The Forgotten Factory: A Story of EPA Neglect and Propaganda, Industrial Latex in Wallington NJ

This video covers the history of the Industrial Latex Superfund site. In the context of a chronological retelling, go through the history of this superfund site from the inciting incident in 1983 to the reemergence of contamination in 2016. Also, learn the details of the EPA cleanup here and what exactly were the actions they took.

Introduction

On a hot summer day in 2014, a group of children lined up in one of two parks in Wallington, NJ. They were there for the local summer camp and were vibrating with excitement. The kids are going on a field trip today to a lot a few blocks away hidden by trees. After a short walk past some homes and through a normally closed wood covered path, their destination comes into view. The gentle slope downwards takes the children to a flat field with a few small buildings and what looks like an obstacle course. The kids, tired from the walk in the sweltering heat, sit down at one end of the field and wait. Their wait is short lived as police dogs come out from behind the building prompting cheers of excitement from the children. Their fatigue forgotten; the kids look at the dogs running around with joy. The only thing on their minds is if they will be able to pet the dogs when the show is overs

I was one of the children who was there on that hot summer day. When this visit happened, I was around ten years old. The entrance to this lot was always closed and growing up sometimes I wondered what was behind that gate. Due to the trees at the entrance, and the lower elevation of the place relative to the road, it was impossible to see what was actually in there. As such, 350 Mount Pleasant Avenue was always somewhat of a mystery, even its address was not widely known. For years after that visit, I never had reason to believe that the site was anything more than the local police’s K9 training area or a storage space. Imagine my surprise when over a decade later I found out that this empty field was once a factory. Established in 1951, this factory called Industrial Latex Corporation was in the business of manufacturing natural and synthetic compounds. They would go out of business in 1983, leaving behind the property that eventually becomes that empty field. Unfortunately for Wallington, that property was left with contaminated soil and would remain that way for some time.  [1] Being ten, it was impossible for me to know that this place had such a story behind it. If I had been brought there by Wallington’s own summer camp, why would I have ever thought that there could have been anything dangerous there?

The town’s sanctioned visit to this area and its use by the Wallington police department shows an acceptance that this area was clean. There was no obvious evidence to the contrary, but perhaps this was a sign of something bigger. Considering the timeline, this site was last relevant to the residents over a decade ago. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had said for the longest time that the site was clean and that there was nothing to worry about. Despite their claims, the site would present trouble a few years later with soil contamination at a nearby property. [2] Although the EPA might consider Industrial Latex a success story, the truth is that the Wallington residents were taken advantage of by the EPA and made to suffer an unnecessarily long and incomplete cleanup due to most of them being working class Polish immigrants and their descendants.

This paper seeks to prove this discrepancy between what the EPA says and the reality experienced by the residents of Wallington. On the surface, the EPA cleanup seems like your average superfund success. The EPA came in, did cleanup, and tested the area until it passed regulations. Yet, the details show a different story. The cleanup was actually quite lengthy beyond any expectations, and the cleanup itself was insufficient. Because of who the Wallington residents are, it was easy for the EPA to drag its feet and ignore the site for longer than was necessary, causing damage to the community in more ways than one. In both the past and present, the EPA has taken advantage of the Wallington residents due to their demographics with a delayed and bad cleanup causing them hardship and perpetuating a cycle of environmental injustice.

Background Information

At first glance, Wallington does not seem anything special. Located in the southern corner of Bergen County, New Jersey, this town seems quiet and uneventful. Yet in this heart-shaped town of only one square mile lies a rich history of over 100 years. Established in 1894, most of the early population were Dutch, followed by the Irish.  The area would continuously expand and develop in the coming decades marked by a new fire department, roads, and water pipe system. [3] The influx of people only intensified after the first world war. While there were immigrants from many different places, the group that would come to define Wallington in the long run were the Poles. Seeking safety and a new life from war torn Europe, these Polish immigrants came to Wallington. Jobs were plentiful in the local textile and manufacturing mills. The Polish community of Wallington would only grow from there, eventually becoming the majority of Wallington’s residents between 1935 and 1945. [4]

As Wallington is home to a sizeable Polish community, it is safe to say that the culture and town itself is unique compared to its neighbors. The Polish community built themselves from the ground up. Coming from war torn Europe, it is difficult to imagine that many of them were extremely wealthy. These immigrants established themselves as local store owners and businessmen. Many of these stores still stand today in some form, leading to many Polish grocery stores and restaurants throughout Wallington. Aside from their work ethic, the Polish also brought their religion with them. Eventually, Wallington would have three churches, the Polish National Catholic church, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, and the Wallington Presbyterian Church. [5] To this day, Wallington politics are filled with people of polish descent, and Polish can be heard just as often as English.

