Search Here

Garfield, New Jersey may seem like just any other town. But just beneath the surface of the suburban streets is a potentially toxic danger. According to the Christian Post, a large quantity of hexavalent chromium, which sickened California residents depicted in the movie Erin Brokovich, has leaked out beneath the homes of the New Jersey suburb. The chemical has caused the town to be labeled a Superfund site, meaning that it is one of the nation's most dangerous unmanaged waste sites.

The spill was first discovered 30 years ago, according to the Associated Press. Three decades ago, that was when it was discovered that thousands of pounds of hexavalent chromium were leaking from a tank at the E.C. Electropating Company. At the time, the company was surrounded by apartment buildings and houses. The state of New Jersey descended on the town in order to clean up the spill, but two years later, for undetermined reasons, the clean-up crew stopped their work. A decade after the first discovery of the spill, the chemical was found inside a firehouse and in homes.  Two years ago, officials asked residents to stay out of their basements in order to limit their exposure to potentially tainted groundwater that may have leaked inside.

Officials say that a third of residents may have been exposed to the toxic chemicals - a total of 600 homes and 3,000 residents. Unfortunately, with the economy, the residents cannot sell their houses, so officials want to quell their fears by determining their level of contamination. The toxic chemical is not a threat to the water supply, because the town receives their water from an outside source.

The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to drill into the ground in order to assess how much chromium lies beneath the surface. Officials will also examine the surrounding area in order to devise a plan of how to clean it up.

As for the residents, the officials are asking them for samples of their toenails. The reason is that toenails grow slowly, meaning that a sample can provide an accurate assessment of the chemicals to which they have been exposed over the past 18 months.