Community Corner

French's Landfill Capping Still On Schedule After Find

Drums found at site did not delay progress

Work at the former French's Landfill site off Sally Ike Road in the township's Herbertsville section is continuing, despite an unexpected find.

Just before Christmas, workers at the site uncovered drums containing a substance, but the discovery did not force the project to be stalled. The contents of the drums are now being tested, but it has been confirmed that the substance is some type of oil-based product, according to township Business Administrator Scott Pezarras.

Pezarras said, as part of the landfill's remediation process, crews located various materials underground by using probes and other investigative techniques before the project began. The drums, found in the western portion of the site, had not been previously found by the probes, necessitating the testing.

Find out what's happening in Brickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Township officials who have worked at the site since it became municipal property in the 1970s have told Brick Patch that the landfill itself took in all sorts of refuse ranging from motor oil to septic waste to household trash. The federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the township to cap the site, a project which started toward the end of last summer.

Pezarras said both the EPA and state Department of Environmental Protection are pleased with how the remediation process at the site is going so far, and have lessened the level of oversight that was present at the start of the capping project.

Find out what's happening in Brickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"They're happy with the way everything's going up there," Pezarras said. "Everything is pretty much on schedule."

Pezarras said the only hiccups that could occur over the winter have to do with the ground becoming frozen, which would delay work at the site. Township officials have with a Hoboken-based company to build a solar farm at the site once the capping process has been completed.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here