DuPont Dumping: How the Pompton Lakes (N.J.) Community Rose Above Against Decades of Environmental Damage by DuPont (1980s-2010s)

Introduction

Tina Marsh grew up in Pompton Lakes in Passaic County, New Jersey during the 1970s and 1980s in DuPont village near Acid Brook that ran through her neighborhood. Her father Richard had worked at the DuPont factory for many decades. Throughout her childhood, Tina and her family had gone through many issues involving their health. Tina along with her brother, suffered frequent nosebleeds and migraines in their early childhood. Although these ailments that she suffered when she was a child were not suspicious at the time, her health situation got a lot worse when she found out she had cervical cancer at seventeen. This news was shocking and heartbreaking for anyone to hear, especially at her age, but the unique thing about this was that she was not the only local with cervical cancer. Throughout her life, Tina knew others that had cervical cancer including her niece who also lived in the neighborhood as well as a friend who passed in her late 30s that lived just down the street. As much as cervical cancer is a horrific illness for someone to suffer, the mystery lying underneath of why other people within her community were also getting sick made her situation much darker. [1]

Tina Marsh was not alone as other residents in her community were also getting sick, but along with people’s illnesses, a bunch of strange things were happening within Pompton Lakes. The “Acid Brook” that Tina along with several other families lived along often found to have changed colors periodically depending on the pollutants.[2] Families would also see DuPont workers across the street wearing hazmat suits sometimes.[3] It was also found that the value of properties was also dropping mysteriously, and the concern of citizens was growing[4]. In June of 1988, a public meeting was held by the mayor to discuss environmental and health concerns. It was revealed to the public that day that there was pollution originating from the factory migrating beyond the property grounds and into the neighborhood. This was the first time that the public had this information revealed to them.[5] This meeting had citizens wondering what other secrets have been kept away from them for all of this time further growing their concerns.

The experiences that Tina and her neighbors suffered in Pompton Lakes raises a few important questions. First and foremost, why did it take so long for the public to learn about the extent of the pollution? How did the people of Pompton Lakes respond to the problems caused by DuPont? Lastly, how were the people able to succeed in driving DuPont and the pollution out of their town? The purpose of this report is to address these questions and dive into the details that sparked this battle between the citizens of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey and DuPont, and how they fought for proper clean up. Therefore, the argument this paper makes is that the unity displayed by the Pompton Lakes people was the driving force that got DuPont out of their town.

This essay explores the suspicious and harmful activity of DuPont and the community of Pompton Lakes’ response to the atrocities that they caused to their people. It discusses important topics such as historical background of the town DuPont’s presence over the 20^th Century, more specifically the favorable reputation they built from boosting the economy, followed by the specific damage done to the surrounding environment that ultimately killed their reputation. It will then segue into how the citizens were forced to respond with DuPont doing whatever they could to take as little responsibility as possible with environmental protection departments providing minimal support. It will finally show how forming a local grassroots organization and urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the support of larger grassroots organizations led to expedited cleanup efforts with the Chemours operation.

What’s Happened in Pompton Lakes?

Pompton Lakes is a borough located in Passaic County in northern New Jersey. Pompton Lakes is a company town founded in 1895 formed after an early history of iron works and manufacturing. It has an early history of tourism with the Romain Hotel built in 1830s serving as a popular vacation destination for New Yorkers with other fun leisure activities such as “a cider mill, boating and stables” as stated in Pompton Lakes’ online historical guide. Pompton Lakes is also home to many historical figures such as Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, successful professional boxers who trained and held public boxing exhibitions that gave back to the community. James Hart Wyld was also another significant figure that successfully manufactured and tested a rocket in Pompton Lakes. [6]

The population of Pompton Lakes rose heavily in the early 20^th century as a result of industry and the founding of thriving businesses and corporations with people filling job positions, boosting the town’s economy greatly. There were businesses that existed prior to the Pompton Lakes’ founding such as the German Artistic Weaving Company founded in 1889 that brought workers in and initiated the town’s founding just six years later. Businesses continued to be opened, including a factory, formerly the Smith Powder Works, bought out by DuPont de Nemours and Company beginning operations in 1902. DuPont built “a neat cluster of homes” just outside out the factory labeled “Du Pont Village,” just down the street for its employees who traveled from all over the country for work. People were travelling from all over for work and this boosted the development of this town. Pompton Lakes, New Jersey quickly became a great town for people to find work and raise their families. [7]

