Route 561 Dump sits in Gibbsboro, Camden County, New Jersey. It covers commercial, retail, and residential areas, plus wooded lots and part of White Sand Branch stream. The site was proposed for the National Priorities List in July 1998 but has not been formally added. John Lucas and Company, and later Sherwin-Williams Company, dumped paint and varnish manufacturing waste there from the mid-1800s until 1977.
The main contaminants are lead and arsenic, found in soil and sediment across residential properties and the broader soils area. Several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of chemicals linked to cancer risk, are also present in soil at residential properties. These include benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene.
EPA began work in November 1997 by fencing and capping heavily contaminated soil near Clement Lake. Over time, cleanup expanded into three operable units (OUs), which are separate areas managed with their own cleanup plans. Residential property work ran from 1999 through 2022 and is now in an operation and maintenance phase. The broader soils cleanup involved excavating about 65,482 tons of contaminated soil and sediment, with some deeper residual contamination capped in place. Native plants were restored along White Sand Branch stream in September 2021. The groundwater OU is still under investigation, with a remedy decision expected between September and November 2027.
High-level soil contamination has been removed or capped, and deed notices are in place as institutional controls. Even so, EPA lists human exposure status and groundwater migration status as both having insufficient data, meaning current assessments have not yet confirmed that exposures or groundwater movement are fully under control. Physical construction is not yet complete sitewide. Seven businesses currently operate at the site, employing 19 people and generating roughly $813,980 in annual sales.
Community members can review site documents at Gibbsboro Borough Hall and Library, the M. Allan Vogelson Regional Branch Library in Voorhees, or the EPA Superfund Records Center in New York City. For questions, contact Community Involvement Coordinator Shereen Kandil or Remedial Project Manager Brennan Woodall.
