New Development Proposed For Former Long Valley Bomb-Making Plant  

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Did you know there once was a bomb-making plant located on Parker Road in the Fairmount section of Washington Township?

A potential re-development plan for the Cleveland Industrial Center is being discussed further by the Washington Township Committee, which would see the long-since unoccupied site replaced by a new development.

According to the township's 2009 Master Plan and Development Regulations Reexamination Report, the Cleveland Industrial Center, a 17.5-acre site on Parker Road, was the subject of a Superfund clean-up by the State of New Jersey and was a candidate for brownfield redevelopment.

Since the 1950s, the Cleveland Industrial Center has served as an industrial park. During the 1940s, the site was occupied by a weapons manufacturing plant.

After volatile organic compounds were detected in nearby wells in the 1980s, the site was identified as a possible source of groundwater contamination.

The EPA conducted a removal action in 1991 to remove and dispose of approximately 1,000 containers of flammable solvents, caustics, and dry chemicals from on-site buildings. In 1995, the DEP installed monitoring wells to assess groundwater contamination migration.

In 1997, the DEP and Washington Township built a water line to serve the affected homes as well as 170 other homes with contaminated wells. Later, the EPA discovered and removed numerous incendiary devices from the site.

The site has recently been the focus of NJDEP Superfund clean-up efforts, which have paved the way for future redevelopment and brownfield development.

The plan calls for the development of commercial recreation in the form of a commercial sports arena, which is permitted in the Parker Road Redevelopment Zone, according to the proposed ordinance.

"Additional uses for the Parker Road Redevelopment Zone include commercial sports arenas, mixed-use buildings with office or retail on the first floor and residential second-floor use and a neighborhood shopping center," the ordinance states.

While it is not expected that the redevelopment will result in any significant changes or increases in population density, it is expected that the project will have traffic impacts both during and after construction.

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