BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
EDISON — Officials are making plans to acquire the former Chemical Insecticide Corp. (CIC) Superfund site to preserve it as a passive recreation tract, once the cleanup is completed in March.
Township officials recently hired an appraiser to determine the value of the 5-acre tract on Whitman Avenue, along with the adjacent 6-acre Muller Machinery site, Mayor George A. Spadoro said.
Officials decided to hire an appraiser after the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nixed Spadoro’s suggestion that the site be deeded to the township once the cleanup was completed.
“I believe it is time the neighbors who have had to live with this eyesore and health hazard get the benefit of some recreation and passive open space uses,” the mayor said. “The plea to get the land deeded to us fell flat, but that does not mean we cannot aggressively pursue funds from the EPA as well as other sources to buy it.”
The township has hired DeMartin Schwartz, Trenton, to conduct the appraisal but at what exact fee Spadoro could not say.
“I would estimate that it would cost no more than about $10,000 though,” the mayor said.
The goal is to combine the two parcels for one 11-acre tract of mostly passive recreation.
Edison Wetlands Association Executive Director Robert Spiegel had mapped out a conceptual plan for the land’s preservation and presented it to council last month.
The appraisal is the first step. Township officials will then look for state, federal and private funding for the land purchase, Spadoro said.
“We’re not going to drop the ball on this,” he said. “This is one of those sites that is well suited for passive recreation, and residents should be able to enjoy it preserved after living with the problems brought on by the toxicity.”
The site, according to an EPA fact sheet, was laden with Agent Orange, other insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides (arsenic) from CIC’s heyday between 1954 and 1970, when the company was in operation.
There were also chemical lagoons and barrels laden with leftover toxins that are almost all remediated now.
CIC declared bankruptcy in 1970 when Piscataway Associates bought the land. It was declared a Superfund site in the late 1980s, according to the EPA fact sheet.
If the owners of Muller and CIC will not negotiate, the township will make plans to condemn the site and acquire it through eminent domain for fair market value, Spadoro said.
Using the two sites as one open space tract will give people open space in an area targeted for much commercial redevelopment, Spadoro said.
The site of the former Ford Motor Co. plant is slated for a mixed-use town center on Route 1. And on nearby Vineyard Road, plans for a superstore Wal-Mart, retail store and restaurant are under way.
“Given the amount of taxpayer dollars used to clean up this site and its detrimental impact on our community, transferring this land to Edison for a public use would best serve our community and our residents,” Spadoro said.