As part of Wallington’s growth, companies such as Industrial Latex were allowed to set up shop in the town. For three decades, Industrial Latex was nothing out of the ordinary. While there had been some rumors about improper storage and even the murder of a loan shark there, what company doesn’t have a few skeletons in their closet? However, the end of Industrial Latex would come swiftly in 1983 when one of their workers was spotted illegally dumping in a nearby landfill. The twenty drums he attempted to dump were leaking combustible hazardous waste. Following this, federal investigators were brought in and what they discovered was horrifying. Nearly 2000 barrels of hazardous waste were improperly stored on the property. After testing, it was found that the majority of the barrels were hazardous and could ignite at temperatures as low as 95 degrees Fahrenheit. For this act of negligence, Industrial Latex was shut down and its president charged with up to twenty years in prison and fines as high up to $130,000. [6] In 1989, Industrial Latex would become a superfund site. [7] With this ticking time bomb in their town, what were Wallington residents going to do?

“Success Story”

As bad as things seemed originally, further studies and analysis began to show the true scope of the problem. EPA involvement began in 1986 to help with the initial barrel removal; a public health assessment was conducted in 1990 to see what other problems there were and if there was an urgent need for more intensive cleanup. The conclusion was that the site did pose a significant health risk. There was evidence of soil contamination and possible groundwater contamination with volatile organic compounds and PCBs. The PCBs in particular were an issue as they are known to cause cancer. [8] In 1992, the EPA sprang into action. They excavated contaminated soil, treated it on site, and then backfilled with the treated soil. Any waste found was removed off-site, and the buildings were demolished, leaving the site a flat field. A site review in 1997 would find that this treatment was effective. [9] Without any evidence for groundwater contamination, the EPA deemed the site clean enough and delisted Industrial Latex from Superfund in 2003. [10]

In time, Industrial Latex became more than just a job well done, but a Superfund success story that can be used to show off the EPA’s usefulness. According to the EPA, the story is very clear cut. Industrial Latex was a figurative time bomb and using the powers of Superfund, they were able to come in and quickly stabilize the situation. There were no explosions and no deaths attributed to this site. In 1992, this was the kind of story they needed. At this point, the superfund program was twelve years old and had begun to come under fire. Businesses had never liked the EPA or Superfund for obvious reasons. However, community groups and local officials were also beginning to turn against them, frustrated by what they saw as a lack of progress. In this battle, the success story of Industrial Latex became a key defense. If the EPA could do good in a situation like this, then surely that meant the program was good, right? Unfortunately, those community groups may have had a point.

Why It’s not a Success

At first glance, it may not be obvious that there is anything wrong with the story and cleanup of Industrial Latex. As the EPA says, using the power of Superfund, they came in and cleaned up the site without any explosive incidents. However, once you look deeper, some worrying details start to appear. According to a report made in 1998, there were issues with the time between a site’s discovery and its evaluation/processing. In 1997, the process took on average 9.4 years compared to 5.8 years in 1990. [11] With this information, the time it took to clean up Industrial Latex is way out of line. From the site’s discovery in 1983 to the site being delisted in 2003, there are twenty years in between. Even if you want to be generous and take it from when the site was listed at superfund, there are still fourteen years. No matter how you look at it, Industrial Latex took too long for their own metrics. This is the exact issue that is causing the Superfund program and by extension the EPA to be coming under fire in 1992. After 12 years, they had acquired the reputation of an ”infuriatingly slow pace for finishing cleanups”. [12] Unfortunately for Wallington’s residents, these delays were not exclusive to the project’s tail end.

The first instance of delays can be traced back to near the start of the whole story in 1985. At this point, the DEP had raided Industrial Latex and discovered the presence of leaking barrels on the property and had taken some of it for testing. The Wallington people were told that they would be informed of the results, but it was months before they heard anything back from the DEP. Meanwhile, the majority of the barrels were still on site. When they did hear something, it was because of the public indictment against Industrial Latex’s president. According to the mayor, “We were never told definitively that there were any hazardous materials… if someone has been indicted and it has been alleged that there is hazardous material there, it appears to me that the DEP has been derelict in its duty”. [13] What this means is that not only has the DEP delayed in advising the borough of the hazardous nature of Industrial Latex, but they did also not even bother to tell them themselves, and the borough found out from the attorney-general office’s indictment. This delay in communication could have endangered the Wallington residents as they did not know what they were dealing with. As is evident from the time to completion, delays were clearly present throughout the whole cleaning process and aided in forming Superfund’s reputation of finishing slowly. This delay at the very start was a sign of the delay and eventual mismanagement that would categorize this site.

This extraordinarily long time to completion could be tolerated if the result was good, and according to the EPA it was. However, an incident over a decade later would prove this false. In 2016, PCB contaminated soil would be discovered on a nearby property. Over 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil would need to be removed, enough to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools. [14] What this shows is that not only did the EPA take a long time completing the cleanup, but they did also not even do a good job. For a ”success story” it seems wrong for the project to be delayed beyond expectations and for the site to flare up again over a decade after it was pronounced clean. This botched cleanup would have various effects on the populace.

At the time, there must have been fear and uncertainty about what was actually happening at the Industrial Latex site. The DEP and EPA had already shown that they were not the best at communicating with the Wallington residents. The studies conducted by the EPA took quite some time to come out, and in the meantime, residents were left in the dark. In the 1990 US Public Health Assessment, it was noted that a large community concern was about groundwater contamination in the area. [15] There had been issues with the groundwater in the area for a while now. This incident was probably one of the final nails in the coffin for relying on groundwater as Wallington switched from that to an alternate water supply from the Passaic Valley Water Commission. [16] Since then, Wallington has always had issues with their water quality. It must have been a relief when the EPA proclaimed the site clean. Clearly the residents believed them, as the area was used for official and recreational use. Unfortunately for the people who lived nearby, as I already mentioned, more PCB contaminated soil was found in their yards.  The EPA’s actions before, during, and after the cleanup have had negative effects on Wallington’s residents, and it seems wrong to label Industrial Latex as a ”success story”. The question then, is why the EPA did such a thing?

Why? The People Then and Now

In order to answer this question, it may be helpful to reiterate the demographics of Wallington at the time of industrial Latex. From 1945, the majority of Wallington’s residents are working class Polish immigrants and their descendants. [17] Another piece of this puzzle is in the state of the EPA and Superfund program at the time. Despite there being a reduction in the number of sites being annually added to the Superfund list, there was still an immense backlog of sites that required intervention. This had led to an increase in the time between a site being discovered and it being resolved. [18] The site itself is not very big. Aside from the alarming moment where it was discovered that the barrels could explode, the site was relatively unobtrusive and out of the way. Compared to many other superfund sites, Industrial Latex is not very well known or documented. With that being the case, it may not be so much of a stretch to think that the EPA thought of this as a low priority.

What were Wallington’s residents supposed to do? The town itself is barely one square mile and unless you live next to it, unknown. Due to its size and residential nature, the town has never been an industrial powerhouse or center of power. Politically, Wallington has little reach. As mentioned before, most people are polish immigrants, meaning that English is not necessarily their first language. It would be pretty hard to argue or fight back against what the EPA is doing if you cannot communicate effectively or understand what they are saying. It is much easier to take the EPA at their word and much harder to speak up if you do not speak English. These factors mean that it would have relatively easy for the EPA to drag on the cleanup once the initial danger had passed. Without any means to protest this, Wallington’s residents were discriminated against and left as a low priority backwater that did not require much attention. This is an example of discrimination and environmental injustice. Now you might be thinking that the EPA of the past was discriminatory, but that does not mean that the EPA is still practicing environmental injustice today. It may be useful to refer to some of their own publicly available data.

A service that the EPA publicly provides is called EJScreen. Using the EJScreen mapping tool, it is possible to view and compile current environmental and demographic data in the area surrounding Industrial Latex. For the purposes of acquiring relevant data, the buffer zone being considered covers an area about two blocks away from the site itself. This buffer zone was chosen to include residential housing and a nearby apartment complex, while not extending past the nearby railway, as it seems unlikely that any barrels were buried near there and for the contamination to go up the hill behind it. Using this data, an argument will be made that even after the EPA’s assurances that the job was completed, the people living nearby are still living in suboptimal conditions and that due to demographics it has been hard to change their fortunes. [19]

Keeping in mind that EJScreen uses data from the most recent census, some problems begin to stick out when looking at the environmental data. Hazardous Waste Proximity and Underground Storage Tanks are very out of line. In comparison to the United States at large, Hazardous Waste is in the 90th percentile and Underground Storage Tanks in in the 88th percentile. These parameters can both be linked to Industrial Latex since the whole issue there was hazardous waste containing PCBs that were stored illegally underground in leaky barrels. It is interesting to think that environmental issues relating to Industrial Latex’s problems would show up in data from the last decade.

Aside from environmental data, EJScreen also provides data on the people who live nearby. The old Industrial Latex site is surrounded by homes, apartments, and a school. Looking at the data reveals some characteristics of the people living there. The most prominent characteristic is that there is a high percentage of Limited English-Speaking households. In the US, the area around Industrial Latex is in the 95th percentile which means that in the whole US there is only 5 percent of places that speak less English. Any amount of research into Wallington will show that it was at one point a predominantly Polish immigrant community. The data shows that while there is a bigger minority of people of Hispanics then in the past, Wallington’s identity as an immigrant community has not been lost.  There are still many people who do not speak English as their first language. This characteristic makes them very susceptible to environmental injustice. This community would find it more difficult to advocate for themselves and be a part of political processes than if they spoke English. This fact makes Industrial Latex and other incidents like it all too likely. [20]

The story of Industrial Latex on the outside looks like a success story for the EPA. Using the powers of superfund they came in and cleaned up the site, clearing it for normal use and declaring the problem resolved. Unfortunately, their own data disproves this simple story. Despite the EPA’s claims, they had to come back over a decade later and may have to come back again if the data is recent. The people there struggle to speak up for themselves, leaving the EPA to largely dictate the story and events. This data shows that the EPA’s words must be taken with a grain of salt, as issues relating to the environment are rarely solved completely. Their oversights contribute towards the environmental inequality experienced by immigrants and others who cannot speak English and reveal an underlying discrimination against them.

Conclusion

My visit to Industrial Latex in 2014 seemed like nothing more than a simple summer camp memory. However, now with the full context surrounding the site, its innocent nature has definitely changed. It would be one thing if the contamination had last been seen before I was born, but the fact that contamination showed up only two years after my visit makes the whole situation a little concerning. It is natural that the town trusted the EPA; how would they have known any better? Yet it is disheartening to think of how many children could have potentially been at risk due to negligence aimed at Wallington. I do not know if there are still visits to that place, but I certainly hope not. It has become clear that the Industrial Latex cleanup was a delayed, incomplete job that would be best avoided by people if they can help it.

Wallington residents are victims of negligence and environmental injustice at the hands of the EPA which has caused them hardship. Its insufficient and drawn-out cleanup was a result of the EPA believing that they could take advantage of Wallington’s residents due to their demographics. While the EPA would like you to believe that Industrial Latex was a success, the details show that this is an oversimplification. From the start, the project was plagued by delays and a lack of communication that left Wallington in the dark and in danger. After the initial cleanup, testing dragged out for years, during which the site and its contamination just sat there. The fear of groundwater contamination would push the ton towards switching water sources, and people simply had no choice but to wait for the EPA to act. After the project was “completed”, the site would be open for both official and recreational use. Unfortunately, the contamination would show up again over a decade later. The people of Wallington for their part, no matter in the past or present consist of many immigrants who do not have English as their first language, making self-advocacy difficult.

This research and data show that the EPA’s words must be taken with a grain of salt, as issues relating to the environment are rarely solved completely. This lesson can be applied anywhere the EPA has worked. Just because the EPA says an issue is resolved does not mean that environmental inequality has been reduced to zero. While the EPA does do a lot of good for people, even they can make mistakes. Their oversights then contribute towards the environmental inequality experienced by immigrants and others who cannot speak English. Nevertheless, it is their responsibility to limit any actions that can perpetrate environmental injustice. In an ideal world people, and their children will be able to play and live in safety, knowing that the EPA is looking out for them and will protect them no matter where they live.

