Trenton Fibre Drum Co. site located at 1545 New York Ave.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The first shovelful of contaminated soil at the abandoned Trenton Fibre Drum Co. site at 1545 New York Ave., in the southern part of the township, is expected to be scooped up next week.
The state Department of Environmental Protection plans to excavate the contaminated soil from the site and replace it with clean fill, according to a Nov. 3 letter from Karen Kloo, DEP community relations coordinator. The project will take 12 to 18 months to complete.
Mayor Gregory Puliti said he is pleased that the DEP plans to begin work.
”That’s fantastic,” Mayor Puliti said. “Ever since the place burned down, we have been trying to get it cleaned up. We are fortunate and grateful. I feel very good about it — that we have come this far to having it cleaned up.”
Known informally as the barrel factory, the Trenton Fibre Drum Co. went out of business after it was destroyed by fire in 1984. The DEP subsequently discovered hazardous materials on the site.
Lawrence Township obtained tax liens against the 1.6-acre property for unpaid real estate taxes in 1990, but decided against foreclosing on the lien and taking ownership of it, township officials said.
The Trenton Fibre Drum Co. cleaned out used metal drums. An acidic wash was used to remove the chemicals stored inside the drums, so they could be repainted and reused. Contamination occurred when the rinse solution was dumped on the ground.
Previous environmental investigations revealed that soil and groundwater at the site are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides, PCBs and metals, according to the DEP letter.
The DEP began clearing the site of vegetation in mid-September, DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna said Tuesday afternoon. The excavation work will begin next week, he said.
The excavated soil will be stored onsite, Mr. Hajna said. It will be examined and characterized as hazardous, contaminated but not hazardous, or PCB-regulated, he said. Depending on how it is categorized, the soil will be taken to the appropriate disposal site — none of which are located in Lawrence Township, he added.
”Heavy-duty trucks will be used to transport the soil to the disposal facility, so there may be increased truck traffic,” according to Ms. Kloo’s Nov. 3 letter. “The NJDEP will suppress dust and odors during construction. Perimeter air-monitoring systems will measure dust and vapors.”
The excavation work is expected to cost at least $1 million, and possibly as much as $2 million, Mr. Hajna said. The money is coming from revenue generated by the state’s corporate business tax, he noted.
Mr. Hajna said it is not known how much it will cost to transport the contaminated soil or how much it will cost to dispose of it, until the material is actually hauled away to a disposal site.
The second phase of the remediation project calls for a study to determine the use of injecting hydrogen-releasing compounds into the groundwater, Ms. Kloo wrote. It is not known how much money that phase of the project will cost.
The chemicals would help natural organisms break down the contaminants, which include benzene, tetrachloroethene, trichlorothene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, mercury, nickel and zinc. The contaminants have not affected drinking water sources or private wells, according to the DEP.