The future of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey in the 20^th century was looking bright as it was a well-established company town with a thriving economy, but it was not until the 1980s that the citizens noticed that there was a problem in the environment. Similar to Tina Marsh’s case, there were several citizens within the Pompton Lakes community that were suffering from major illnesses. There are many accounts of people being diagnosed with major, oftentimes rare, forms of cancer such as spinal sarcoma, rare forms of skin cancer, thyroid cancer, and the list goes on.[8] There was a disproportionate number of diagnoses within the community so understandably, people demanded answers.

The public meeting with the people of Pompton Lakes that then-mayor John Sinsimer organized in June of 1988, uncovered crucial information that had been kept away from the public for years. The DuPont factory that had been operating in their town for over 80 years at this point was to blame for these ailments. The water and soil surrounding Du Pont Village was heavily contaminated with lead, mercury, and other harmful solvents that were found to be harming this community.[9] All these contaminants were waste products that made their way from the nearby factory into the community. Despite the environmental damage DuPont was found to have been causing to this community for decades, causing a variety of peculiar illnesses, there was still no knowledge given to the citizens of Pompton Lakes all this time.[10]

Over a decade later, following litigation and intervention by the people and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people were still getting sick and property value depreciating, resulting from a “vapor plume” creeping up into nearby resident’s homes.[11] Despite attempts from citizens and the EPA to resolve the environmental injustice ruining their beloved community, not enough was done initially to ensure the cleanup of the water and soil. Following the 1988 meeting, the people had not realized it yet, but there was going to be a long-fought battle between Pompton Lakes and DuPont spanning multiple decades.

The DuPont Problem

DuPont is a chemical giant operating since 1802 based in Wilmington, Delaware, founded based on the United States’ need of gunpowder.[12] The company had grown as it opened more plants operating in locations all over the United States including Pompton Lakes, New Jersey in the early 20^th century. At one point in time, DuPont was considered to be “one of the largest and most respected companies in American history”.[13] The company had made big strides transitioning from manufacturing gunpowder and munitions to becoming a “multiline chemical firm” as put nicely by Adam Rome in his piece on corporate environmentalism.[14] It is no doubt that throughout the 19^th and most of the 20^th centuries, DuPont had built a favorable reputation in American history.

In the first eight decades that the plant had been in operation in Pompton Lakes, DuPont had upheld that strong reputation within the community, providing large contributions to the community’s economy. The factory opened in 1902, and their mission in Pompton Lakes was to contribute to the company’s manufacturing of gunpowder, munitions, explosives, etc.[15] Just down the street from the DuPont worksite, the company had built a series of homes, labeled the “Du Pont Village” by Pompton Lakes, in order to house its workers.[16]A lot of citizens of the Pompton Lakes community resided in Du Pont Village, playing a big part in the borough’s economy. Joanne Gormley, who grew up and raised her family in Pompton Lakes, explained to North Jersey Media Group “All my family worked there”.[17] DuPont had a great presence in this town, providing the people careers and an opportunity for them to build a life for themselves, but additionally, the site contributed to the nation’s needs. It is also important to consider that they manufactured blasting caps and ammunition  were provided to the United States war efforts during World War I and World War II.[18]

DuPont had maintained their great reputation in Pompton Lakes for most of the century, that was until the discovery of the horrific environmental damage that they have been causing. Such discovery was made by the newly elected mayor of Pompton Lakes at the time John Sinsimer. The mayor needed to find the bibles in his office that were locked in a cabinet. Once he got the cabinet door opened, he found the bibles along with “three large binders, marked ‘DuPont’” as reported by North Jersey Media. When he explored these binders, he uncovered a major secret. DuPont was the cause of widespread pollution in his community. Right away, Sinsimer rallied up experts to analyze the binders he found locked away and assist him in formulating a response to DuPont and the state. In those efforts, he also knew that the public needed to know what was going on.[19]

