Diana T. Vagelos. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise

Read the episode transcript below:

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

IT FORMED AT NIGHT... WHEN THEY WERE ASLEEP. CREEPING INTO THEIR HOMES... UNSEEN.

FOR THOSE WHO WERE STILL AWAKE... THE VIEW OUTSIDE THEIR WINDOWS WAS ALMOST ETHEREAL... A SOFT GLOW LIKE A FLAME FROM A CANDLE.

THIS HAPPENED FOR ABOUT AN HOUR-AND-A-HALF A FEW NIGHTS A WEEK... FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS.

DAYLIGHT ERASED THE ORANGE FOG THAT ENVELOPED THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF PEDRICKTOWN NEW JERSEY... NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.

BUT EVEN THOUGH RESIDENTS COULD NO LONGER SEE THE FOG... THE PROOF OF ITS EXISTENCE REMAINED.

THERE WERE UNEXPLAINED HEADACHES... AND PINHOLES IN THE ALUMINUM SIDING OF THEIR HOMES... AS IF THE FOG HAD GOTTEN HUNGRY.

IT WAS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A STEPHEN KING NOVEL... EXCEPT THE FOG'S ORIGINS WEREN'T SUPERNATURAL. IT CAME FROM THE SMOKESTACKS OF THE N-L INDUSTRIES PLANT.

IN 19-76... DANIELLE FLOOD WAS A YOUNG REPORTER FREELANCING FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. A CAB DROPPED HER OFF IN PEDRICKTOWN ONE MORNING TO INVESTIGATE THE ORANGE FOG.

Danielle Flood: I'm not sure that I remember seeing anything over two stories, I think it was all one stories or small houses around, not close, some were close actually. It looked like the houses were built and then somebody came and put this factory next to them and there was a big dump next to the factory with, I guess, about 500 car batteries dumped there.

AT THE TIME... THE N-L INDUSTRIES PLANT RECOVERED LEAD FROM USED CAR BATTERIES. THEY DID THIS BY DRAINING THE BATTERIES OF SULFURIC ACID... AND THEN BREAKING THEM... ON THE GROUND.

Danielle Flood: I talked to this one guy, he must have been retired or something. He was kind of old. And he was really upset, and I asked him what it was like to live next to, across the street from this factory that was reclaiming lead from car batteries. So, he said that he was not happy at all. And he showed me his car. The hood of his car, the paint had been eaten away.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

A FORMER N-L INDUSTRIES EMPLOYEE TOLD DANIELLE FOR HER ARTICLE THAT THE PLANT STORED THE CAR BATTERIES WAITING TO BE RECYCLED IN A DUMP BEHIND THE BUILDING.

WHEN IT RAINED ON THE BATTERIES... THE FORMER EMPLOYEE TOLD HER THAT LEAD AND SULFURIC ACID COULD LEAK INTO THE GROUND.

AND THAT'S A BIG PROBLEM. THE CAPE MAY AQUIFER LIES UNDER THE SITE... JUST ONE-AND-A-HALF MILES FROM THE DELAWARE RIVER.

JUST TO BE CLEAR... NEARBY WELLS NEVER DREW FROM THIS AQUIFER. INSTEAD... THEY TAPPED INTO DEEPER POCKETS OF WATER.

TODAY... EVEN THOUGH THE PLANT NO LONGER EXISTS... THE GROUNDWATER REMAINS CONTAMINATED WITH LEAD AND CADMIUM... TOXIC METALS THAT CAN CAUSE LEARNING PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN.

SALTWATER IS ALSO CREEPING INLAND AS CLIMATE CHANGE RAISES SEA LEVELS AND AMPLIFIES STORM SURGES AND FLOODING. ACROSS SOUTH JERSEY... THAT SLOW TRICKLE OF SALTWATER IS KILLING FORESTS... THREATENING FARMLAND... AND IMPERILING DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES.

SO... WHAT HAPPENS IF SALTWATER MIGRATES FROM THE OCEAN TO THE GROUNDWATER UNDERNEATH THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE?

IT MIGHT NOT BE A BAD THING. IN FACT... THE SALTWATER COULD HELP LOCK THE POLLUTION IN PLACE... RATHER THAN SPREADING IT.

THIS IS HAZARD... A LIMITED SERIES ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SUPERFUND SITES HERE IN NEW JERSEY.

I'M JORDAN GASS-POORE... AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST FROM TEXAS.

WHEN I WAS SIXTEEN... I WAS PART OF THIS LOCAL BEAUTY PAGEANT. IT WAS SOMETHING I WANTED TO DO TO PROVE A POINT. WHAT POINT THAT WAS... I CAN'T REMEMBER.

DURING THE PAGEANT... WE WERE ALL ASKED: WHAT IS THE MOST PRESSING PROBLEM FACING TEENS? MY RESPONSE: DEFORESTATION. THE AUDIENCE WAS SILENT. I DON'T THINK I EVEN GOT A CLAP FROM MY FAMILY WHO WERE THERE.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT... I DIDN'T WIN.

