The 12.2-acre Caldwell Trucking Company (CTC) site is located approximately 0.7 miles south of the Passaic River in Fairfield Township, New Jersey. From the early 1950s until 1973, CTC disposed of domestic and industrial septic waste in unlined lagoons on the property. After 1973, three underground storage tanks were installed to store wastes prior to off-site disposal. All the unlined lagoons were backfilled by the 1980s, except one that was covered with plywood. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the site to the Superfund Program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983 due to the contamination of surface and subsurface soils, and groundwater. By 1984, the underground storage tanks were no longer in use, and CTC operated the facility solely as a transport facility until it ceased operations in 1988.

A plume of contaminated groundwater extends about 4,000 feet northeast from the site. The groundwater discharges into a seep area that forms the headwaters of an unnamed branch of Deepavaal Brook, a tributary to the Passaic River. The Passaic River is used for recreation and as a source of drinking water for the surrounding communities under the authority of the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC). The public water supply intake is located approximately 2.2 miles downstream from its confluence with Deepavaal Brook.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (methyl chloroform), are present in groundwater on-site and the contaminant plumes have been subsequently delineated. Further remedial investigation found metals, VOCs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in subsurface soils. Heavy metals were also detected in on-site surface soils. The remediation of soil contamination has been addressed, and long-term groundwater cleanup is ongoing. An on-site freshwater wetland that was disturbed by the remedial activities was restored, and an additional 2.5 acres of wetlands were enhanced through the removal of invasive species and planting of native vegetation.