South Plainfield Cornell-Dubilier Superfund Site Gets New Federal Cash

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — The Cornell-Dubilier Superfund site in South Plainfield will receive extra federal funding this winter under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The news was announced this week by Congressman Frank Pallone, the Democratic congressman who has long represented this area, and who supports the Infrastructure Law.

The funding will be used to continue removing and safely disposing of contaminated soil and sediment in Bound Brook and surrounding areas, said Pallone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told MyCentralJersey they will also use the increased funding to extend the clean-up work further down the length of the creek, extending even as far as New Market Pond in Piscataway over the next several years.

From 1936 to 1962, a company called Cornell Dubilier manufactured electronics parts at the 26-acre site. The soil is now contaminated with PCBs.

The entire clean-up project at the Cornell-Dubilier Superfund site is estimated to cost $152 million.

In total, three Superfund sites in New Jersey will receive extra clean-up money under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The two other Superfund sites getting more federal clean-up cash this February are:

• The Matteo & Sons Superfund Site in West Deptford (South Jersey)
• The Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund Site in Sussex County

The three sites were included in a group of 22 sites nationwide that together will receive $1 billion from a new round of funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Pallone successfully fought for the funding that comes from the $3.5 billion in the law designated for Superfund cleanups that Congress passed and President Biden signed into law in 2021.

New Jersey is home to the most Superfund sites in the nation. An estimated 50 percent of New Jersey’s population lives within three miles of a Superfund site.