Does it takemuch explanation to show that building houses on old dumps and toxicwaste sites is a bad idea? Such construction is vulnerable to landsettlement and migration of subsurface toxic gases into buildings thatcan poison occupants. Besides, such development undermines the propercleanup of toxic sites and closure of landfills by forcing additionaltoxic leachate to migrate further and faster into groundwater, thuspolluting drinking water and nearby river ecosystems. It also impedesthe recovery of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and other noxiousgases generated by decomposing garbage.
So instead of prohibitingconstruction of homes on landfills and toxic sites to protect theenvironment and public health, as required by law, DEP encourages suchpractices as a means of generating "project financing" for clean-up. Itcompromises both environmental and taxpayer interests.
*Incomplete cleanups. Unfortunately, building homes over landfills andtoxic sites is common in the Garden State. Our laws mandate "capping"contaminated soils on-site and allowing residential construction atcapped sites unless the DEP can prove that a cap is unsafe. Caps can beas little as a few inches of dirt to cover toxic pollution.
As aresult, more than 90 percent of New Jersey "cleanups" are in factcoverups. This leaves our toxic legacy buried in the ground and leavesfuture generations facing health and environmental risks. .
* Playing with dirty dirt.
Contractorsimported thousands of cubic yards of toxic sludge, contaminated soiland highly questionable "recyclable materials" that were used as cleanfill or landfill-capping material. This made existing toxic problems atthe site far worse. Press reports disclosed that DEP lacked even abasic ability to monitor contaminated materials imported to the site.
Asimilar lack of DEP oversight at the cleanup of the Ford plant inEdison resulted in PCB-contaminated soils and demolition debris beingused as clean fill at 19 housing projects in central New Jersey.
These same practices not only continue across our state; they are encouraged and subsidized by DEP.
Weare spending millions of dollars to clean up toxic soils, only to allowscam operators to "launder" and dump them in someone else's backyard.This is insane. These materials require strict management to ensurethey are safely handled.