I'M MENTIONING THIS BECAUSE NO ONE BELIEVED ME. THEY DIDN'T THINK DEFORESTATION WAS A PROBLEM... IF THEY EVEN KNEW WHAT THAT WAS. ALL OF THE GREENPEACE STICKERS I STUCK AROUND TOWN COULDN'T CHANGE THEIR MINDS. IF THEY COULDN'T SEE IT... THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

MUCH LIKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS IN THE SEVENTIES WHO WENT TO THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE NEAR PEDRICKTOWN NEW JERSEY... AFTER BEING MADE AWARE OF THE ORANGE FOG. THEY TOLD NEW YORK TIMES FREELANCE REPORTER DANIELLE FLOOD THAT THEY HAD TO SEE THE FOG THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY COULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

OKAY... I'LL JUST GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY: IT WAS NEVER PROVEN THAT N-L INDUSTRIES WAS THE SOURCE OF THE ORANGE FOG.

BUT IN THE EIGHTIES... NEW JERSEY'S DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STILL FOUND THE COMPANY RESPONSIBLE FOR POLLUTING THE AIR WITH VARIOUS TOXIC CHEMICALS.

THE E-P-A PLACED THE SITE ON THE SUPERFUND LIST IN 19-83... AND THEY GOT TO WORK DEALING WITH THE LEAD IN THE SOIL AND GROUNDWATER.

NEARLY FORTY YEARS LATER... RENEE GELBLAT WITH THE E-P-A SAYS THE CONTAMINATED SOIL HAS BEEN REMOVED... AND NOW THE FOCUS IS ON THE GROUNDWATER.

Renee Gelblat: It's not really moving anywhere. It's kind of a big, little lake underneath part of the site. I mean, the water moves, but the lead and cadmium are not. We tested the two streams and it's not there.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

RENEE IS THE REMEDIAL PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE... JUST SOUTH OF PEDRICKTOWN.

SHE SAYS LEAD AND CADMIUM DON'T DISSOLVE IN WATER UNLESS IT'S REALLY ACIDIC. AND THE GROUNDWATER AT THIS FORTY-FOUR-ACRE SITE IS STILL PRETTY ACIDIC.

Renee Gelblat: It's down around four where it should be somewhere between six and eight. So, what we're doing is injecting, I mean, really simple would be, say, baking soda, it's a little more complicated than that, to bring the pH back toward neutral. And the tricky part is, in order to get the lead out of the water, you actually have to bring it up toward eight or nine. So, we have to make it basic, just to get it to come out of the solution. And then we'll let it go back down to, you know, six to eight, which is what's normal for the groundwater.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THAT'S BEING DONE BY INJECTING A PHOSPHATE REAGENT... BASICALLY A SUBSTANCE SIMILAR TO BAKING SODA... LIKE RENEE SAID... INTO THE POLLUTED GROUNDWATER TO RAISE THE P-H AND MAKE THE WATER LESS ACIDIC.

ONCE THE GROUNDWATER'S P-H IS RAISED HIGH ENOUGH... THE TOXIC METALS WILL STICK TO THE SOIL PARTICLES THAT ARE UNDERGROUND AND JUST SIT THERE... SAYS JON GORIN. HE'S THE E-P-A'S CHIEF OF THE SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY REMEDIATION SECTION UNDER THE SUPERFUND AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIVISION.

Jon Gorin: What's going to happen is it's going to precipitate out and it's going to bind to the soil itself. The water is contaminated above acceptable levels, but the concentrations you can have on water is much less than you could have in soil. So, if it all binds to the soil, the concentrations in the soil would still be below a soil cleanup level.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

JUST SOME LEAD... NOT ENOUGH TO POSE A RISK TO ANYTHING OR ANYONE.

AND SO FAR... JON SAYS... CONTAMINATION HAS MIRACULOUSLY NOT SPREAD TO THE DELAWARE RIVER.

CLEANUP AT THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE SEEMS TO BE RUNNING SMOOTHLY. AND THE STICKER PRICE TO CLEAN IT ALL UP IS RELATIVELY LOW... ABOUT ONE-AND-A-HALF-MILLION DOLLARS.

RENEE AND JON ARE HOPEFUL THAT EVERYTHING CAN BE SAID AND DONE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS.

IF THAT'S THE CASE... UNLESS MOTHER NATURE UNLEASHES A MASSIVE FLOOD AND IT ROLLS THROUGH SOON... CLIMATE CHANGE MAY JUST PASS THIS SUPERFUND SITE OVER.

I MENTIONED SALTWATER INTRUSION EARLIER. THE SITE IS ABOUT HALF A MILE FROM THE DELAWARE RIVER. RENEE SAYS IT WOULD HAVE TO FLOOD AN AWFUL LOT BEFORE SALTWATER FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN MAKES ITS WAY UP THE RIVER AND UNDERGROUND TO THE SITE.

Renee Gelblat: Our big issue here is acidity, right? Not salinity. So even if there was some flooding, and it left some salt behind it, it wouldn't affect anything.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

BUT THERE ARE PROJECTIONS FROM FEMA AND RUTGERS THAT SHOW THAT THE NEARBY STREAMS AND TRIBUTARIES DO PUT THE SITE AT SOME RISK DURING HURRICANES... THIS AS THE DESTRUCTION FROM HURRICANE IAN CONSUMES OUR HEADLINES.

OBVIOUSLY... THIS COULD BE A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EVENT. THOUGH CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING WEATHER JUST A TAD BIT MORE UNPREDICTABLE.

JON SAYS IF A HURRICANE DID SWEEP THROUGH THE SITE BEFORE THEY WERE DONE... THEY'D BE LESS WORRIED ABOUT CONTAMINATION... AND MORE CONCERNED WITH LOGISTICS.

