The Evor-Phillips Leasing (EPL) site is a six-acre plot located in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey. The site was used for incinerating and smelting photographic film and used circuit boards to recover and recycle precious and non-precious metals. It was also used as a dumpsite for phthalate, a toxic by-product of plastic, and a center for solvent reclamation and hazardous waste incineration. The dumping of waste products from these processes went unnoticed until 1982, when the EPA investigated, found, and removed hidden drums that contained hazardous waste products, including acetonitrile, silver cyanide, and ethyl acetate. The EPL was also revealed to be dumping waste directly into the two unlined impoundments in the ground, allowing chemicals to leach into the groundwater of the surrounding area. Further tests on the oil, surface water, and ground water revealed high levels of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the immediate vicinity, including the Raritan Bay. Thus, the EPL site was placed on the National Priorities List on 8 September 1983.
Contributed by Colleen Alexander
Course: Global Environmental History
Instructor: Andrew Stuhl, Ph.D.
Bucknell University Lewisburg, US
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- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ed. "Site Name, Location and Description, Site History and Enforcement Activities, Scope and Role of Operable Unit, Summary of Site Characteristics, Documentation of Significant Changes." In Superfund Record of Decision Evor Phillips Leasing, NJ., 2-3, 5-10, 25. Washington, D.C. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1992.
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