Matlack
Inc. Site
Route 322
Township of Woolwich, Gloucester County
Preferred ID (PI#): 007390
Block: 617, Lot: 1
Fact Sheet — August 2011
Site History
The Matlack Inc. site (Site) is located on the south side of
Route 322 in Woolwich Township. It is bordered to the northwest
and west by a State Wildlife Management Area and Grand Sprute
Run, a tributary of Racoon Creek, which flows into the Delaware
River. To the northeast, the Site is bordered by residential/commercial
properties and farm fields form the southeast border. The Site,
a 31-acre truck terminal and tank-trailer cleaning facility, operated
between 1962 and 2001. However, during the last few years of operation
there were minimal tank cleaning operations.
Contaminants of Concern
The Site’s primary waste was generated during tank cleaning
operations. Rinse water from the cleaning of the tanks was disposed
of in an unlined sand and gravel pit (lagoon) at the Site between
1962 and 1976. The lagoon was eventually covered with demolition
rubble and fill when Matlack began using underground tanks to
hold the rinsate. Additional sources of contamination on the Site
were underground storage tanks and a diesel fuel line leak. Volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) consisting of tetrachloroethylene (PCE),
benzene and trichloroethylene (TCE) are the primary contaminants
of concern in groundwater, soil, surface water and sediment at
the Site.
Field Activities
Based on numerous investigations that were conducted at the Site,
the facility installed a system to pump and treat contaminanted
groundwater. The system was shut down because of issues involving
adequate monitoring. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) required modification of the treatment system, however,
the system was never upgraded because Matlack filed for bankruptcy
and liquidated in 2001. A court ordered agreement established
with the company to clean up the site was no longer valid. However,
DEP did use a two million dollar Letter of Credit that was still
available for the cleanup costs.
In 2005, field sampling was performed by NJDEP at the Site and
at Grand Sprute Run. Findings revealed that contaminated groundwater
was impacting the stream. In Spring, 2006 the NJDEP refurbished
and re-activated the groundwater pump and treat system left behind
by Matlack using funds from the Letter of Credit.
Potable well samples have been collected at several residential
wells located near the Site. No VOCs have been detected. Well
sampling conducted in 2003, 2005 and 2008 by DEP identified no
impacts from site related contaminants.
More information
For more information about State Cleanup Criteria
please see:
https://www.nj.gov/dep/standards/
The following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Web pages have more iinformation about Matlack Inc:
http://epa.gov/region02/waste/fsmatlack.htm
http://epa.gov/region02/waste/matla725.pdf
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Related Links
For more information, please contact Suzanne Shannon
at (609) 292-1156.
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