New Jersey has 144 toxic waste sites on the list, many of which have been awaiting cleanup for decades.
The omissions included some of the highest-profile toxic sites in New Jersey, including DuPont in Pompton Lakes, where pollution from a former plant has seeped into groundwater, releasing toxic vapors into 450 nearby homes and a lake. Former Gov. James J. Florio and Love Canal activist Lois Gibbs have said the Passaic County cleanup should be a national priority.
To environmentalists, the failure to include the sites on the Superfund list is particularly galling given that the state has privatized its hazardous-waste cleanup program, a decision they argue can result in cheaper cleanups and less public scrutiny of how pollution problems are remedied.
According to the agency's internal documents, obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, 27 sites scored greater than 28.5 points, the qualifying score for making it onto the list.
The scores reflect a number of problems, including toxic vapors seeping into nearby buildings, as in Pompton Lakes, and pollution of drinking water by a former machine shop, as in Berlin Township, Camden County.
Passed-over sites encompassed 11 counties, from Fair Lawn in Bergen County to Gloucester City, Winslow Township, and Camden City in Camden County.
The federal government's decision to bypass these sites leaves the problems under state auspices, according to Bill Wolfe, director of New Jersey Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), who said the state Department of Environmental Protection has a history of prolonged but ineffective cleanups. He noted that a 2008 EPA inspector general's report described the New Jersey agency's track record at cleaning up waste sites as among the worst in the nation and recommended a federal takeover.
