NYC, NJ flooding could unleash hazardous chemicals at these sites

Tens of thousands of tons of hazardous waste are stored in coastal facilities threatened by sea level rise in New York and New Jersey, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If the sites aren’t properly safeguarded, EPA officials said, floodwaters could carry the toxic chemicals stored within into streets and waterways, where they can harm people and animals.

New York City broke rainfall records last month due to a slew of tropical storms that also threatened the tristate area with storm surge and coastal flooding. Such weather is on the rise due to climate change, compounding the risk.

The EPA released a map earlier this year showing that 17 million tons of hazardous waste nationwide were managed in coastal counties. Of those, 1.6 million tons could be flooded by 5 feet or more of sea level rise. The data was current as of 2019.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a written statement that the map “shines a light on how the climate crisis intersects with and exacerbates significant environmental challenges that disproportionately affect overburdened, under-resourced communities.”

Local scientists added that the sites pose a special risk to densely packed coastal communities like the New York metro area.

“Hazardous waste is where the people are,” said Benjamin Bostick, a research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “So we have a disproportionate amount of materials that we’re worried about close to coastlines.”

Waste rising

“Hazardous waste” is a catch-all term for dangerous leftovers from human industry. The sludges, dusts, solvents, soils and gases are often shipped across state lines to management facilities, which the EPA closely tracks to ensure that the waste is handled safely.

Unless those sites take special precautions, coastal flooding can carry the chemicals out into surrounding waterways and communities. Exposure can cause health problems that run the gamut from skin irritation and headaches to cancer and birth defects.

“It’s not a problem if the waste is in a cupboard,” Bostick said. "But if that waste can dissolve in water and that water can get in and out, then it can carry contaminants from where they are — a hazardous waste site — to places you don’t want them to be — like your neighborhood.”

To make the map, scientists at the EPA overlaid sea level rise projections with its inventory of hazardous waste management sites up and down the coasts. They identified four at-risk facilities in New York and New Jersey, which together generate, receive, manage and dispose of many thousands of tons of waste each year.

Cycle Chem, Inc., a waste recovery and treatment located just across the water from Staten Island in Elizabethport, New Jersey, could be inundated by just 4 feet of sea level rise — just about the middle-of-the-road prediction by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of how much sea level rise we may experience by 2100.

In 2020 and 2021, the facility received more than 15,000 tons of hazardous waste from states up and down the eastern seaboard, according to EPA data. That tally includes 100-plus tons of used acid containing chromium, a metal involved in welding and chrome plating that is linked to breathing problems; nearly 700 tons of lead-contaminated soil; and 290 tons of sludge containing arsenic, chromium, lead and other dangerous chemicals.

A 2018 EPA report notes that the site is just 200 feet from the banks of the Elizabeth River, and that the groundwater around the property is contaminated with benzene, a cancer-causing chemical used in the production of plastics.

Nearby Clean Earth of North Jersey, in Kearny, received 88,000-plus tons of hazardous waste in 2020 and 2021, according to the EPA data. The facility has been used to store, treat and recycle hazardous waste for nearly 40 years. Its portfolio includes thousands of tons of contaminated soil, sludge and other chemical waste.

The facility is slightly further inland, the EPA map shows. It would take 8 feet of sea level rise to inundate the facility — which is beyond most 2100 projections, though Hurricane Sandy created this amount of storm surge and damaged some parts of the city.

Two New York City sites — a Con Edison plant and a waste treatment facility called Triumvirate Environmental — are also far enough from the coastline to be spared from the next few decades of sea level rise.

But Beizhan Yan, also of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, noted that even a few feet of extra water would seriously raise the treatment plants’ risk of flooding during severe storms, which are becoming more common due to climate change.

“Even with 4 or 5 feet of sea level rise plus storm surge, you still potentially could be impacted,” he said. “Sea level rise will make the groundwater high and the storm surge high and carry pollutants into the waters.”

Gothamist contacted the operators of the four sites prior to publication.

“We are committed to safety within our systems and operations for all New Yorkers,” Philip O’Brien, a spokesperson for Con Edison, wrote via email.

Melissa Quillard, a spokesperson for Cycle Chem operator Republic Services, said that its plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey is protected by a flood isolation wall and special floodproof storage tanks. Another flood wall is currently under construction, she added.

Safeguarding against sea level rise

Yan said that because the analysis focused on waste treatment plants, it left out other places polluted by hazardous chemicals, like brownfields and Superfund sites — dangerously contaminated areas tracked by the EPA under 1980’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

A 2020 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimated that 800-plus coastal sites nationwide could be flooded even under modest sea level rise projections. New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state along the East and Gulf Coasts, according to the report.

Still, Yan said, the map points the way for waste managers and local officials, who can work together to bolster waste treatment plants against rising seas.

“The city needs to be ready,” Yan said.

The EPA recommends a host of strategies to keep the hazardous waste sites out of harm’s way. Flood walls, landfill caps, elevated electrical equipment and resilient redesigns can all help mitigate the risks. The agency also urges local governments to include the facilities in their disaster planning.

The New Jersey, New York state and New York City environmental protection departments didn’t return requests for information about their plans for protecting residents from waterborne hazardous waste. But NYC does consider hazardous waste in its environmental review process for land use, and the city’s Office of Emergency Management counsels people to avoid wading in contaminated floodwaters in the wake of a storm. New York state law also requires that sea level rise and storm surge be considered when picking the location for a new hazardous waste site.

And companies that wrangle hazardous waste are legally obligated to report it to state and local authorities as well as the federal government, allowing city and state officials to keep tabs on present and future risks.

The end of the 21st century may seem far off to some, but Bostick noted that many of these hazardous wastes can stick around long after management facilities have closed down.

“A lot of the chemicals don’t go away,” he said. “If there are still people, it will still be a problem.”

This story was updated with comments from Con Edison and Cycle Chem.