Jon Gorin: We'd have to shut down the site, call everybody away, tie up the trailers, but, you know, for an injection remedy it's not too difficult. The problem with a big superstorm is if you're doing it, save an excavation, then you have a real headache because you have to control the sediments, and we're not doing that here.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

MUCH LIKE DANIELLE IN THE SEVENTIES... I MADE A BRIEF SOJOURN IN PEDRICKTOWN. IT'S AN UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITY WITHIN OLDMANS TOWNSHIP IN SALEM COUNTY.

I LEARNED A FEW THINGS ALONG THE WAY... LIKE THERE ARE NEW JERSEY TOMATOES GROWN LOCALLY AND CREATED BY RUTGERS... AND SELLING FIREWOOD IN THE STATE CAN MAKE PROPERTY AG EXEMPT. ALSO... COFFEE FROM WAWA... IF THAT'S YOUR THING.

THE FIRST STOP IN TOWN... THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE SITE WAS BOUGHT IN 20-16 BY ECRECON. THAT STANDS FOR ECONOMY... RECOVERY... AND CONSERVATION.

IT'S KIND OF FITTING FOR A BUSINESS THAT BUYS AND SELLS USED EQUIPMENT TO BE ON A SUPERFUND SITE. THEY DEAL WITH SOME OF THE SAME INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATED WITH POLLUTING PLACES... LIKE PETROCHEMICAL COMPANIES... WHICH MAKE PESTICIDES AND PLASTICS.

I MET UP WITH ECRECON'S OWNERS... TOM AND NICK BERCUTE ... TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE SITE. RENEE WITH THE E-P-A ALSO JOINED US TO PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT.

RENEE SAYS THE E-P-A LOVES SEEING SUPERFUND SITES LIKE THIS ONE GETTING REDEVELOPED. BUT THE AGENCY'S ONLY CONCERN IS MAKING SURE THE SITE GETS CLEAN... NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO IT AFTER.

Renee Gelblat: Don't get in the way of us when we're doing the injections. We don't even go to zoning meetings. They don't get in the way of our remedy, and they don't mess with the remedy itself.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

WE ALL MADE OUR WAY OUTSIDE TO TOUR THE FIELD THAT IS THE N-L INDUSTRIES SUPERFUND SITE.

I WAS ASSURED THERE WERE NO ISSUES WITH WALKING AROUND THE SITE... I WASN'T GOING TO TRACK TOXIC DIRT BACK TO PENN STATION.

I'VE SAID IT BEFORE... AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN... MOST OF THESE SUPERFUND SITES DON'T LOOK LIKE MUCH. THEY'RE MAINLY FLAT PIECES OF LAND WITH PATCHES OF GRASS AND ROCKY SOIL. THEY COULD BE THE PARK I USED TO PLAY IN AS A KID... OR MY OWN CHILDHOOD BACKYARD.

BUT THAT'S WHAT'S SCARY TO ME... I CAN'T SEE THE POLLUTION.

I COULD... HOWEVER... SEE A BUNCH OF WHITE INJECTION PIPES DOTTING THE PROPERTY. THOSE ARE THE PLACES WHERE TRUCKS FULL OF THE REAGENT SOLUTION EMPTIED THE STUFF INTO THE TOXIC GROUNDWATER.

Renee Gelblat: I don't know if that's a sampling well or an injection well. And I'm sure those pipes are there to keep people from running into them.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

NOW IT'S A MATTER OF WAITING FOR THE CHEMICAL PROCESS TO PLAY OUT... THEN EXAMINING THE RESULTS TO SEE HOW WELL THE INJECTIONS ARE WORKING.

RENEE SAYS INJECTIONS HAPPENED FROM APRIL TO SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR.

Renee Gelblat: If the metals were truly mobile, and the site was first cleaned up in the '80s, then everything would be gone by now. So, the metals aren't moving but they are in solution. The groundwater moves. And we see the reagents we injected, the stuff we injected moving around, but for some reason the metals are just in too high a concentration or staying in an area.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

NOW REMEMBER THE CREEPING SALTWATER I MENTIONED EARLIER? IT'S TECHNICALLY CALLED SALTWATER INTRUSION... AND IT'S CAUSING HEADACHES FOR SOME AROUND SOUTH JERSEY.

SEE... NEW JERSEY IS EXPERIENCING SEA LEVEL RISE ABOUT TWICE AS FAST AS THE GLOBAL AVERAGE. AND ONE OF THE EFFECTS OF THAT IS THE SPREAD OF SALTWATER UNDERGROUND IN COASTAL AREAS... WHERE IT DISPLACES THE EXISTING FRESHWATER.

LARGE STANDS OF COASTAL FORESTS ALONG DELAWARE BAY ARE DYING OFF BECAUSE THE TREE ROOTS CAN'T HANDLE SALTIER WATER.

THE SAME ISSUE IS THREATENING TO MAKE SOME FARMLAND FALLOW IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY... WHICH IS THE POOREST COUNTY IN THE STATE.

AND IN CAPE MAY... THE MAIN SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER IS AN AQUIFER THAT IS SLOWLY BECOMING SALTIER. CITY OFFICIALS THERE MAY HAVE TO SPEND MORE THAN 30 MILLION DOLLARS BUILDING A NEW DESALINATION PLANT TO KEEP CLEAN WATER FLOWING IN THE FUTURE.

MUCH IS STILL NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD ABOUT SALTWATER INTRUSION IN SOUTH JERSEY... INCLUDING HOW FAST IT'S HAPPENING AND HOW FAR IT'S SPREADING.

