The Route 31 Sludge Disposal Site is an
area in the eastern portion of Warren County mostly within Washington Township,
south of Washington Borough, which has been impacted by industrial per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substance, also referred to as PFAS, contamination.
The EPA will be discussing its work so
far and upcoming plans at a public meeting soon:
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Warren
County Technical School – Cafeteria
1500 Route
57, Washington, NJ 07882
After the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, or NJDEP, asked the EPA to take over the investigation and cleanup
PFAS contamination in November 2024,
the EPA
developed a plan to swiftly protect community members from PFAS contamination within an initial study area, outlined
in yellow on the map shown on this page. The dotted line shows the study area
expansion in early 2025. The EPA’s
initial work at the site consists of three parts:
1. Providing Bottled Water
The EPA is currently distributing free
bottled water to about 180 homes where the EPA sampled the drinking water wells
and found PFAS contamination above the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Levels, or
MCLs.
2. Sampling Drinking Water
The EPA has sampled almost 350 wells at
residential and commercial properties to determine if drinking water at each
property in the EPA’s study area is contaminated. If early results have shown
contamination in drinking water, the EPA has offered the bottled water delivery
service. This effort has concluded, and the EPA is
evaluating the data set to determine if the drinking water study area should be
expanded later in 2025 or 2026.
3. Installing Treatment Systems
The EPA will be installing individual water treatment systems to address contamination and protect residents and workers at eligible properties after they have been sampled by the EPA. After the EPA receives the sampling results, if a property’s drinking water has contaminant levels above the EPA’s MCLs, that property will be eligible to receive a free water treatment system called a Point-of-Entry Treatment system. This work is planned for summer-fall 2025 once the EPA’s subcontract is set.
Additionally, the EPA has sampled soil in several farm fields
where PFAS-contaminated sludge from a historic textile mill was spread between
the late 1950s and 1970s and will be sampling the Musconetcong River in
coordination with the NJDEP and other stakeholders. Results are pending.
The EPA will continue keeping the public informed as the
investigation progresses. For more detailed information, please see the
Documents section of this page which includes the EPA’s fact sheet, December 10th
public meeting presentation and NJDEP referral letter to the EPA.
The EPA's current investigation is known as
an integrated assessment, designed to study and address the most immediate
risks to people’s health and the environment while the site is evaluated for
inclusion on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List. If the site is added
to the EPA’s National Priorities List, it would be eligible for federal funding to
pay for extensive, long-term cleanup actions under the EPA’s Superfund program.
Listing the site also allows for robust engagement with communities impacted by
the PFAS contamination. Superfund gives the EPA strong authority to hold the polluters
that will be identified as potentially responsible parties at this site
responsible and accountable for the cleanup.
Background:
The NJDEP first discovered the
contamination in 2019 during routine drinking water well sampling at a local
business. On November 7, 2024, the NJDEP referred the site to the EPA to
address high levels of PFAS in soil and groundwater. The main
source of PFAS contamination is thought to be historic waste sludge from a
former textile manufacturing facility, known as Castle Creek Fabrics and Northern Dyeing Corporation. The sludge
was spread over at least 45 acres of farmland from the late 1950s through the
1970s. The EPA took over and is now leading the investigation.
Definitions:
PFAS: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a
group of man-made chemicals that are not found naturally in the environment.
The two types of PFAS made in the largest amounts in the United States were
PFOA and PFOS. PFAS can be found in air, soil, and water as a result of
manufacture and use. They do not break down in the environment very easily.
PFAS can seep through the soil into groundwater and may adversely impact
people’s health and the environment. See https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas for more
information.
MCLs: The EPA’s
Maximum Contaminant Levels are science-based standards for the maximum
level allowed of a contaminant in drinking water.
To Stay in Touch:
Please email Joel Waddell, EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator, at waddell.joel@epa.gov if you would like to receive email updates regarding EPA's work at the site.