In June of 1988, local officials revealed to the community that DuPont had been irresponsibly discarding toxic waste chemicals into the community for decades in a public meeting with the people. In their manufacturing process, DuPont often had a batch of product that was inadequate and had to be disposed of. There were several ponds and unlined lagoons in which DuPont set off defective blasting caps and other wastes with the “shooting pond” being the most significant to the pollution. The shooting pond was a large pond on the northern side of the property that laid adjacent to the Acid Brook which flowed beyond the site and through the community running behind several homes and into Pompton Lake which was in the very center of town. This practice was routine for a long time as “For decades, DuPont detonated about 100 blasting caps in the pond every 10 minutes, five days a week” as stated by North Jersey Media. Lead and mercury had been spread through the Acid Brook and into the lake long before anyone found out. Other waste products such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) used to clean machinery were also thrown away in such ponds that further contaminated the water and even the soil. All of this information was news to all of the people living on top of it, but this raises an important question of how this could have been kept from the public for all of these years. [20]

The New Jersey Department of Environmental protection knew about what was going on the site years prior to the public meeting, but did not care to notify the citizens of the surrounding area. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) got involved when they discovered the pollution on the DuPont site in 1980 when they inspected the property. The NJDEP identified the issues causing the widespread pollution in the town. They discovered various practices that were not up to standard with their regulations. They observed DuPont’s blasting of defective lead-based blasting caps and the lagoons that they discarded the waste products into. The DEP stated in a memo that the lagoon water was “milky gray in color” with a “black oily sediment” surrounding it as reported by North Jersey Media. The sediment was from workers clearing the lagoon of sludge and spreading around the perimeter of the pond. DuPont received a permit from the NJDEP to cleanup the polluted Shooting Pond and lagoons on the property and required testing only on the property grounds. The Acid Brook was directly next to the Shooting Pond so the DEP should have considered the Acid Brook as an area of discharge and required testing in the nearby neighborhood. They also should have made these violations known to the public because the pollution to the groundwater and soil is occurring right down the street and is harmful to nearby communities.[21]

A Divided Pompton Lakes

Following this shocking reveal by mayor Sinsimer and local officials and no thanks to the NJDEP, there was a major divide amongst the people on the fate of their community. The people who suffered the ill effects of the pollution by DuPont were outraged by this news and wanted something to be done. Tina Marsh was among one of those people hurt by DuPont’s actions and expressed that to North Jersey Media when she said “‘I kind of feel like DuPont ruined my life.’” Tina’s childhood neighbor Rebekah Mead, who developed interstitial cystitis at the age of 12 also shared her opinion of DuPont to North Jersey Media when she claimed “‘If I could kill them and get away with it I would do it. She also added “It’s so disheartening they could do this to people knowing they were doing it.’” There were several ill citizens and family members that were disgusted by DuPont’s negligence and demanded they take responsibility for what they have done. In this moment, they appreciated mayor Sinsimer for bringing light to the pollution that has been swept under the rug for years and his efforts to get DuPont and the NJDEP to do something about it.[22]

Mayor John Sinsimer had positive reception from the damaged population, but there was another party that believed that their jobs were at risk. Many of the citizens in town had been long-time workers for the DuPont munitions factory and believed that this negative publicity would have a negative impact on their careers. The population that worked for DuPont feared that an intervention against DuPont’s operations would “bankrupt the corporation” and that a downfall of the company would mean that they would “lose their jobs and pensions” according to the mayor. Mayor Sinsimer received an overwhelming level of backlash by working-class angry opposers who issued threats and slashed his tires. His wife needed to be hospitalized due to the stress of what was coming her husband’s way.[23]

The negative response of the working-class DuPont employees proved to be very detrimental to getting rid of Pompton Lakes’ pollution. As a result of the actions of the threats, tire-slashing, and high stress put on the Sinsimer family, the efforts to clean up the mess DuPont made was halted. The mayor decided that he would not continue his campaign for a second term and moved away once his first term concluded. He did have some things to say about the new administration as he explained that “The minute I left office, everything seemed to come to a complete stop” and “the new administration went back to the old situation where they weren’t demanding anything of DuPont.” Once mayor Sinsimer, a great advocate for those suffering from health problems and fighting DuPont, stepped down, the efforts to clean up Pompton Lakes’ environment reached a plateau, and the town was in a state of division.[24]

