With the decades-long cleanup of the Chemical Insecticide Corp. (CIC) Superfund site on Whitman Avenue due to be completed this spring, Edison has an incredible opportunity to redevelop the site for public recreation and open space. More than 77,000 people live within 3 miles of this long-polluted site, and they can finally benefit from it.
As the state’s nonprofit leader in the “Brownfields to Greenfields” redevelopment, the Edison Wetlands Association (EWA) has worked with the Edison community since 1989 to clean up the CIC site where green-furred rabbits roamed. Now we have the opportunity to make this area a source of township pride rather than shame by transforming it into a mixed-use open parkland.
This area of Edison lacks open space, and skyrocketing prices make other acquisitions difficult.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spent almost $10 million per acre to thoroughly clean the CIC area, digging down as deep as 26 feet in the process to remove more than 350,000 tons of contaminated soil. CIC is now as clean as any parkland in Edison — and should be treated as such.
The future of the Whitman Avenue neighborhood is in the balance. If the township doesn’t acquire CIC, it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder for warehousing space.
Whitman Avenue will become a major truck route, adding to the expected increases in air pollution, noise, danger and traffic in the area from major proposed developments at both ends of Vineyard Road.
With so much idle warehouse space in Edison, it makes no sense to build more next to a densely populated area.
EWA envisions something other than warehousing and truck traffic. Judging from community response to other nearby redevelopment projects, our shared vision is one of a tot-lot playground with swings, a dog park, sports fields and a conservation area — each an option that the area currently lacks.
Of course, the final decisions for the site will be up to residents in the area.
Once CIC is acquired, we will hold public meetings with the community and all interested parties to get input on site redevelopment.
Mayor George A. Spadoro has taken the first step in the right direction, and we urge him to move forward with this acquisition for the good of the community.
CIC has been a blight on our community for many decades. It is only fitting that it finally benefits the same residents who suffered for so long from its contamination and pollution.
The choice is simple: trucks and traffic or open public parkland.
Robert Spiegel
executive director
Edison Wetlands Association