STATE AND FEDERAL SCIENTISTS ARE WORKING ON STUDIES NOW TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS... BUT THAT'S A YEARS-LONG PROCESS.

SO... WHAT DOES THIS SALTWATER INTRUSION MEAN FOR PEDRICKTOWN? WELL... IF SALTWATER DOES ACTUALLY MAKE ITS WAY UP TO THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE... IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE HELPFUL BECAUSE IT WOULD RAISE THE GROUNDWATER'S PH LEVEL.

THAT'S A GOOD THING BECAUSE WE WANT THE SITE'S GROUNDWATER TO BE LESS ACIDIC... SO THOSE TOXIC METALS DON'T DISSOLVE INTO THE WATER.

DIBS SARKAR... A PROFESSOR AT STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE ... SAYS RAISING THE P-H OF THE SITE'S GROUNDWATER WAS A GOOD MOVE ON THE E-P-A'S PART.

Dibs Sarkar: They didn't go with pump and treat and actually took a pretty bold step of, like, increasing the pH. So, I thought that that was pretty cool of EPA. Typically, they are very risk averse. And they would have, like, again kept on pumping and treating until the time I, at least I was dead, and the site will still not be remediated.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

DIBS TEACHES A COURSE ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT THAT PARTLY DEALS WITH SUPERFUND SITES. AND HE'S AN EXPERT ON LEAD... WHICH IS GOOD FOR US BECAUSE THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE... REMEMBER... REMOVED LEAD FROM OLD CAR BATTERIES.

I'M NO SCIENTIST... SO I ASKED DIBS TO EXPLAIN HOW CHANGING THE GROUNDWATER'S P-H ACTUALLY WORKS.

Dibs Sarkar: Raising pH is not that easy, yeah? Metals like cadmium and lead, like, they are getting adsorbed on the aquifer materials and soils, okay? Cadmium and lead they actually absorb, specifically that means by forming covalent bonds, okay? So, what is happening there is, like, what was there, like, dissolved cadmium, dissolved lead in water --- happy because, again, it was acidic, like again, there was nothing to hold them, now, they are getting absorbed on the aquifer materials, okay? So, the aquifer materials are effectively working as filter materials now. So, this is basically what's happening in the system.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

SECOND STOP ON MY VISIT TO PEDRICKTOWN... THE SALEM COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE... AND USE MICROFICHE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

I REALLY FELT LIKE I WAS IN A HORROR MOVIE... TRYING TO FIND OUT WHY MY HOUSE IS HAUNTED.

REEL AFTER MICROFICHE REEL... I SPUN THROUGH THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES... THE CHURCH BAKE SALES... THE NOT-POLITICALLY-CORRECT OP-EDS... UNTIL THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE MADE HEADLINES...

NATIONAL SMELTING FAILED TO CLEAN UP THE WASTE SITE.

ABOUT FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE SITE WAS ADDED TO THE SUPERFUND LIST IN 19-83... IT WAS BOUGHT BY NATIONAL SMELTING OF NEW JERSEY.

THE PLANT HADN'T BEEN IN OPERATION SINCE MAY 19-82 BECAUSE OF THE AIR POLLUTION.

IN MARCH 19-84... TODAY'S SUNBEAM... THE LOCAL PAPER IN SALEM COUNTY AT THE TIME... WROTE ABOUT THE FINE NATIONAL SMELTING RECEIVED FROM THE D-E-P FOR FAILING TO PREVENT THE RELEASE OF LEAD-CONTAMINATED SURFACE WATER FROM THE LANDFILL.

THAT LANDFILL IS ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE I VISITED BEFORE COMING TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

I THEN FOUND AN ARTICLE FROM 19-89 THAT TALKED ABOUT TESTS FROM SIX PRIVATE WELLS NEAR THE SITE SHOWING NO MAJOR CONTAMINATION.

MY FINAL STOP ON THE SALEM COUNTY TOUR WAS THE HOME OF FORMER OLDMANS TOWNSHIP MAYOR HARRY MOORE. HE'S THE MAN WHO REALLY KICKED THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE CLEANUP INTO GEAR.

HARRY WAS DOING YARD WORK AND HIS WIFE WAS ON A RIDING LAWNMOWER WHEN I ARRIVED. HARRY WILL BE NINETY THIS YEAR.

HE GOT INTO POLITICS IN 19-91.

Harry Moore: I don't know if you call it working your way up or not, but I worked my way up to the mayor, because it's only a three-man committee and it makes a difference who your friends are.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

AT THE TIME... THE COMMITTEE WAS TRYING TO GET THE N-L INDUSTRIES SITE CLEANED UP... ONCE AND FOR ALL.

HARRY SAYS THE TOWN WENT ROUND-AND-ROUND WITH THE D-E-P AND THE E-P-A AND GOT NOWHERE.

UNTIL HE ENTERED THE PICTURE.

Harry Moore: So, myself and the mayor went to a // welcoming committee and what you might say, for an individual that was nominated to the prosecutor's office. So, I went down for the ceremony. Well, after the ceremony here was Congressman Hughes there. And Congressman Hughes was two grades ahead of me in school.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

SO... HARRY WENT UP TO HIM AFTER THAT MEETING IN 19-93 TO SEE IF THE CONGRESSMAN COULD HELP.

