Kauffman & Minteer, Inc.

Overview

The Kauffman & Minteer, Inc. site is a five-acre former industrial transportation facility in Jobstown, New Jersey. From 1960 to 1981, hazardous wastewater from truck cleaning was discharged into a drainage ditch and an unlined lagoon. A protective dike broke in 1984, releasing wastewater to a neighboring property and nearby wetlands. The site was added to the National Priorities List in March 1989, and cleanup work has been underway since that year.

Contamination affects shallow groundwater, subsurface soils, and surface water near the site. Chemicals found across the site include trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethene, benzene, vinyl chloride, chromium, tetrachloroethene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. Soils also contain heavy metals such as antimony and beryllium, along with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalates. The contamination threatens the middle aquifer, which supplies drinking water to the area.

The cleanup has been divided into two operable units. The first covered the entire site and involved excavation, offsite disposal, incineration, wetlands replacement, and institutional controls. EPA carried out removal activities between 1990 and 1998. The second operable unit targets groundwater and subsurface soils. Remedial action began in August 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, EPA injected chemical oxidants into the source area to break down contaminants, reducing contamination levels. The current plan calls for pumping and on-site treatment of remaining contaminated groundwater combined with in-situ bioremediation, a method that uses naturally occurring microbes to clean up contamination in place. EPA completed engineering design work in 2017 and expects to begin this phase of cleanup in late 2024 after updating the design with recently collected data. A final remedial action for the groundwater unit started in May 2022.

Human exposure is currently under control, meaning no unacceptable pathways exist for people to contact contamination at this time. However, contaminated groundwater continues to migrate and is not yet stabilized. Physical construction of the cleanup remains incomplete, and the site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List. EPA will collect groundwater samples at the site during spring 2026 and will continue monitoring progress.

Community members are encouraged to take part in cleanup decisions through EPA's Community Involvement Program. Site documents, including Records of Decision from 1996 and 2002, are available for public review at the Springfield Township Municipal Building in Jobstown and at EPA's regional office in New York City. For questions, contact Community Involvement Coordinator Olivia Cappo or Remedial Project Manager Blanca Melendez.