Many people within the community did not agree with action being taken against DuPont, but the people facing negative health effects were devastated with the standstill and took matters into their own hands. Helen Martens, a Pompton Lakes resident since 1977, tells North Jersey Media “I lost all faith in the law, and in our town-elected officials, and DuPont”.[25] Over 400 Pompton Lakes residents got involved in a major lawsuit against the chemical giant in 1993. According to Andrew Revkin in his New York Times article, DuPont deflected claims to “admitted to no wrongdoing” and were “following standard industrial practices accepted at the time”. [26] The company was doubling down on the argument that they did nothing wrong when there was clear evidence that supported the contrary.

DuPont was clever and calculated in their defense, making sure that incriminating information and results were avoided. On a normal basis, DuPont avoided tests that would reveal the truth about harmful pollution. North Jersey reports that “documents show that DuPont was unhappy with the regulators” upon requests to “have vapor tests conducted.” They also add in their report that “DuPont adamantly opposed testing for cancer-causing vapors beneath the Pompton Lakes neighborhood because it didn’t want the test results to become a cudgel the public could use against the chemical giant in court”. The pushback against testing suggests that DuPont was well aware of the extent to which they were harming the Pompton Lakes environment but were covering their tracks. [27]

The lawsuit also revealed that the New Jersey Health Department and other agencies involved in the lawsuit failed the community as they showed a lack of urgency and neglected to address the true extent of the damage. Following a 1994 review of the site conducted by the Federal Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, it was concluded that “the Du Pont factory site ‘is a public health hazard because of human exposure’” which dismisses the problem. Labeling the problem as “exposure” does not necessarily consider it to be actually causing direct harm and does not hold the same weight as if it were labeled a dangerous toxic waste site. The New Jersey Health Department also conducted a study in which they found no signs of problems and that “they could not comment until the final report was released”. Edward Merrill, Pompton Lakes’ environmental officer, put it well when he said that “On paper, there has been no sign of urgency”. This had to be shocking to hear from the citizens involved in this case considering all of the people who suffered from serious forms of cancer and other illnesses failing to receive urgent action from the NJ Health Department and toxic substance agencies testing for harmful pollutants.[28]

Following the suit’s conclusion in 1997, the citizens came out triumphant as they received compensation for damages, but the result came up short in sparking resolution. The suit ended with DuPont paying a $38.5 million settlement. Most of the settlement payments were made to people who’s suffered negative health effects or damage to their quality of life. DuPont had directed their operations solely to an expensive cleanup of the groundwater on site and areas affected starting in 1990 up until their site’s closing in 1994. There appeared to be some forward momentum towards relieving the pollution, but once DuPont closed their factory, their presence in the town ultimately vanished along with their cleanup efforts.[29]

A Unified Pompton Lakes

Following the turn of the century, Pompton Lakes residents continued to suffer major health effects and damage to the town’s quality of life as a result of a new pollution issue. As previously mentioned, DuPont did put in over $100 million dollars to clean up the groundwater in Pompton Lakes, but it was discovered that there was a newly found issue mainly concerning the soil and the air. According to a New York Times article, the New Jersey Health Department discovered “‘significantly elevated’ rates of kidney cancer found in women and non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in men in the area most polluted.”[30] PCE and TCE, chemicals used in the DuPont facility to clean machinery and discarded into the shooting pond, had since been identified as potential causes of both of these diseases.[31] Reports in 2008 released by the NJDEP concluded that PCE, TCE and other chemicals found in the groundwater had vaporized in the soil and made its way into people’s homes through their basements known as “vapor intrusion”[32]. This finding was very ironic considering “DuPont allegedly sent letters to residents saying there was no reason to suspect that there was vapor intrusion” back in 1998 according to .[33] If more effort was put into the cleanup, more specifically tests on the soil to make sure that there was no risk for vapor intrusion, this issue would have been discovered and resolved earlier. Instead, further cover up by DuPont lead to a later discovery and more people getting sick. The clean up efforts were insufficient as in 2007, “25% of the main site has been cleaned and 40% tested” according to an unnamed DuPont representative.[34]

