EPA Completes Removal Action at Superfund Site in New Jersey

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed a removal action at an abandoned automotive brake pad manufacturing facility located on the border of Lawrence Township and Trenton in Mercer County, NJ. The site, formerly home to Friction Division Products Inc., was vacated by the company when it shut down the business over 10 years ago. The property was littered with asbestos material, elemental sulfur, acids, flammable solids, waste oil, solvents, and metallic compounds. EPA cleaned up more than 800 drums and containers, including dozens of drums of unknown materials. The process included taking an inventory of the chemicals and categorizing them through sampling. They were then sorted and bulked together for shipping off-site for disposal. Additionally, EPA identified and disposed of approximately 70 tons of asbestos-containing material generated from the grinding of brake pads.

“EPA stepped in on this site and we have completed the cleanup work that we pledged to do,” said Alan J. Steinberg, Regional Administrator. “We identified the most critical actions that needed to be done and completed them in a timely manner so that the two towns involved are better safeguarded.”

From the early 60’s to 1996, automotive brake shoes and pads were manufactured at the site by two companies, most recently Friction Division Products. The company moved from New Jersey and resumed business in Pennsylvania. In late 2006 the State of New Jersey requested EPA assistance to address the threat posed by the abandoned chemicals. EPA secured the site and began the clean up after negotiations with the company to carry out the work failed. The cleanup commenced in January 2007 and was recently completed.