History
Edison Wetlands Association (EWA) is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment through conservation and the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.
Amazingly for its small size, New Jersey leads the nation in the number of Superfund and hazardous waste sites—with 116 Federal Superfund sites, and over 18,000 total hazardous waste sites. With a long history as an industrial center, New Jersey continues to pay the price of its industrial past. That unfortunate legacy makes an even greater impact in a state that is the most densely populated in the nation.
After the Love Canal incident in the 1970s, America realized that there were thousands of other communities also built on unknown toxins. The “Superfund,” or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980. This law created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided broad federal authority to respond directly to releases of hazardous substances that could endanger public health or the environment.
As the sheer magnitude of the nation’s hazardous waste problem became apparent, states, counties and local communities found they lacked the ability to address the great complexity, size and costs of hazardous waste remediation. The Federal Superfund program was the answer.
After many successes—and with 1 in 4 Americans living within four miles of a Superfund site—the unthinkable happened. The Superfund was allowed to expire. With hundreds of Superfund sites on hold and remaining contaminated and dangerous, EWA Executive Director Robert Spiegel testified before the U.S. Senate on the importance of re-authorizing the Superfund. Click here to to see how you can help keep the Superfund active.
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Thus began the Superfund process. As many hazardous waste sites began to be addressed and cleaned by the property owners, it became clear that there would be many sites that would need government intervention and assistance. Some sites were abandoned – with no possible way of finding funders for the cleanup. The Superfund Trust Fund aided ‘orphan’ sites that were listed on the US EPA’s National Priorities list.
THE GREEN RABBIT BEGINNING
The Chemical Insecticide Corporation Superfund Site was the first major issue that the Edison Wetlands Association undertook. Its bankrupt owners had abandoned the CIC site. Virtually no cleanup activities had or were taking place, and additionally, off-site contamination was more than visible on nearby properties and in an adjacent stream. EWA’s director Robert Spiegel was asked to look at a site where “green rabbits” lived.Indeed, the Chemical Insecticide Corporation Superfund Site was so toxic that chemicals had begun to turn to fur on rabbits a very unnatural shade of green. Green and yellow ooze was observed on and off-site as well. Several local residents had developed health problems- cancers and diseases, with a suspected link to the nearby contamination. When contacted regarding the contamination, the U.S. EPA merely posted signs warning of the hazardous waste site.