The trust that was put in DuPont to clean out the pollutants harmful to the environment was completely broken, which is why forming environmental advocacy groups within Pompton Lakes was necessary to get the people involved and unite. The “Citizens for a Clean Pompton Lakes” was the main driving force in uniting the people and urging the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene. The New York Times reports that in 2008, “when the dangers of the plume were identified, two friends from childhood, Lisa Riggiola and Regina Sisco, formed Citizens For a Clean Pompton Lakes”.[35] The goals of this “volunteer environmental organization” were “educate, assist, and provide information to the residents in our community”, according to Lisa Riggiola.[36] But Riggiola and her organization went into action as they fought to have vapor intrusion added to the superfund ranking system. In a newsletter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa explained the battle that has been fought between the town and DuPont since the 1980s, the pollution and the “broken promises of clean-up of their sites and our neighborhoods.”[37] This Pompton Lakes grassroots organization pleaded the EPA to step in and help provide relief to their suffering people.

Lisa Riggiola, and The Citizens For a Clean Pompton Lakes were not alone in their fight as they received a great level of support from the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is a reputable grassroots organization operating throughout the United States “with strong grassroots in New Jersey” according to their website.[38] Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey chapter, met with Lisa Jackson, an EPA administrator who was visiting the DuPont site and urged the EPA to take control of the cleanup and add the site to the Superfund list. He expressed to her the failure of the DEP as they “mishandled the site for 20 years. Conditions there have gotten worse and are putting people in harms way” also noting that they have “acted arrogant and incompetent towards the people of Pompton Lakes.”[39] Having the site added to the Superfund site would have meant that they receive heavy funding and support from the EPA to ensure the cleanup of the DuPont pollution.

After urgent pleading by Citizens For a Clean Pompton Lakes and support from the Sierra Club, the EPA answered the call. Early action from the EPA involved the founding of the Community Advisory Group (CAG).  This group was founded in collaboration between the people of Pompton Lakes and the EPA. In an EPA news release they describe their role in the group as “offering administrative support through the funding of a group facilitator” and “appointing an expert on community involvement to work closely with residents”.[40] The group communicated via a now archived Facebook group formerly administrated and moderated by the EPA and can still be viewed on the social media site.[41] The online group had 409 members and its main initiative was to provide a platform for members of the Pompton Lakes community to stay up to date continuing Lisa Riggiola’s objective to “educate, assist, and provide information.”[42] Administrators regularly posted upcoming events, discussions, as well as general news and media.[43] The Pompton Lakes Community Advisory Group was a great platform for people to be educated about the problems DuPont had caused to the public and become invested in the cause.

While the topic of a Superfund nomination is currently ongoing, the EPA provided a solid alternative in having Chemours take on the cleanup of the site, expediting the remediation process. Chemours is a DuPont “spinoff company” that “inherited about 170 of DuPont’s contaminated sites across the country, including Pompton Lakes” as reported by North Jersey Media.[44] Prior to Chemours taking control of the site, the EPA issued a press release in May of 2015 laying out their final plan to clean out the polluted areas. In the press release, they state that DuPont “will be required to dredge lake-bottom sediment from a 36 acre area of the Acid Brook Delta and remove sediment from two other areas of the lake.”[45] Additionally, they include that “DuPont will be required to develop work plans for the work, which must be submitted to the EPA for approval. The finance will be conducted by DuPont with EPA oversight.”[46] The EPA provided a solution to the cleanup of the site at the expense of DuPont which later that year devoted the cleanup to their newly formed company Chemours which the EPA also looked into and approved.[47]

The Chemours plant operations overseen by the EPA has produced positive results regarding the Pompton Lakes cleanup. Chemours states that “they are committed to remediating contamination resulting from past manufacturing operations in a way that is protective of the people and the environment” according to the Pompton Lakes Works website.[48] In present day, they have achieved great feats in their cleanup endeavors. On the Pompton Lakes Works website, they claim “soil remediation has been completed in 30 areas previously identified as being impacted by former manufacturing operations”.[49] Additionally, sediment remediation has been completed in the portions of Pompton Lake required by regulatory agencies” (EPA).[50] Soil and sediment cleanup was also completed in the Acid Brook according to their statement.[51] The EPA provided important information such as permit modifications, community updates, and various documents to the public on their website for people to refer to if needed as well.[52]

