Waldick Aerospace Devices, Inc. is a 1.72-acre former industrial site in Wall Township, New Jersey, placed on EPA's Superfund National Priorities List in June 1986. The company made and plated metal aerospace components from 1979 to 1984. In 1982, inspectors found wastewater and used machine oil being discharged onto the ground, leading to soil and groundwater contamination. EPA has since guided the site through full cleanup construction, which was completed in 2008.
Eighteen contaminants of concern have been identified at the site. In soil, these include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), and 1,1,1-trichloroethane, along with heavy metals including cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, and zinc, plus cyanide and phthalates. Cadmium and PCE also migrated into off-site groundwater. Cleanup actions included excavating contaminated soil starting in 1983, removing hazardous materials in 1985, demolishing on-site buildings, and treating about 4,600 cubic yards of soil using low-temperature thermal desorption from 1993 to 1995. A groundwater pump-and-treat system ran from 1991 until EPA replaced it in 2008 with long-term monitored natural attenuation and institutional controls.
By 2008, EPA found that chromium, nickel, and TCE concentrations had dropped below state and federal drinking water standards. Cadmium and PCE remained above standards only in limited areas. Annual sampling from seven monitoring wells shows those concentrations continue to decline. A deed restriction was put in place on September 17, 2021, and the site achieved sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status that same year. As of July 2023, EPA's five-year review confirmed that cleanup actions protect human health and the environment, that no unacceptable exposure pathways exist, and that contaminated groundwater is stable and contained. The next five-year review is scheduled for 2028. The site has not yet been deleted from the National Priorities List.
Community members can review site records in person at the EPA Superfund Records Center at 290 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, or at the Wall Township Public Library at 2700 Allaire Road in Wall, New Jersey. Key documents are also available online.
