Remnants of Unexcelled chemical blast remain
By: Lacey Korevec
Unexploded ordinance technician Rich Endress held a live land mine in his left hand.
"This is not the kind of item that I would kick, heat or expose to electricity," he said, while examining the rusted, metal cylinder. "These are very sensitive to static electricity."
Mr. Endress, who works for Ensr, an engineering and remediation company from Westford Mass., is working with Viridian to extract munitions from a 395-acre site at the northeast corner of Route 130 and Brick Yard Road, where a chemical plant owned by defunct Unexcelled Chemical Corp. exploded in 1954.
The site was owned and operated as the Unexcelled Chemical Corp. from 1930 to 1954. The site was home to manufacturing operations for the production of signal flares, fireworks, insect repellant, and in later years, military munitions including grenade fuses and 6-pound napalm bombs. When the chemical factory exploded, two men were killed and 10 were injured. The blast contaminated the area’s soil and water with munitions used to make hand grenades and napalm bombs. Since then, the land has been unused.
So far, Mr. Endress has found more than 700 munitions, at least 10 of which were live, he said. The last time he found any live munitions was about three weeks ago, but he said there are definitely more out there.
"Some things I can look at right away and know they’re live," he said. "But sometimes, there’s a gray area."
Viridian, a Colorado firm that specializes in environmental cleanup and redevelopment, bought the property in January for $6 million from a bank in Paris, Credit Agricole, and took over the cleanup, which was ordered by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
To date, Viridian has spent more than $4 million cleaning up the site. The company plans to build 2.8 million square feet of warehouses on the parcel by 2008. Viridian will have to receive state approval before capping the site with building foundations and parking areas, to officially complete the cleanup before beginning the construction.
Right now, small red flags scattered across the barren property stand out among the tree stumps, overgrown grass and muddy puddles. Mr. Endress said the company used a metal detector to determine spots of land that have metal beneath them and then marked the areas with the bright-colored flags. But not every piece of metal is a bomb, he said.
"It could be a railroad spike," he said. "Could be a piece of ammunition."
Though the area where the explosion took place is only 85 acres, Mr. Endress said munitions are not limited to that area.
"With an explosion like that, you can get stray items anywhere," he said.
Viridian chief executive officer Bill Lynott said it will be impossible to ever know whether or not all the munitions are removed.
"We want to get all of it, but we probably can’t," he said. "We know we can’t."
Mr. Lynott and the Cranbury Police Department said no accidents on the property have been reported since the original explosion.
Mr. Lynott said constructing warehouses and parking lots over portions of the land will protect warehouse workers from any remaining munitions still in the ground. He also said the area will have signs warning of the possible danger in certain areas.
But the parcel contains 250 acres of wetlands and is zoned for light impact industrial facilities, like warehouses, in the Cranbury Township Master Plan, because development of these facilities have minimal impact on the environment.
Township Committeeman David Stout said the township is happy Viridian is cleaning up the land and plans to develop it. But he said Viridian sent a letter to the township Aug. 4, formally asking the township to consider an amendment to extend sewer lines to the property, which would allow them to develop the land further than they had originally claimed they would.
Mr. Stout added that Viridian said the township misunderstood the letter and that the company did not make a formal request.
"I think the perspective of the town is, we’re glad they’re here," he said. "We want them to clean up the property and there’s a legal obligation that that be done. They have a right to develop to a certain extent and development beyond that extent would require an extension of the sewer, as I understand it. And extension of the sewer is an issue of great concern for the town. It has many ramifications that we need to consider."
The township has been seeking advice from the DEP on the matter because of the property’s wetlands, Mr. Stout said.
"What’s important is that in the state’s development plan, the property is in what is known as Planning Area Four B, which is rural and environmentally sensitive," he said. "This is why the township wants to meet with the NJDEP, because of the environmental sensitivity of the property."
Mr. Lynott said Viridian wants township officials "to be on board" with their hope to add sewers to the area.
"It’s good to have their support but, as a land owner, we can pursue with the sewer district directly," he said. "Our preference, obviously, is to build support for a redevelopment plan with the officials and the local folks, but technically, do we have to have it, no."
He also said Viridian wants to protect the parcel’s wetlands.
"I want to come out of this with the same amount of wetlands that were on this property when we started," he said.
Mr. Lynott said completion of the warehouses will benefit Cranbury residents because it will provide an annual tax surplus of approximately $2.9 million, which would mean each household could receive $750 to $1,000 per year in tax relief.
Township Tax Assessor Steven Benner said he would not confirm the tax figures provided by Mr. Lynott at this time.
Mr. Lynott also said Viridian plans to help the township fund the completion of Liberty Way, which runs from South River Road to Station Road and is designed to divert truck traffic from the township’s section of Route 130 to N.J. Turnpike Exit 8A. Mr. Lynott said Liberty Way would be the best way for trucks to access the property without getting onto Route 130, and Viridian wants to help the township ease truck traffic pressure on the highway.
"Our project will contribute significantly to the proposed construction of Liberty Way and the Liberty Way bridge over Brainerd Lake," he said.
Township officials have been concerned about finding money to fund the construction of a two-way bridge that will cross the east part of Brainerd Lake and Cranbury Brook, a project that is estimated to cost between $11 million and $16 million.
Though Viridian recently sent a letter to the township asking that both parties meet with the DEP at the same time, Mr. Stout said the township would like to meet with the DEP separately before holding a joint session.
"We’ve met with (Viridian) on a number of occasions and we will basically be willing to do that after the township meets with the DEP," Mr. Stout said.