Harry Moore: When I walked up to him, he said, "Oh, hi, Harry." I said, "Hi, Bill." He said, I shook his hand, and I didn't let go. He looked down. I says, "I'm not letting go of your hand until you tell me what you're going to do with National Lead.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

CONGRESSMAN HUGHES AGREED WITH HARRY THAT SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THE POLLUTED SITE. SO... HE CONTACTED THE POWERS THAT BE AND THEY GOT TO WORK. THANKS, HARRY.

ORIGINALLY... HARRY SAYS THE E-P-A WANTED TO PUT A CAP ON THE SITE'S CONTAMINATED MATERIALS.

Harry Moore: I said, "No, it's not acceptable." "Well, we'll see what we can do." And what they did -- so, they contacted chemical companies and they were glad to come down and get it and clean it up a little bit and resell it. They were tickled to death with that. So, that's what they did, so we weren't left with chemicals.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

WHEN HUGHES LEFT CONGRESS IN 1995 ... HARRY SAYS A LOCAL GROUP HE WAS A MEMBER OF INVITED HIM AS A GUEST SPEAKER FOR A DINNER IN THE CONGRESSMAN'S HONOR.

DURING THE EVENT... HARRY PRESENTED HUGHES WITH A SPECIAL GIFT.

Harry Moore: I went to K-Mart, where they had the display cameras on or display batteries on sale, just plastic, nothing in 'em. So, I told them what I wanted to use them for; they gave them to me. So, I had a company make up a plaque on there, and it went into detail about all relating to a battery, but "we want to thank Congressman Hughes for jumpstarting the cleanup," and anything related to a battery jumpstart, we laid out the speech to him and gave him this battery. Well, he was overwhelmed. Since he's passed away, but I've been wanting to contact one of his kids to see if that battery is floating around so we can put it in the municipal building.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

HAZARD IS A SPACE NOT JUST FOR LEARNING ABOUT SUPERFUND SITES... BUT FOR ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITIES IN CONVERSATION AROUND THE CLEANUP OF THESE TOXIC PLACES.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPERFUND SITES IN NEW JERSEY? DO YOU LIVE NEAR ONE? IF SO... I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. SEND ME A TWEET USING HASHTAG HAZARD N-J.

OR... LEAVE ME A VOICE MEMO AT... HAZARD AT MY N-J P-B-S DOT ORG.

WE MAY PLAY YOUR COMMENTS IN A FUTURE EPISODE.

HAZARD N-J IS AN N-J SPOTLIGHT NEWS PRODUCTION.Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

IT STARTED AS A CAMPFIRE... AND GREW INTO THE LARGEST WILDFIRE NEW JERSEY'S SEEN IN MORE THAN A DECADE.

Briana Vannozzi -- Anchor, NJ Spotlight News

Firefighters in South Jersey are still battling a massive wildfire that broke out Sunday in Wharton State Forest.

Ted Goldberg --Reporter, NJ Spotlight News

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service says it's finally gotten a handle on the Mullica River fire, that started burning Sunday.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE BLAZE... CALLED THE MULLICA RIVER FIRE... BURNED 15,000 ACRES IN WHARTON STATE FOREST THIS PAST JUNE.

FROM THE SKY IT LOOKED LIKE LIT MATCHES BLOWING IN THE WIND... CASTING A YELLOW HAZE OVER MOST OF SOUTH JERSEY.

THERE WERE NO INJURIES... BUT SEVERAL CAMPGROUNDS AND FARMS WERE THREATENED.

FIRES IN THE PINELANDS GENERALLY DON'T CAUSE CASUALTIES... BUT PROPERTY LOSS CAN AMOUNT TO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM EACH FIRE... ESPECIALLY IF HOMES OR STRUCTURES ARE DAMAGED.

WILDFIRES AREN'T NEW IN THE STATE... BUT CLIMATE CHANGE IS CHANGING THE INTENSITY... DURATION... AND WHEN THEY OCCUR.

WITHIN THE SOUTHERN REACHES OF THE PINES... THE EPA IS TRYING TO WORK AROUND THOSE RISKS AS THEY TRY TO CLEAN UP A TOXIC LANDFILL NEARBY.

BUT ALL IT COULD TAKE IS A SPARK TO HARM THEIR EFFORTS.

THIS IS HAZARD... A LIMITED SERIES ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON SUPERFUND SITES HERE IN NEW JERSEY.

I'M JORDAN GASS-POORE'... AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST FROM TEXAS.

WHEN I WAS A KID... I WAS DEATHLY AFRAID OF FIRE. OVENS... STOVES... MATCHES... YOU NAME IT... ANYTHING THAT COULD LIGHT ON FIRE TERRIFIED ME.

OH... AND I DON'T GO CAMPING BECAUSE OF MOSQUITOES... BUT ALSO BECAUSE BUILDING A CAMPFIRE JUST SOUNDS LIKE A RECIPE FOR DISASTER.

I WOULD WATCH THAT TV SHOW ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK... WHERE THESE KIDS SIT AROUND A CAMPFIRE AND TELL GHOST STORIES... BAFFLED THAT THEY WEREN'T MORE AFRAID OF STARTING A FOREST FIRE.

SMOKEY THE BEAR ALSO REALLY SCARED ME... LIKE... MAN... WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES? I'M NOT EVEN CAMPING.

PUTTING MY CHILDHOOD NEUROSES ASIDE... I RECENTLY FOUND MYSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NEW JERSEY PINELANDS. TURNS OUT... THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST WILDFIRE-PRONE AREAS IN THE COUNTRY.