Conclusion

Looking back at Tina Marsh and her cervical cancer diagnosis back in the 1980s, considering there were plenty of other cases within her family and neighbors, it could not have been foreseen that the Pompton Lakes battle with DuPont would have been drawn out for so long. The pollution that DuPont had caused took a toll on so many of the residents, so it was understandable that the members of the ill population sought remediation. Unfortunately, the conflict of interest involving sick people and DuPont workers aiming to keep their jobs made it difficult as it divided the community. They basically had to face DuPont on their own in the 1993 lawsuit because the NJDEP and state health department displayed little urgency to address the extent of the issue.

Following insufficient cleanup of the site and community and a new pollution discovery, Citizens For a Clean Pompton Lakes acted as a turning point for the people as they got people on board with seeking proper cleanup. Their efforts were not in vein as they got support from the Sierra Club and successfully got the attention of the EPA. Their resilience resulted in Chemours taking over the operation at the site where the EPA made sure there was proper, supervised cleanup.

This battle with DuPont spanning across multiple decades emphasizes the importance of local grassroots organizations and how fighting on behalf of your community as a unified force moves mountains. Considering that there are many communities that could be dealt unfortunate hands with an institution causing widespread pollution and sickness in their community, it is important for the people to be educated, unified, and prepared to step in. The lack of support from the NJDEP shows that a community can not assume that a state Environmental Protection department will have your back in environmental affairs. The best course of action by any community is to be proactive and make sure they are educated on the state of their environment and on the same page about prioritizing their environment. Unification as a community and not backing down for the sake of one’s environment may ultimately save it from long-term disaster.

[1] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: N.J. Community Faces High Rates of Cancer, Rare Illnesses,” North Jersey Media Group, February 19, 2018, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-pompton-lakes-pollution-cancer-home-values/931861001/.

[2] Andrew C. Revkin, “With Pollution Suit Settled, Town Awaits Du Pont Millions (Published 1997),” The New York Times, Accessed April 26, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/03/nyregion/with-pollution-suit-settled-town-awaits-du-pont-millions.html.

[3] Andrew C. Revkin, “With Pollution Suit Settled, Town Awaits Du Pont Millions (Published 1997).”

[4] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: N.J. Community Faces High Rates of Cancer, Rare Illnesses,” North Jersey Media Group

[5] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[6] “Pompton Lakes Historic Guide,” Pompton Lakes New Jersey, 1-5, Accessed April 19, 2025, http://pomptonlakes-nj.gov/DocumentCenter/View/505/2017-PL-Historic-Guide?bidId=.

[7] “Pompton Lakes Historic Guide,” Pompton Lakes New Jersey, 4, Accessed April 19, 2025, http://pomptonlakes-nj.gov/DocumentCenter/View/505/2017-PL-Historic-Guide?bidId=.

[8] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: N.J. Community Faces High Rates of Cancer, Rare Illnesses,” North Jersey Media Group, February 19, 2018, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-pompton-lakes-pollution-cancer-home-values/931861001/.

[9] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes.”

[10] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes.”

[11] Scott Gurian, “Legacy of Dupont Plant’s Pollution Looms Large for People of Pompton Lakes | NJ Spotlight News,” NJ Spotlight News. Accessed May 1, 2025, https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2015/12/15-12-13-legacy-of-dupont-plant-s-pollution-looms-large-for-people-of-pompton-lakes/.

[12] Luigi Zingales and Roy Shapira, “Is Pollution Value Maximizing?” (The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2017), 7, https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/10/17/is-pollution-value-maximizing/?utm_.

[13] Luigi Zingales and Roy Shapira, “Is Pollution Value Maximizing?” (The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, 2017), 3, https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/10/17/is-pollution-value-maximizing/?utm_.

[14] Adam Rome, “DuPont and the Limits of Corporate Environmentalism,” (Business History Review 93, no. 1 ,2019), 75-99, https://doi-org.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/10.1017/S0007680519000345.

