Site Discovery/Preliminary Assessment

Contamination at Reich Farm occurred back in August of 1971 when Mr. and Mrs. Reich leased a portion of their property to a man named Nicholas Fernicola, who was an independent waste hauler at the time (EPA 1988).  Mr. Fernicola intended to use the land for the temporary storage of used 55-gallon drums, as he specialized in the transportation and disposal of chemical wastes (EPA 1988).  Around five or six months after leasing their property to Mr. Fernicola, the Reichs began to notice thousands of drums of waste were being stored on the property (UCC 2003).  Upon further investigation they discovered approximately 4,500 drums of waste on the property with an additional 450 empty drums, with labels on the drums such as “tar pitch,” “lab waste solvent,” “solvent wash of process stream,” and “blend of resin oil” (EPA 1988).  Most alarming, there were trenches dug on the property leased to Mr. Fernicola that seemed to indicate these were locations where wastes may have been dumped (EPA 1988).  Most of the drums on site had markings that indicated they were the property of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company that is still in business today and “specializes in the production and purchase of ethylene” (UCC 2011).

Upon making this discovery, the Reichs immediately joined forces with Dover Township and filed complaints against Mr. Fernicola and Union Carbide Corporation; this resulted in the New Jersey superior court ordering that the dumping of chemicals cease on the Reich Farm property and that all wastes and drums were to be removed (EPA 1988).  Union Carbide Corporation was responsible for drum removal and according to reports completed the removal in March of 1972, although an additional 51 drums were removed in June of 1974 (EPA 1988).

A preliminary assessment and site investigation was undertaken in early 1974 after local residents began to complain of an unusual taste and odor to their well water supply (EPA 1988). Preliminary investigations undertaken by the NJDEP in focused on the sampling of water from these well systems and concluded that petrochemical elements were present in the water supply, including toluene and phenol (EPA 1988).  After more extensive sampling was done the Dover Township Board of Health used the results of these sampling activities to that 148 private wells be closed by the end of August (1974), in addition to establishing a zoning ordinance that restricted ground water use in the area around Reich Farm (EPA 1988).