I WAS THERE TO VISIT EMMELL'S SEPTIC LANDFILL... A 38-ACRE SUPERFUND SITE IN GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP THAT'S SURROUNDED BY PINE FOREST.

BACK IN THE '60S AND '70S... WHEN THE SITE OPERATED AS A DUMP FOR SEPTIC WASTE... AND... REPORTEDLY... DRUMS OF PAINT SLUDGE... THE FOREST HELPED HIDE THE EMMELL FAMILY'S ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.

TODAY... THE FOREST AND THE THREAT OF WILDFIRES PUT THE SITE AT RISK.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

What they were supposed to do was to bring in septic waste, they were supposed to pour it out, basically on the ground. And they were supposed to just get in or plow it into the ground. At some point during that operations, they decided to start illegally taking in chemical waste.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

JOE GOWERS HAS BEEN THE EPA PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE EMMELL SITE SINCE IT WAS LISTED IN 1999.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

And, ultimately, what we found was about 438 drums of what looked like to be paint sludge was disposed of in the ground at the site and that sort of triggered the contamination problem here because the solvents related to that leach into the groundwater, and then we had groundwater contamination related to the site.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE EPA WAS INITIALLY CONCERNED THAT THE FEW RESIDENTS WHO LIVE NEAR THIS RURAL SITE WERE DRINKING CONTAMINATED WELL WATER... TAINTED BY THAT PAINT SLUDGE.

SO... IN 2003... THE AGENCY CONNECTED RESIDENTS WHO WERE POTENTIALLY THREATENED BY THE POLLUTION TO THE LOCAL WATER COMPANY'S SUPPLY.

AS THEY CONTINUED THEIR INVESTIGATIONS... GOWERS SAYS THEY FOUND MORE CONTAMINATED WELLS.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

In 2008 and 2010, our removal program, once again, came in and basically provided an alternate water supply for those residences, and what they did was install deeper groundwater monitoring wells into an unimpacted aquifer below about 50 to 100 feet of clay out there, and those wells are down about 300 feet.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

SINCE 2010... MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER HAVE BEEN TREATED AT THE EPA'S GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION AND TREATMENT FACILITY ON THE SITE.

WHILE THE GROUNDWATER IS THE EPA'S PRIMARY CONCERN... GOWERS SAYS THEY FOUND PCBs... A LIKELY HUMAN CARCINOGENIC... IN SOME OF THE SOIL.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

Those materials were excavated from the site, those materials were more of a direct contact risk, they generally don't get into groundwater and provide risk in that fashion.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

I WALKED WITH GOWERS AROUND PARTS OF THE SITE... A GLORIFIED FIELD THAT... IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE SITE'S HISTORY... AND DIDN'T SEE THE EPA SIGN... WOULD PROBABLY LET YOUR KIDS PLAY SOCCER ON.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

That area that's fenced off is actually part of the groundwater pump and treat system here, those are recharge basins. So that's where the clean water goes after it's been treated. And, you know, the process of that is basically they re-inject or basically discharge the clean groundwater there, it percolates back down, that causes mounting, which helps push the groundwater towards the extraction well. So it actually helps with the groundwater cleaning process here.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

WE WALKED TO A CLEARING... WHERE REPORTS SAY DECADES AGO PEOPLE PAID THE EMMELL'S TO BURY DRUMS OF PAINT SLUDGE WASTE AND DUMP CHEMICALS RIGHT ONTO THE GROUND.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

They began illegally taking in chemical waste, the drums of paint sludge that we found, and that area where that was found was back in this tree line, you can see the cut in the tree line over here. So back in that area was where they had apparently dug a pit and then put in at least 438 drums of paint sludge and then covered that over. So that was basically the way the operations were conducted here. I know that during their operations they even mishandled it seemed the septic waste they got they got cited at least once that I'm aware of, I think it was maybe twice by the state of New Jersey because they were allowing septic waste to be ponded on the site when they were actually, you know, supposed to be plowing that stuff in.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE EPA STARTED TO CLEAN UP THIS LANDFILL SITE IN 1999... AND GOWERS SAYS THE AGENCY WILL TURN OVER OPERATION OF THE PUMP AND TREAT SYSTEM HERE TO THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AS EARLY AS NEXT YEAR.

OF THE SUPERFUND SITES LOCATED IN THE PINELANDS... EMMELL'S SEPTIC LANDFILL IS ONE OF SEVENTEEN THAT REMAINS ON THE LIST.

AND WITH THAT MANY TOXIC SITES IN THE AREA... IT'S IMPORTANT TO CLEAN THEM UP BEFORE THEY'RE DAMAGED BY WILDFIRES.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING THIS AREA MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO WILDFIRES... AND MORE DIFFICULT FOR FIREFIGHTERS TO FIGHT THEM.

WHEN THERE'S LOW HUMIDITY AND HIGH HEAT... VEGETATION STARTS TO DRY AND WILT. THESE ARE THE KEY INGREDIENTS FOR A WILDFIRE DISASTER... A PERFECT STORM.

NEW JERSEY'S WILDFIRE SEASON HAS HISTORICALLY PEAKED IN THE LATE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER. BUT NOW... THE SHIFT IN CONDITIONS HAS ALLOWED WILDFIRES TO GET MORE INTENSE... AND SPARK MORE EASILY THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR.