[15] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes.”

[16] “Pompton Lakes Historic Guide,” Pompton Lakes New Jersey, 11.

[17] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes.”

[18] Ibid.

[19] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[20] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[21] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[22] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[23] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[24] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed March 1, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-chemical-contaminate-pompton-lakes-homes/947802001/.

[25] James O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: Pollution, Evasion and Fear in North Jersey,” North Jersey Media Group, Accessed April 30, 2025, https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/14/dupont-pompton-lakes-pollution/806921001/.

[26] Andrew C. Revkin, “With Pollution Suit Settled, Town Awaits Du Pont Millions (Published 1997).”

[27] James O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: Pollution, Evasion and Fear in North Jersey.”

[28] Andrew C. Revkin, “With Pollution Suit Settled, Town Awaits Du Pont Millions (Published 1997),” The New York Times. Accessed April 26, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/03/nyregion/with-pollution-suit-settled-town-awaits-du-pont-millions.html.

[29] Andrew C. Revkin, “With Pollution Suit Settled, Town Awaits Du Pont Millions (Published 1997),” The New York Times. Accessed April 26, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/03/nyregion/with-pollution-suit-settled-town-awaits-du-pont-millions.html.

[30] Peter Applebome, “Old Story of Pollution; New Urgency This Time,” The New York Times, January 31, 2010, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/nyregion/01towns.html.

[31] “New Jersey Environmental Tort Lawsuit Filed by Pompton Lakes Residents,” AboutLawsuits.com, October 18, 2021, https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/pompton-lakes-new-jersey-environmental-tort-lawsuit-8800/?utm_.

[32] “New Jersey Environmental Tort Lawsuit Filed by Pompton Lakes Residents,” AboutLawsuits.com.

[33] “New Jersey Environmental Tort Lawsuit Filed by Pompton Lakes Residents,” AboutLawsuits.com.

[34] Lisa Riggiola, “Adding Vapor Intrusion to the USEPA Superfund Hazard Ranking System,” 2011, https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-SFUND-2010-1086-0021.

[35] Peter Applebome, “Old Story of Pollution; New Urgency This Time.”

[36] Lisa Riggiola, “Adding Vapor Intrusion to the USEPA Superfund Hazard Ranking System.”

[37] Lisa Riggiola, “Adding Vapor Intrusion to the USEPA Superfund Hazard Ranking System.”

[38] “About Us,” Sierra Club, Accessed May 8, 2025, https://www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey/about-us.

[39] Jeff Tittel, “Sierra Club Urges EPA to Take over Dupont Site Cleanup,” Sierra Club, March 26, 2010, https://www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey/press-releases/0130.

[40] “EPA Pledges Support for Pompton Lakes Community; Outlines Its Role in DuPont Pompton Lakes Works Cleanup,” EPA, January 21, 2010, https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/212c5bf809483695852576b2005564f1.html?utm_

[41] “Pompton Lakes/DuPont Discussion Group.” Facebook, Accessed April 27, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/284334294243.

[42] Lisa Riggiola. “Adding Vapor Intrusion to the USEPA Superfund Hazard Ranking System.”

[43] “Pompton Lakes/DuPont Discussion Group,” Facebook.

[44] James M. O’Neill and Scott Fallon, “Toxic Secrets: How Poisonous Chemicals from a Dupont Factory Wound up beneath 400 Homes.”

[45] “EPA Directs Dupont to Remove Mercury from Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey,” ProQuest, May 20, 2015, https://www.proquest.com/socialsciencepremium/docview/1682452861/42AEB71DC1DA4326PQ/1?accountid=13626&sourcetype=Reports.

[46] “EPA Directs Dupont to Remove Mercury from Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey,” ProQuest.

[47] Ibid.

[48] “Home: Pompton Lakes Works: Pompton Lakes, NJ,” Pompton Lakes Works, Accessed May 8, 2025, http://pomptonlakesworks.com/.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Ibid.

[51] Ibid.

[52] EPA, Accessed May 8, 2025, https://www.epa.gov/nj/chemours-pompton-lakes-works-site-additional-documents.

Primary Sources: