“Everyone is talking about clean air and clean water but you can’t have that unless these sites get cleaned up,” said Tina. “And the only way we’re going to do that is through the Superfund program.”

When Tina Freedman, 43, moved to Marlboro Township, New Jersey with her family, she had no idea that the Imperial Oil Company had been polluting her neighborhood for close to twenty years.  “In the purchase agreement for my home there was a paragraph that identified two Superfund sites located about two miles from home”, said Tina.  “Everyone was new to the neighborhood and we all assumed that the sites had been cleaned up.  But over time, I began to worry about the possible health threats to my family and neighbors.”

 
Industrial operations at the Imperial Oil site date back to 1912 when pesticides using arsenic were produced.  In 1950 Champion Chemical Co. bought the property for use as an oil reclamation facility, which still operates today.  Waste oil spills and past conditions affected the ground water and a major spill   traveled down a stream through two other townships, leaving hot spots of contamination.

With seven other parents, Tina formed a non-profit group which worked alongside a Township committee dedicated to work on the two Superfund sites.

“Everyone is talking about clean air and clean water but you can’t have that unless these sites get cleaned up,” said Tina.  “And the only way we’re going to do that is through the Superfund program.  Our community has nowhere else to turn.”