EPA Should Test Soil, Groundwater In Keyport Neighborhoods, Congressman Says

KEYPORT, NJ — On Friday, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. called on Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to do environmental testing in residential sections of Keyport outside of the former Aeromarine landfill.

For the past several months, the state of New Jersey has been doing testing at the Keyport Sanitary Landfill at the Aeromarine Industrial Park.

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The state is testing soil and groundwater and soil at the Aeromarine site, and is working to identify toxins and heavy metals in the soil, as well as potential ways that residents can be exposed to those toxins.

But Pallone said the EPA should also test in residential neighborhoods around the landfill — and not just at the industrial park.

On August 7, Pallone sent this letter to the EPA.

Zeldin/the EPA did not immediately respond, and agree to do the additional testing.

In April 2026, this Star-Ledger/NJ.com special investigation found 40 cases of cancer near the former Aeromarine landfill in Keyport, including 28 clustered on one street. Since then, reports of cancer in Keyport have grown exponentially.

It is now a total of nearly 400 cancer cases reported in Keyport, and residents fear they are linked to the former landfill.

Independent testing done in July in Keyport found metals, benzene, vinyl chloride and PFAS — so-called "forever chemicals" — in groundwater at the former landfill site, with some contaminants exceeding soil and groundwater standards set by the state of New Jersey.

New York University toxicologist Judith Zelikoff, who reviewed the results with her team, told News Nation she agrees the groundwater and soil in neighborhoods and residential streets in Keyport need to be tested, as well.

"Nothing so far to date has been done in the communities. And so that work definitely needs to be done," she told the news site.

Pallone attended the community meeting held in Keyport July 30.