2 Woodbridge Twp. Sites Named In Environmental Lawsuits

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Two Woodbridge Township industrial sites have been named in an aggressive group of lawsuits filed Wednesday by the New Jersey Attorney General, which seek to make former and current property owners pay for pollution, both at those sites and into nearby streams, creeks and waterways.

The former Hess petroleum refinery in the Port Reading section of Woodbridge and a former retail Mobil gas station in Fords were each named in lawsuits filed by the state today.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the state's DEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe called the lawsuits a “new day” for environmental enforcement in New Jersey.

Here is background on the Fords Mobil site, also known as Johnny’s Service Center Site, on King George's Post Road: From the 1940s to the early 1990s, several owners operated a retail gas station on King George’s Post Road in the Fords section of Woodbridge Township. In the 1990s, the station was converted to an automobile repair service business.

When four underground storage tanks were removed in 1998, it was discovered that gasoline-related compounds had leaked from the tanks and contaminated the soil and groundwater. After the owner failed to comply with enforcement actions brought by the Department, New Jersey sought and obtained court-ordered access to the site to begin soil and groundwater remediation.

During the removal, corrosion holes and pitting along the tank bottoms were noted, and petroleum-impacted soils were observed under the underground storage tanks. During the time that Woodbridge resident Gary English owned the property, "hazardous substances," including the gasoline-related compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, naphthalene, tertiary butyl alcohol and lead leaked into the soil, the state said.

New Jersey is now seeking to recover its costs from the responsible parties.

Here is background on the Hess petroleum refinery in Port Reading, pictured above: In 1958, the Amerada Hess Corporation opened a refinery in Port Reading. The refinery is located on the banks of the Arthur Kill, just south of a Conrail yard, and about 1,200 feet from the closest residential area. In 2013, the Hess Corporation sold the site to Buckeye Partners, which now uses the facility to store and process crude oil and refined petroleum products.

Over the years, there have been numerous spills and leaks at the refinery that caused injuries to nearby natural resources, the AG said. The resources are damaged by, among other hazardous substances and pollutants, trichloroethylene (“TCE”), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (“PAH”), benzene and metals. These contaminants have been linked to lasting effects on the human central nervous system and respiratory tract, blood disorders, and other serious health conditions. New Jersey is seeking natural resource damages for the injuries to the groundwater, surface water, sediments and wetlands.

“This is the largest single-day environmental enforcement action in New Jersey in at least a decade,” said Attorney General Grewal. “Today is just the beginning. We are going to hold polluters accountable – no matter how big, no matter how powerful, no matter how long they’ve been getting away with it. And we’re sending a message to every company across the state: if you pollute our natural resources, we are going to make you pay.”

Pictured at top and middle: The Hess Port Reading site at 750 Cliff Road in Woodbridge Twp. Taken on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (Office of the Attorney General/Tim Larsen)