TO PREVENT A WILDFIRE FROM SWEEPING ONTO THE EMMELL'S SITE... AND DESTROYING WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN EXPENSIVE PUMP AND TREAT FACILITY... GOWERS SAYS THEY KEEP THE AREA AROUND THE BUILDING FREE FROM BRUSH.

IN THE OFF CHANCE A WILDFIRE DID DAMAGE THE FACILITY... HE SAYS THEY'D SHUT IT DOWN UNTIL THE BUILDING COULD BE REPAIRED.

THAT MEANS THE CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER WOULD BE SITTING IN THE AQUIFER AND COULD MOVE AROUND. BUT GOWERS SAYS HE ISN'T CONCERNED.

Joe Gowers -- Project Manager, EPA

Groundwater contamination down here in Southern Jersey, the type of aquifer you're dealing with, you're looking at groundwater that might move a foot a day. So, if it's shut down for a month, it might move 30 feet. So, once you start the extraction wells up again, it should theoretically pull most of that contamination back.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

EMMELL'S SEPTIC LANDFILL MAY BE THE QUIETEST SUPERFUND SITE I'VE COVERED ON THIS PODCAST... BOTH IN TERMS OF LOCATION... WHERE CICADAS WERE THE ONLY THINGS I HEARD... AND VIRTUALLY NO NEWS COVERAGE.

I COULDN'T FIND OUT MUCH ABOUT THE SITE ONLINE. THERE'S NO COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP MAKING SURE THIS SITE GETS CLEANED UP.

Jaclyn Rhodes -- Assistant Executive Director, Pinelands Preservation Alliance

More people, more exposure, more liability, right? Less people, less exposure, less liability. So, often what my experience has been for Superfund sites, it's typically the community that brings up the issue. And if you don't have a big community that's complaining about it, or you address those that are being exposed because there's a long list of Superfund sites.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THAT'S JACLYN RHODES... THE ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PINELANDS PRESERVATION ALLIANCE.

I MET UP WITH HER ON THE SITE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ITS HISTORY... AND FUTURE POTENTIAL WILDFIRE RISK.

Jaclyn Rhodes -- Assistant Executive Director, Pinelands Preservation Alliance

You would have to have an exceptional fire, very hot, burning for a long period of time for it to pass through an area that has, you know, essentially almost like a fire break around that typically gets moved out of woody vegetation from coming up.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE GOOD THING ABOUT EMMELL'S... AND OTHER SUPERFUND SITES THAT WERE LANDFILLS... IS THAT THEY HAVE LESS TREES AND MORE OF A GRASSLAND ENVIRONMENT. THIS PROTECTS THE SITE FROM A WILDFIRE GOING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE AREA.

EVEN IF A FIRE DID GO THROUGH THE SITE... THE EPA'S ALREADY REMOVED CONTAMINANTS FROM THE SOIL... SO THERE'S NOT REALLY A RISK OF THESE CHEMICALS BURNING OFF AND EFFECTING THE AIR QUALITY FOR THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.

IN THE PINELANDS... FIRE IS A PART OF LIFE.

BUT THE WILDFIRES THAT HAVE SHAPED THE LANDSCAPE FOR CENTURIES... NOW THREATEN TO DESTROY THE COMMUNITIES WITHIN IT.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

So, this here is the Silas Little Experimental Forest.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

I MET MIKE GALLAGHER AT HIS OFFICE IN NEW LISBON... ABOUT AN HOUR NORTH OF GALLOWAY AND THE EMMELL SITE... ON THE OTHER END OF THE MILLION-ACRE PINELANDS NATIONAL RESERVE.

HE'S A FIRE ECOLOGIST WITH THE US FOREST SERVICE... AND HIS JOB REQUIRES HIM TO INTENTIONALLY START AND STUDY FIRES.

THERE'S A NAME FOR THIS PRACTICE... AND IT DOESN'T INCLUDE THE WORD MANIA.

IT'S CALLED PRESCRIBED BURNING... AND THE IDEA IS TO PURPOSEFULLY SET SMALL... CONTROLLED FIRES TO PREVENT CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES.

IT WORKS BECAUSE THE CONTROLLED BURNS ESSENTIALLY CLEAN UP THE FOREST... CLEARING OUT BRUSH AND DEAD VEGETATION THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE PRIME FUEL FOR A FUTURE WILDFIRE.

THIS PRACTICE... THOUGH... DIDN'T START WITH THE US FOREST SERVICE.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

Cranberry growers we're doing that since cranberries started as an industry, really before the 1840s, 1850s and folks were burning around their bogs regularly. But that culture was probably, well, almost inevitably, picked up by the Native Americans who were living here when Europeans got here because this sort of burning really wasn't a big thing in Europe, where a lot of folks came from. And that was adopted and still doing it today.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

I WANTED TO SEE THE EFFECTS OF FIRE MYSELF. SO... MIKE AND I DROVE THE FEW MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD FROM HIS OFFICE TO BRENDAN T BYRNE STATE FOREST.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

On the one side of the road, here, we have a fire-excluded forest. And on the other side of the road, we have this area that was burned in a wildfire last year in 2021.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

BLACKENED TREES INDICATED WHERE THE FIRE MOVED IN-AND-OUT OF THE FOREST.

MIKE SAYS PRESCRIBED BURNS HAD TAKEN PLACE IN THIS AREA BEFORE... BUT IT HAD BEEN A WHILE.

PRESCRIBED BURNS ARE TOUGH TO CARRY OUT. THEY'RE COSTLY... LABOR INTENSIVE... AND ARE CONTINGENT ON FAVORABLE WEATHER.

CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAKING THESE INTENTIONAL BURNS EVEN MORE COMPLICATED TO CARRY OUT.

EVEN THOUGH NEW JERSEY IS SEEING MORE RAIN AND SNOW AS THE CLIMATE CHANGES... THAT PRECIPITATION IS INCREASINGLY CONCENTRATED IN HEAVY STORMS... WITH LONGER DRY SPELLS IN BETWEEN.

THAT MEANS WILDFIRE SEASON IS GROWING LONGER... NARROWING THE WINDOWS FOR PERFORMING PRESCRIBED BURNS SAFELY.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

We're seeing more wet weather in some years during our prescribed burn season. So, either more wet weather or more fire weather. So, what that means is that there's fewer days available to do prescribed burns because either it's too wet and it won't burn or it's too flammable.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

NEW JERSEY HASN'T SEEN THE TYPES OF DEVASTATING MEGAFIRES THAT HAVE BECOME COMMON IN WESTERN STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA.

BUT MIKE SAYS THAT DOESN'T MEAN THE GARDEN STATE'S NOT AT RISK OF CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES... ESPECIALLY AS TOWNS ON THE FOREST FRINGES BECOME MORE HEAVILY DEVELOPED... AND MORE PEOPLE MOVE INTO FIRE-PRONE AREAS.

THOUGH HE NOTES THE FIRES IN NEW JERSEY TEND TO BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

One of the reasons that maybe we don't think about big fires as much here is because our fires do get big and they happen in one operational period, so one shift. Out west, their fires tend to burn a lot longer. Sometimes long enough that people from New Jersey have time to get there and help out. The history, they talk about how little rain they had leading up to some of those big fires. And so, this environment has a predisposition to dry out very quickly, because of its foundation, basically.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE SOIL IN THE PINELANDS IS SANDY... SO WHEN IT RAINS... WATER DOESN'T STICK AROUND. IT GOES DOWN TO THE AQUIFER QUICKLY.

MIKE SAYS THAT MEANS THERE CAN STILL BE A WILDFIRE IN THE AREA THE SAME DAY IT RAINS.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

We can look in the road here, all the sand and cobbles weren't put here to make the road. This is the natural underlying foundation that everything is growing out of and so there's, we're looking at rocks and pebbles and looks like beach sand almost. And so that doesn't hold any, any moisture or not for very long, you know, hold a little bit, but it dries out, it's got big pore space between all the particles, a lot more than, like, a heavy, organic soil. The soil doesn't hold a lot of organic matter, either, so there's no real hope of ever developing a, you know, a really thick, you know, better soil. That was something, you know, going back to the Pine Barrens, the settlers could never get it to really grow their crops, they never could really improve their soil that much for the things that they wanted to grow.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THIS ENVIRONMENT HAS SHAPED INDUSTRY... CULTURE... AND IN THESE PARTS... LEGEND.

LONG AGO... A WOMAN NAMED MRS. LEEDS WAS IN LABOR WITH HER 13TH CHILD.

SHE CRIED OUT IN AGONY... OH... LET THIS ONE BE THE DEVIL.

HER WISH CAME TRUE. THE CHILD RELEASED A HORRIFYING SCREECH... UNFURLED ITS WINGS... AND FLEW OUT OF THE HOUSE THROUGH THE CHIMNEY.

THAT NIGHT... THE JERSEY DEVIL WAS BORN.

OR... SO THE STORY GOES.

BACK IN THE PINELANDS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY... THE ONLY DEMONIC THING I SPOTTED WAS WHAT APPEARED TO BE A SNUGGIE SOMEONE DISCARDED WITH BROKEN T-VS AND OTHER TRASH ALONG THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

THIS PART OF THE PINELANDS ISN'T A LANDFILL LIKE THE EMMELL'S SUPERFUND SITE WAS... DESPITE GARAGE SALE-STYLE ILLEGAL DUMPING.

BUT MIKE SAYS THE PRESCRIBED BURNING GOING ON HERE WILL HELP SIMILAR SUPERFUND SITES LIKE EMMELL'S THAT ARE CONTAMINATED WITH HEAVY METALS.

Mike Gallagher -- Fire Ecologist, US Forest Service

Some species of plants can actually bring up heavy metals that were otherwise in the soil, but were relatively immobile, not going anywhere. Some early woody colonizers, of heavily disturbed areas can, will naturally want to start seeding in in certain types of scenarios and start growing, and they can take up these heavy metals, and then they'll get into their foliage and into their wood, and as the plant loses parts, naturally, leaves and twigs and things, it's starting to bring heavy metals up back into into the system, on the top, where then they can run off with rain or blow around and dust. And so one strategy that's been proposed is to actually use some prescribed fire in Superfund sites like that to actually control the species that would start moving the contamination around. And so the goal for some places might not be to restore it back to a forest because that might be counterproductive for the hazardous part. And so maybe maintaining it as a grassland or something like that with species of plants that aren't going to move the contamination around but still provide ecological opportunity for wildlife and recreation can be good.

Credits

Hazard NJ is written, edited and hosted by Jordan Gass-Poore’

Executive Producer – Jamie Kraft

Executive in Charge of Production – Joe Lee

Producer – Michael Sol Warren

Production Assistant – Chris Pandza

Production Manager – Chloe Motisi

Sound Designer & Engineer – Mark Bush

Composer – Nick Pennington

Art – Matthew Fleming