Hazard Podcast - The Resurrection of Price’s Pit

The decades-long drip, drip, drip of toxic chemicals from the Price Landfill in South Jersey reached crisis levels in the early '80s when the hazardous plume threatened to taint the water supply for the Atlantic City area.

The site earned an emergency response and a reputation as the most polluted Superfund site in America. Now, more than 40 years later, the Price Landfill has entered a new chapter. And this time it's helping, not harming.

*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 **

FOR FUNDAMENTAL AND DEEPLY ROOTED PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS... AS WELL AS MORE MUNDANE UTILITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS... IT IS CHARACTERISTIC OF MAN TO BURY THAT WHICH HE FEARS AND WISHES TO RID HIMSELF OF.

IN THE PAST... THIS ENGRAINED PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR HAS GENERALLY PROVEN HARMLESS AND... INDEED... HAS OFTEN LEFT MAN TO RESTORE TO THE EARTH THE SUBSTANCES HE HAD REMOVED FROM IT.

IN TODAY'S INDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETY... HOWEVER... THE ROUTINE PRACTICE OF BURYING HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICAL WASTES HAS RESULTED IN SERIOUS THREATS TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND TO PUBLIC HEALTH.

THAT WAS PART OF THE CASE OPINION IN 1981 FROM STANLEY BROTTMAN... A FORMER FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW JERSEY.

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PRICES... A FAMILY WHO KNOWINGLY ALLOWED TOXIC CHEMICALS TO BE DUMPED NEAR AN AQUIFER ON THEIR LANDFILL IN PLEASANTVILLE NEW JERSEY.

WELL... THE DIRT ON THE PRICES HAD BEEN REPEATEDLY DUG UP... AND FOR DECADES IT SEEMED LIKE THE SCARS WOULD NEVER FADE.

BUT PRICE'S PIT... REFERRED TO AS THE "GRANDFATHER OF SUPERFUND SITES"... WAS NOT ONLY TURNED INTO A MUSICAL... I KID YOU NOT... BUT HAS GOTTEN A MAKEOVER AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITY THAT COULD ACTUALLY HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE.

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.

AS A KID... I WOULD GO TO MY FAMILY'S RANCH IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY DURING THE SUMMER. IT WAS NO LONGER AN OPERATING RANCH... AND THERE WERE NO LONGHORNS... OR HORSES. SORRY.

BECAUSE THE RANCH WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AT THE TIME... WE WOULD BURN AND BURY OUR TRASH.

SOMETIMES I'D BE DIGGING HOLES AROUND THE PROPERTY... BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE DID FOR FUN... AND I'D FIND OLD GLASS BOTTLES... NAILS... AND OTHER STUFF MY ANCESTORS BURIED.

OUR TRASH UNITED US IN THIS STRUGGLE TO... ON ONE HAND... BURY THE PAST... AND ON THE OTHER... LEAVE THESE REMNANTS BEHIND TO BE FOUND LATER AS A REMINDER OF OUR EXISTENCE.

DRIP... DRIP... DRIP.

CHEMICAL WASTE LEACHED FROM THE BOTTOM OF PRICE LANDFILL... THROUGH THE SANDY SOIL UNDERNEATH... AND INTO THE PERSONAL WELLS OF RESIDENTS IN THE SMALL TOWN OF PLEASANTVILLE.

TRACES OF BENZENE... THALLIUM... AND ARSENIC... CREEPED CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE WELL FIELD THAT SUPPLIED DRINKING WATER TO NEARBY ATLANTIC CITY...

BEFORE CONTAMINATING A SEGMENT OF THE WELL FIELD... A MILE AWAY FROM THE SITE.

THIS IS HOW AN ATLANTIC COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIAL DESCRIBED THE PROBLEM BACK IN 1981.

Alice Gitchell -- Atlantic County Health Department

It's clear that a large quantity of chemicals is in the ground and is moving in the direction of the Atlantic City well field. And this is certainly extreme cause for concern.

**Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host **

THIS CONTAMINATION WAS SO BAD THAT EVEN DECADES LATER... FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR... THE LATE JIM FLORIO... CITED IT AS ONE OF THE WORST OF THE WORST. THIS IS HOW HE DESCRIBED THE SITE TO ME IN AN INTERVIEW BEFORE HE DIED.

Gov. Jim Florio -- D, NJ 1st Congressional District 1975-1990, Governor 1990-1994

Price's Pit, which is down in Atlantic City, which was a plume of pollution that was headed towards the aquifer. And we got to the aquifer, you have bad water for half of South Jersey.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

ATLANTIC CITY HAD LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO ABANDON ITS WELLS IN FAVOR OF A NEW FIELD SITE.

MANY RESIDENTS OF THE UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITIES NEAR PRICE LANDFILL WERE NOT HOOKED UP TO ANY MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM. INSTEAD... THEY RELIED ON INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE WELLS.

Don Torrance -- New Jersey Nightlight News

So you drink it, and it gives you pain in the stomach?

Gregory Woodson -- Pleasantville Resident

Yeah, right here.

Don Torrance -- New Jersey Nightlight News

Really? Have you been to the doctor?

Gregory Woodson -- Pleasantville Resident

No. It only happens when I drink the water.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

AT THE TIME... RESIDENTS OF NEARBY EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP FLEW WHITE FLAGS THREE DAYS A WEEK TO SIGNAL THEIR NEED TO HAVE WATER DELIVERED.

EACH HOUSEHOLD RECEIVED 15 GALLONS OF WATER EACH DELIVERY DAY.

THIS EVENT MAY HAVE HAPPENED IN THE 1980s... BUT THE SITE STILL LEAVES A BAD TASTE IN THE MOUTHS OF SOME LOCALS.

PRICE LANDFILL... AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS PRICE'S PIT... WAS ONE OF THE FIRST DESIGNATED SUPERFUND SITES IN THE COUNTRY.

IT'S TAKEN DECADES TO CLEAN UP THE 26-ACRE SITE... AS LAWSUITS WOUND THEIR WAY THROUGH THE COURTS AND A TANGLE OF FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES WORKED OUT A PERMANENT FIX TO THE TOXIC STEW.

PRICE LANDFILL WAS STARTED BY CHARLES PRICE AS A SAND AND GRAVEL MINING OPERATION IN 1960... BEFORE IT BECAME A COMMERCIAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL IN 1971.

COMMON PRACTICE AT LANDFILLS IN THE 1970s WAS TO DUMP CHEMICALS ON TOP OF THE TRASH BECAUSE THE TRASH WOULD ACT AS A FILTER.

THE TRASH... OF COURSE... DIDN'T FILTER ANYTHING.

CHEMICAL WASTE WAS OPENLY POURED FROM AN OPEN SPIGOT ON TANK TRUCKS... AND DRUMS WERE BURIED IN SHALLOW PITS UNDERNEATH THE TRASH. SOME OF THESE DRUMS ARE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN PUNCTURED.

LIQUID WASTE FROM THE ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC COMPANY AND AT LEAST 36 OTHER COMPANIES WAS DISPOSED ON THE SITE FOR EIGHT YEARS.

BY THE TIME THE LANDFILL CLOSED... THE EPA DETERMINED THAT 9 MILLION GALLONS OF TOXIC WASTE HAD BEEN DUMPED. YES... I SAID 9 MILLION GALLONS.

THE DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE. AND... ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS... CHARLES PRICE KNEW ABOUT IT ALL ALONG.

HE WORKED AT THE SITE FROM 1969 UNTIL IT CLOSED IN 1976... SUPERVISING OTHER WORKERS AND DIRECTING THEM TO DISPOSE OF THE WASTE THAT CONTAMINATED THE GROUNDWATER... SOIL... AND NEARBY CREEKS.

CHARLES PRICE... KNOWN TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS "BUB"... WAS... AN INTERESTING MAN. I'LL LET HIS NIECE DAWN PRICE BROWN DESCRIBE HIM.

Dawn Price Brown -- Niece of Charles Price

Bub was a jerk. And my whole family was pretty much you know, they were bad, all of them. So, I'm sorry.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

DAWN WROTE A SCREENPLAY ABOUT HER FAMILY'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THE SUPERFUND SITE. IT'S CALLED "THE PRICE OF DIRT."

Dawn Price Brown -- Niece of Charles Price

Go to sleep, little town. Wake up tomorrow with no frown. Life is simple, shoot the breeze. Walk to the bay, do as you please. Those who live here, friendly and such, ain't got much money but lot's of luck. Yet, X is waiting.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

"X"... BY THE WAY... IS BUB... CHARLES PRICE. HE'D SIGN HIS NAME WITH AN X.

Dawn Price Brown -- Niece of Charles Price

With no fear -- Money he wants, land to clear. Life's unsure; what will remain? Dump it all, forget the blame; think nothing of it.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THOSE ARE LYRICS FROM ONE OF THE SONGS DAWN WROTE FOR "THE PRICE OF DIRT"... THE MUSICAL WHICH NEVER GOT PRODUCED... BUT DIGGING UP THIS FAMILY HISTORY WAS A FORCED RECKONING FOR DAWN.

Dawn Price Brown -- Niece of Charles Price

The people said they couldn't go outside because they guess they would get sick, they couldn't take a bath. They couldn't wash their clothes because their clothes were yellow. And it said hear that the chickens were dying and the windows were shut because of the stink.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE SEARCH TURNED UP HARD TRUTHS.

Dawn Price Brown -- Niece of Charles Price

Bub would tell these people, like Atlantic City Electric and whatever, to come after nine o'clock, into the pit. And there the entrance was, I think it was on Fire Road in Pleasantville. And they would give him an envelope and he would let them dump their crap in there, their chemicals.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE DUMPING WENT ON FOR YEARS... EVENTUALLY LEAVING WATER UNDRINKABLE FOR DOZENS OF NEIGHBORS. ATLANTIC CITY LEADERS PANICKED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE RESORT'S WATER SUPPLY.

IN THE END... 49 COMPANIES WERE HELD LIABLE FOR THE DAMAGE DONE AT THE SITE... INCLUDING ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC... DU PONT... FORD MOTOR COMPANY... GENERAL MILLS... AND PROCTER AND GAMBLE.

THE CONTAMINATED WELLS... OR THOSE THOUGHT TO BE THREATENED WITH CONTAMINATION... WERE SHUT DOWN. THOSE 37 HOUSEHOLDS SWITCHED FROM WELL TO UTILITY WATER.

THE EPA GOT INVOLVED WITH THE SITE'S CLEANUP IN 1982.

A YEAR LATER... PRICE LANDFILL WAS ADDED TO THE NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST... BECOMING ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S FIRST SUPERFUND SITES. AND THE EPA'S BEEN CONTINUING TO MONITOR AND TREAT THE GROUNDWATER EVER SINCE.

IN 2013... A 50 MILLION DOLLAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY WAS BUILT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE SITE TO REMOVE THE MAJORITY OF THE TOXIC CHEMICALS FROM THE GROUNDWATER.

IT WORKS BY HAVING WELLS AT VARYING DEPTHS ON THE SITE PUMP THE GROUNDWATER TO THE TREATMENT PLANT. ONCE THERE... THE WATER IS TREATED AND THEN RELEASED INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

THE EPA ESTIMATES IT'LL TAKE AT LEAST 25 YEARS... AND ABOUT 70 MILLION DOLLARS BEFORE THE GROUNDWATER IS CLEAN.

PERRY KATZ... EPA PROJECT MANAGER FOR PRICE LANDFILL... SAYS THE SITE'S CAP AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY HAVE HELPED PREVENT ANY FURTHER CONTAMINATION.

Perry Katz -- Project Manager for Price Landfill, EPA

Nobody's drinking the groundwater. There's no landfill gas emanating from the landfill. You know, vapor intrusion was addressed a while ago by the state of New Jersey, that there's no issue there. So, you know, from our perspective, any potential exposures, you know, they're not there.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

MANY OF THE TREATMENT FACILITY'S SYSTEMS ARE AUTOMATED... WHICH MEANS IF ANYTHING GOES HAYWIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT... STAFF CAN REMOTELY TRY AND FIX IT BEFORE GOING TO THE OFFICE.

THIS FACILITY TREATS ABOUT 10-TO-12 GALLONS OF WATER A MONTH... BREAKING DOWN THOSE TOXIC CHEMICALS FROM THE SUPERFUND SITE.

AS PART OF THE OVERALL CLEANUP... PERRY SAYS THE SITE WAS CAPPED IN 2015 TO KEEP CHEMICALS IN PLACE TO PREVENT THEM FROM SPREADING.

Perry Katz -- Project Manager for Price Landfill, EPA

It's a multi-layer impermeable cap, proven technology, you know, you'd have to have a pretty substantial event to start talking about layers of the cap being disrupted to the point where anything would be exposed. I mean, that's what would have to happen before you start worrying about any of the contents of the landfill moving around.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

DECADES AFTER ATLANTIC CITY AVOIDED THE CRISIS OF POISONED DRINKING WATER FROM THE PRICE'S PIT POLLUTION... THE CITY NOW FACES A MORE EXISTENTIAL THREAT... RAPID SEA LEVEL RISE.

THE OCEAN AND BAYS SURROUNDING ATLANTIC CITY ARE CREEPING UP NEARLY TWICE AS FAST AS THE GLOBAL AVERAGE.

THESE DAYS... HIGHWAYS LEADING INTO TOWN REGULARLY FLOOD... AS DO MANY OF THE LOW-LYING NEIGHBORHOODS.

BY 2050... FEDERAL SCIENTISTS PREDICT ATLANTIC CITY WILL FACE UP TO 110 DAYS OF SUNNY DAY FLOODING EACH YEAR.

SLOWING SEA LEVEL RISE MEANS STOPPING CLIMATE CHANGE... AND THE KEY TO THAT IS TO STOP THE BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS.

IN THIS WAY... PRICE'S PIT MAY BE A BRIGHT SPOT IN THE SUPERFUND PROGRAM.

TODAY... PRICE LANDFILL IS AN INNOCUOUS GRASSY FIELD WITH A FENCE AROUND IT.

IT LOOKS LIKE ANY OTHER SUPERFUND SITE... EXCEPT FOR THE HUNDREDS OF SOLAR PANELS. PRICE'S PIT HAS FOUND NEW LIFE AS A SOLAR FARM, GENERATING SOME OF THE CARBON-FREE ELECTRICITY THAT CLIMATE EXPERTS SAY WE SO DESPERATELY NEED.

THIS IS PART OF A TREND TO REUSE FORMER TOXIC SITES.

PERRY SAYS THE LAND ISN'T SUITABLE FOR MUCH ELSE.

Perry Katz -- Project Manager for Price Landfill, EPA

There's a kind of the greater good benefit where you're using renewable energy to put into the energy grid. There's beneficial reuse to the landfill. We wouldn't be building houses out there, but in the context of what type of beneficial uses available, I mean, from an economic standpoint, this is more beneficial than if it were just a walking trail, which they do at some landfills. You're limited in what you can do once they're cleaned up in the sense that there can, you know, kept and contained. So, you know, this works all the way around, really, and it doesn't impede anything we're trying to do.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THE CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER STILL AT THE SITE MEANS THAT BREAKING GROUND ISN'T AN OPTION.

BUT IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO PUT SOLAR PANELS ON TOP OF THE OLD DUMP. THE SOLAR PANELS AT PRICE LANDFILL BEGAN OPERATING IN MID 2020... AND PRODUCE ENOUGH POWER FOR ABOUT 4,020 HOUSEHOLDS EVERY YEAR.

THAT IDEA IS GAINING TRACTION ACROSS NEW JERSEY AND THE U-S. ACCORDING TO THE EPA... AT LEAST 12SUPERFUND SITES IN THE STATE... AND AT LEAST 57 ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN REDEVELOPED AS RENEWABLE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.

Jaclyn Kondrk -- Remedial Project Manager, EPA

I'd say definitely a popular one is solar because a lot of these properties are large and flat, and that's really the most feasible property that you're looking at for a solar project.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

THAT'S JACKIE KONDRK. SHE'S THE EPA'S REMEDIAL PROJECT MANAGER WHO OVERSEES THE REDEVELOPMENT OF SUPERFUND SITES IN NEW JERSEY.

Jaclyn Kondrk -- Remedial Project Manager, EPA

Solar is really a great option, because there's not much else you could do with it. We want to use these sites that would otherwise not be used likely at all.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

JACKIE SAYS LOCALS BENEFIT ECONOMICALLY FROM PUTTING SOLAR PANELS ON SUPERFUND SITES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

Jaclyn Kondrk -- Remedial Project Manager, EPA

I think there's multiple benefits. One is a more affordable energy, hopefully. There's also jobs that come in through doing those projects. And there's a program through the Superfund redevelopment program, that actually helps train people to do the cleanup at the sites and to facilitate these types of reuse too.

Jordan Gass-Poore' -- Host

SUPERFUND SITES DOT THE GARDEN STATE, AND MANY OF THEM ARE BECOMING SOLAR FARMS.

NOT FAR FROM PRICE'S PIT... THE DELILAH ROAD SUPERFUND SITE BECAME HOME TO A SOLAR FARM IN 2016.

SOLAR PANELS NOW COVER LARGE PARTS OF THE INFAMOUS CIBA-GEIGY SITE IN TOMS RIVER.

AND JUST LAST MONTH IN NORTH JERSEY... THE COMBE FILL NORTH SUPERFUND SITE BECAME THE LARGEST LANDFILL-SOLAR CONVERSION IN NORTH AMERICA.

THE SITE HAS MORE THAN 50,000 SOLAR PANELS... ENOUGH TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY TO POWER 4,000 HOMES.

THESE PROJECTS... AND OTHERS LIKE THEM... ARE CRITICAL TO REACHING A NEWLY SET STATE TARGET. THE GOAL IS TO BUILD 40 MEGAWATTS WORTH OF SOLAR POWER ON LANDFILLS AND OTHER CONTAMINATED SITES IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS.

Governor Phil Murphy

For most of its life, this site represented our throwaway culture, with all the long-term challenges that that way of living produced. But today, it represents a more sustainable and energy resilient New Jersey and all the opportunities that we are just beginning to realize.

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 Manager – Chloe Motisi

Sound Designer & Engineer – Mark Bush

Composer – Nick Pennington

Art – Matthew Fleming