[1] “Industrial Latex Site Profile,” EPA, October 20, 2017, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201073.

[2] “Industrial Latex Site Profile,” EPA, October 20, 2017, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201073.

[3] Diane Jarotski, “History,” Borough of Wallington NJ, accessed December 5, 2025, https://www.wallingtonnj.org/about-borough/pages/history.

[4] Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz and Marta Mestrovic Deyrup, Wallington’s Polish Community (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2013), introduction.

[5] Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz and Marta Mestrovic Deyrup, Wallington’s Polish Community (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2013).

[6] Chris Mondics, “INDICTMENT IN TOXIC DUMPING,” The Record, November 14, 1985, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.us1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=state%3ANJ%21New%2520Jersey%2520News%2520Sources&sort=YMD_date%3AA&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22Industrial%20Latex%22&docref=news/0EB2745528B133C2.

[7] “Industrial Latex Site Profile,” EPA, October 20, 2017, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201073.

[8] “US Public Health Service Health Assessment for Industrial Latex Corporation.” New Jersey Department of Health, September 26, 1990. https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/documents/eohap/haz_sites/bergen/wallington/industrial_latex/ind_latex_pha_9_90.pdf, 2.

[9] “Site Review and Update, Industrial Latex Corporation,” New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Consumer and Environmental Health Services, August 21, 1997, 7. https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/documents/eohap/haz_sites/bergen/wallington/industrial_latex/ind_latex_sru_8_97.pdf.

[10] “Industrial Latex Site Profile,” EPA, October 20, 2017, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0201073.

[11] SUPERFUND TIMES to COMPLETE SITE LISTING and CLEANUP: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials, Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, 105^th Cong. (1998) (statement of Peter F. Guerrero, Director, Environmental Protection Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division).

[12] Elizabeth Auster, “SUPERFUND FACES ASSAULT ON 2 FRONTS SHOWDOWN LOOMS OVER TOXIC WASTE,” The Record, March 15, 1992, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.us1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=state%3ANJ%21New%2520Jersey%2520News%2520Sources&sort=YMD_date%3AA&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22Industrial%20Latex%22&docref=news/0EB2775BEA177319.

[13] Chris Mondics, “INDICTMENT IN TOXIC DUMPING,” The Record, November 14, 1985, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.us1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=state%3ANJ%21New%2520Jersey%2520News%2520Sources&sort=YMD_date%3AA&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22Industrial%20Latex%22&docref=news/0EB2745528B133C2.

[14] Kelly Nicholaides, “EPA OVERSEES EXCAVATION OF POLLUTED SOIL IN WALLINGTON – PROPERTY CONTAMINATED WITH PCB FROM NEARBY FORMER SUPERFUND SITE,” The Record, December 17, 2016, https://infoweb-newsbank-com.us1.proxy.openathens.net/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=state%3ANJ%21New%2520Jersey%2520News%2520Sources&sort=YMD_date%3AD&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=%22Industrial%20Latex%22&docref=news/169D15338BAAD100.

[15] “US Public Health Service Health Assessment for Industrial Latex Corporation.” New Jersey Department of Health, September 26, 1990, 3. https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/documents/eohap/haz_sites/bergen/wallington/industrial_latex/ind_latex_pha_9_90.pdf.

[16] “Site Review and Update, Industrial Latex Corporation,” New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Consumer and Environmental Health Services, August 21, 1997, 4. https://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/documents/eohap/haz_sites/bergen/wallington/industrial_latex/ind_latex_sru_8_97.pdf.

[17] Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz and Marta Mestrovic Deyrup, Wallington’s Polish Community (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2013), introduction.

[18] SUPERFUND TIMES to COMPLETE SITE LISTING and CLEANUP: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials, Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, 105^th Cong. (1998) (statement of Peter F. Guerrero, Director, Environmental Protection Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division).

[19] EJScreen, EPA, accessed on October 28, 2025.

https://pedp-ejscreen.azurewebsites.net/.

[20] First half is from:

EJScreen, EPA, accessed on October 28, 2025.

https://pedp-ejscreen.azurewebsites.net/.

And second half from:

“Wallington, NJ Census Data,” Data USA, 2023, https://datausa.io/profile/geo/wallington-nj.

Primary Sources: