Written by Rick DeGroot
Fire Instructor at Chester County Dept of Emergency Services
On April 21,1980, at 10:54 p.m., the street fire box at South Front Street and Elizabeth Avenue in Elizabeth, New Jersey was activated for what would eventually be regarded as the largest chemical waste fire in United States history. Chemical Control Corporation, at 23 South Front Street, was in the business of disposing of chemical waste collected from various chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers. As environmental regulations became more and more stringent, Chemical Control was either unwilling or unable to meet the new safety standards. Barrels of waste were accumulated at the site, so that at the time of the incident, it was estimated that there were over 40,000 barrels of chemicals present. The fire raged out of control for over 10 hours, before master streams from deck guns and aerial pipes were able to contain the inferno. Fire units remained on the scene for 185 hours and 21 minutes. Mutual aid was provided from nine different municipalities. More than sixty firefighters were injured, most with long-term symptoms and lasting health effects.
The city of Elizabeth is the county seat of Union County in northern New Jersey. As of the 2020 US census, the city has a total population of 137,298, making it the state’s fourth most populous city, after neighboring Newark, Jersey City, and Paterson. Located along the Arthur Kill that separates Elizabeth from the New York City borough of Staten Island, it is an industrial center with a diverse working-class population. The Elizabeth waterfront along the Arthur Kill is a busy industrial area dotted with marine service companies, an asphalt plant, and petroleum storage facilities. The Goethals Bridge carries heavily travelled Interstate Route 278 above the Arthur Kill onto Staten Island. The city is protected by the Elizabeth Fire Department employing 254 career firefighters operating seven engine companies, three ladder companies and one heavy rescue company from seven fire stations. Five BLS ambulances are also operated by the Ambulance Service Bureau.
The Chemical Control Corporation site was located on a spit of land near the mouth of the Elizabeth River where it empties into the Arthur Kill. Located at 23 South Front Street, the 2-acre site was once a marshland and is now primarily flat land that is slightly above sea-level. The company worked as a hazardous waste disposal plant from 1972 until its condemnation in 1979. Before the April 21, 1980 fire, it was reported that over 50,000 drums of chemicals, ranging from dioxin, benzene, cyanide, toluene, ethylene dichloride and more, were present on the site. The company received a five-year operating permit in 1972 for its incinerator that passed the air quality tests. Between 1976 and 1977, the owner and operator of Chemical Control was William Carracino. During this period of time, he arranged for midnight dumpings throughout Elizabeth to "offset the buildup of inventory at the site." He was indicted and convicted of this crime and was sentenced to two consecutive three year terms and fined a sum of $21,000.
Carracino sold the company to Eugene Conlon and John Albert, who were allegedly linked to the well-known Genovese organized crime family. The two appointed William Collection as the new president. During this time, 30,000 drums of chemicals were recorded on site and Collection was ordered to get rid of them in a safe manner. He had refused to do so and by 1979 over 50,000 drums of chemicals were recorded to be on site. This led to the condemnation of the Chemical Control site in 1979 and its designation as a Superfund site. Prior to the federal Environmental Protection Agency intervention, the state of New Jersey initiated a cleanup of the site in 1979 when the company was taken over by Conlon and Albert. The state ordered that the new owners had to eliminate the barrels that had built up on the site at a rate of 1,200 per month, to inventory and label all on-site drums, and to incinerate all burnable waste.
The state administrator who mandated the requirements however did not state that the site was barred from accepting more chemicals. This resulted in an increase of 30,000 drums of chemicals to 50,000 drums of chemicals on site by 1979. As a result, an investigation by the New Jersey Bureau of Hazardous Wastes was started which led to the suit filed against Chemical Control and its parent company, the Northern Pollution Control Company of New York. The owners of Chemical Control, Conlon and Albert, claimed that their company did not have sufficient funds to perform a cleanup. The Chemical Control records at the time showed only a few thousand dollars, so the state put the company in receivership. After being condemned in 1979, Peabody Costal Services was hired to commence the cleanup of the site. Between 1979 and the fire of 1980, 8,000 to 10,000 drums of toxic and explosive chemicals were removed, along with 5 pounds of radioactive substances, 10 pounds of disease-bearing material, and nearly 400 pounds of explosive material. The whole operation cost between $11 -$13 million and was funded by the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund.
At first, national intervention was not necessary due to the intense state efforts to clean up the site. However, on April 21, 1980, an explosive fire at the hazardous waste facility sent a toxic mixture of gases and chemical particulates into the atmosphere. Fifty-five gallon drums containing a variety of chemicals rocketed two hundred feet in the air before they burst due to the intense heat. Temperatures reached 3,000° F., melting and fusing containers. An estimated 50,000 drums of hazardous waste burned for more than ten hours before the Elizabeth Fire Department, aided by area fire mutual aid resources, was able to bring the four-alarm fire under control at 9:15 a.m. on April 22. The site continued to smolder for several days.
During the fire, a plume of noxious smoke and ash blanketed a fifteen square-mile area northeast from the site including heavily populated areas of Elizabeth, Staten Island and Lower Manhattan. Some feared the toxins would force evacuations on Staten Island and in Elizabeth, but winds helped disburse the pollutants. The fire not only caused chemicals to become airborne, but also resulted in them entering the Elizabeth River, the Arthur Kill, groundwater and soil.
Contamination of the environment and health risks of over 15 million people led the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene at the site. The site was proposed for admission to be put on the National Priorities List in October 1981 and was finally added in September 1983. The origin of the fire has never been determined, although unstable chemicals are the prime suspect.
As a result of both leaking drums of chemicals and the 1980 fire, the contamination of soil, surface water, ground water and air reached dangerous levels. Prior to the fire, the noted chemicals that were removed from the site included benzene, cyanide, military nerve gas, PCB's, dioxin and nitroglycerine. One of the more toxic chemicals that was reported on site was dioxin, which in its pure form, three ounces of dioxin in New York's water supply could kill everyone in the city. Carracino admitted that there was one thousand 55-gallon drums of dioxin at the Chemical Control site. During the fire, the chemicals known to be onsite included insecticides, mercury compounds, nitric and picric acids, benzene, toluene, solvents, plasticizers, alcohol, and ethylene dichloride. The solvents on site including benzene and ethylene dichloride can cause sudden death, blindness, damage to kidneys, liver and lung damage, irregular heartbeat, and skin rashes. High mercury compound exposure can cause mercury poisoning leading to death or permanently damaged kidneys and brain. The exposure of insecticides can cause certain types of cancers, birth defects, irritation of eyes and skin and hormonal imbalance.
Due to the 1980 fire and midnight dumpings by Carracino, the surface water of the Elizabeth River, which was in close proximity, had been contaminated by several chemicals. These chemicals included benzene, PCBs, toluene, trichloroethylene, and trihalogenated methanes and also lead to the contamination of marine life in the river including, crabs, shellfish and fish.
On average, 15 million people were affected by the huge cloud of smoke and contaminates that arose and spread from both Elizabeth and adjacent areas of New York City. Those impacted the most were firefighters and residents in close proximity of the fire. It was reported that as a result of the fire, some of the chemicals were neutralized from the intense heat. Some side effects have been reported from firefighters and bystanders of the nearby communities. While only five firefighters reported injuries during the fire, more than sixty firefighters experienced long term health effects as a result of exposure to the burning toxins. Many firefighters have contracted various forms of cancer and other serious illnesses.
Many firefighters, bystanders, and residents as far away as Staten Island required treatment for irritated throats, eyes, lips, and skin. Some also suffered temporary loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and eye strain. Firefighters and waste disposal workers were reported to be still suffering from dizziness and diarrhea six months after the fire. In an article published in the Star Ledger, it was reported that ten years after the fire, "about 20 members of the fire department who were involved with battling the blaze, now suffer from cancer or other illnesses, including lung disease, blood disorders and nerve damage." Elizabeth Firefighter Mularz, who was one of the men on duty during the blaze, reported that due to his own exposure, he was diagnosed with permanent lung damage, mental problems and an incurable blood disorder. Many of those affected by the fire who suffered from health problems are currently in lawsuits to seek out compensation.
After the 1980 fire, national intervention from the Environmental Protection Agency fueled cleanup efforts. A remedial plan was approved in order to determine the extensive cleanup measures that needed to be taken. The research and analysis of this part alone cost $785,500 and was completed in 12 months. The cleanup for the site was addressed in three stages, the first being an immediate action plan by the Environmental Protection Agency, followed by two long-term remedial phases. The immediate action by the EPA started in the early 1980s and included removing and decontaminating 11 box trailers and one vacuum truck; clearing plugged storm sewers; sampling and removing 187 gas cylinders left at the site and one taken from the Elizabeth River; conducting a limited site investigation and a focused evaluation of the alternatives for cleanup to confirm reports that drums from the site had entered the river; and removing all containers found next to the site.
Following the immediate action of the Environmental Protection Agency, long term actions were initiated which included combining contaminated soil with a solidification agent so that the contaminants cannot migrate from the site; removal of debris from earlier cleanup actions, including water collected during monitoring well installation, items recovered from the Elizabeth River under the initial cleanup action, used disposable equipment, and the decontamination pad; sealing the sanitary sewer line under the site where it connects to the South Front Street storm sewer; repairing the berm that separates the site from the Elizabeth River; and collecting and analyzing environmental samples to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy, including an periodic evaluation to assess protectiveness of human health and the environment. All three plans were completed.
The Chemical Control Corporation site is now an empty lot of approximately 2 acres covered by crushed stone and secured by a chain link fence. A most recent five-year review was completed on September 12, 2014 and the Environmental Protection Agency is considering removing the Chemical Control Corporation Superfund site from the National Priorities List. However, the site has not been approved for reuse or redevelopment. As of 2019, the site was being used for storage purposes.
An industrial accident that reinforced New Jersey’s unfortunate reputation for toxic pollution, the fire at the Chemical Control Corporation site in Elizabeth was one of a number incidents that spurred the U.S. Congress to pass legislation creating the Superfund remediation program later that year.
We have attached photos from the incident. We have also attached a link to a short documentary video on the incident: https://youtu.be/NPgwifGzJRU
Remember the Elizabeth firefighters whose health was affected by this disastrous fire today by reviewing industrial and commercial occupancies in your local to familiarize your crew members with the hazardous materials stored or used on site.
Get Out There And Know Your Local!!!