Vineland State School

Overview

Vineland State School, also known as Vineland Development Center and now operating as the Elwyn New Jersey campus, sits on 195 acres in a suburban residential area of Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey. The EPA added it to the Superfund National Priorities List in September 1983 after an assessment found that an unregulated on-site incinerator and landfill had contaminated soil and groundwater with hazardous materials. The site was later deleted from that list in May 1998 after cleanup goals were met.

The contamination came from waste disposal practices that took place from the 1950s through the mid-1970s across five distinct areas of the property. Workers dumped roughly 6,000 to 8,000 quart containers of mercury-based pesticides into ponded water, spilled about 150 gallons of transformer oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and disposed of other pesticides and transformer oil from farming operations. EPA identified four contaminants of concern in the soil: lead, mercury, p,p'-DDE (a breakdown product of a pesticide), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, chemicals produced when organic materials burn). These were flagged because they posed unacceptable risks to human health or the environment given the amounts present and the potential for exposure.

Cleanup work involved several steps. In 1988, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection removed PCB-contaminated soil at one subsite and capped the area. The facility was connected to the public water supply to provide safe drinking water. EPA and the state determined that, given the removal actions already taken and the low contaminant levels remaining, no further cleanup measures were needed for Operable Unit 1. A Close Out Report was signed in September 1992. A five-year review was conducted in 1998, and the site was formally deleted from the National Priorities List that same year. The state continues to monitor groundwater and on-site disposal areas to confirm the cleanup stays effective.

Today, human exposure is under control, with no unacceptable exposure pathways identified. Groundwater migration is also stabilized, with no unacceptable discharge to surface water, and monitoring will continue to confirm contamination stays within the original area. The site reached sitewide readiness for anticipated reuse by June 2006, meaning all cleanup goals for current and future land uses have been achieved. The campus now serves adults with disabilities through work, day, and community living programs, with one on-site business employing 476 people as of December 2024.

Community members with questions can contact EPA directly. Public records are available in person at the EPA Superfund Records Center in New York, the City of Vineland Health Department, or the Vineland City Library.