$72M Federal Funding To Clean Up West Deptford Superfund Site

WEST DEPTFORD, NJ — A Superfund site in South Jersey will receive more than $72 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up contaminants in the community.

The Matteo & Sons, Inc. site in Thorofare is one of three contaminated sites in New Jersey to get a piece of approximately $1 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the EPA announced last week.

New Jersey has the most Superfund sites — a term for areas polluted and contaminated by hazardous waste — in the nation. The EPA has authority to clean up these sites when the owners/operators cannot take financial responsibility.

The approximately 82.5-acre Matteo & Sons area is still active as a scrap metal recycling facility, and is less than half a mile from West Deptford High School.

The total Superfund area includes several waste disposal areas, a home, and a scrapyard, as well as tidal mud flats. It is located around 1708 U.S. Highway 130 and includes portions of Hessian Run and Woodbury Creek.

James Matteo & Sons had a lead reclamation operation on the property where the company melted lead battery terminals, according to the EPA. Battery waste was also incinerated here, and ashes disposed of on-site.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) inspected the site regularly between 1968 and 1984, according to the EPA.

The company "had been landfilling crushed automobile battery casings and household waste along Hessian Run," said the EPA. "The company also used an illegal incinerator to smelt lead; landfilled ash from the smelters and had two fires at the landfill. There were also abandoned drums of unknown waste, and yellow waste dispersed across the site."

The EPA says that the soil, sediment, and groundwater there are contaminated with lead, antimony, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will enable the EPA to remove contaminated waste and soil and place an asphalt cap over the affected area within the scrap metal facility.

The EPA placed the Matteo & Sons, Inc. Site on the National Priorities List in September 2006 and has already removed some contaminated soil from the site and former Mira Trucking property.

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1), who represents a portion of Gloucester County, said officials have been trying to clean this site up for years.

“West Deptford families and business community don’t want to live and work near contaminated Superfund sites. It’s bad for our health and it’s bad for business," said Norcross in a statement. "I’ll continue fighting in Congress to improve the environmental health and safety of South Jersey communities.”

Records show that the EPA removed crushed battery casing material that had been found buried in yards on Birchly Court and Woodlane Drive several years ago, which were similar to those found at the Matteo superfund site.