The PCB Golf Course: How the Hyatt Hills Golf Course of Clark, NJ is a Potential Risk to its Visitors and Neighbors (1942-2021)

Final Report:

The image above shows the golf course on a spring afternoon [1]

In Clark New Jersey, a mild and welcoming Saturday in spring would typically present a golf course full of golfers. As Hyatt Hills of Clark states “with a 9-hole golf course, driving range, putting green, 18-hole miniature golf course and a gastropub (with 20 craft beers on tap!), Hyatt Hills offers fun for Clark residents and visitors alike.”[1] With these numerous activities for visitors of Hyatt Hills golf course, it is peculiar to think that just below the surface carcinogenic chemicals lurk.

Before the golf course came to be, a company by the name of Hyatt Clark Industries Inc. inhabited the area spanning of 100 acres. The Hyatt Clark Industries was a General Motors ran facility that originally was set up to produce rubber parts for passenger vehicles. In May of 1942 the facility transitioned into the production of precision roller bearings used in World War 2.[2] After the war, the facility continued to make roller bearings for General Motors passenger vehicles. The Hyatt Clark Industries went on to close in of May of 1987 leaving behind a large amount of chemical waste.

Within that same year, General Motors had tried to sell the facility but found themselves to be unsuccessful due to the chemical contamination of the land. At the time, the remediation cleanup had been projected to be minimum of $30 million and up to a year to clean. Although General Motors denied liability, they offered to help pay for some of the cleanup costs.[3] Ultimately the property remained unsold and vacant for many years.

Due to the nature of the contamination the site was deemed a superfund and cleaned up at the expense of General Motors. Rather than hauling the dirt away General Motors negotiated a deal to cap the most contaminated area with a non-permeable barrier to reduce costs of the remediation. The plan that was proposed by General Motors was to build an outdoor recreation center for the surrounding towns. Although a non-permeable barrier would work with direct contact at the contaminated sight, the contamination had already spread to the shallow bedrock. This raised a big concern for the surrounding areas of residence.

After the remediation had started some questions that could have arisen are: were the set plans to benefit the surrounding residence? How the contamination spread outside of the facility? Did General Motors execute a successful clean up? And most importantly, how did the neglection of the EPA and NJDEP result in an insufficient clean up? The negligence of the Environmental Protection Agency has resulted to a cleanup that has negatively impacted the surrounding areas and as a result put the surrounding residence in the vicinity of the golf course in danger.

In my research paper I plan to study the contamination done at the sight from previous manufacturing solely of the PCBs and VOCs and the affects the contamination has on people. I will briefly go over some of the deals that were set in place to clean the site and how the idea to create the golf course came about. Lastly, this paper will highlight the demographic of the areas that surround the golf course to demonstrate unequal treatment to the surrounding people. The goal of this paper is to provide information that will help to create a more in-depth comprehension of the lack of cleaning that was done in this specific site and how it effects the surrounding residential areas.

PCBs, VOCs and Metals

The image above shows the facility when it was transferred into the bearing factory in 1942 [2]

Hyatt Clark Industries was transformed into a facility that manufactured bearings in May of 1942. In November of 1942, a section that was able to heat treat and store materials was added to the facility. This area was located next to the train tracks for easy off load of specific chemicals and material.2 From here chemicals including PCBs, VOCS and Heavy Metals were stored in outdoor storage containers, indoor storage containers and inside the facility. The ruling provided had proven that the most contamination done to the property had been the off-load site and the storage area. This area had shown to have PCBs at levels of 1.4 microgram per liter, VOCs of upwards of 880 micrograms per liter and heavy metals of 28.8 micro grams per liter. All these levels are exceeding the New Jersey Ground Water Quality Standard. [4]

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) are chemicals that were made in the United States from 1930 all the way until 1977. PCBs had proven to be a very useful product, “because of their general chemical inertness and heat stability, PCBs were predominantly used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment such as capacitors and transformers. Because of their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point, and electrical insulating properties, PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications including electrical, heat transfer, and hydraulic equipment…” One of the PCBs that was stopped in production in 1977 was a product by the name of Aroclor 1254 which was a “mixture of mono- through hepta-chlorinated biphenyl congeners with an average chlorine content of approximately 54%.” The United States had stopped production on this product because of the adverse health effects it had on humans and the environment. PCBs, in general, are harmful chemicals that can cause cancer. They are also known as a forever chemical that will remain if not remediated. [5] Aroclor 1254 used for the was the same chemical that was used in the was found in the surface (<2 feet in the ground) as well as the subsurface (>2 feet in the ground) of the golf course when testing was conducted. 4

VOCs also known as Volatile Organic compounds are chemicals that have a high vapor pressure and have a low water solubility. Some examples of VOCs are 1,1 Dichloroethane, Trichloroethane, Chloroform and Isopropyl Alcohol. Not all Volatile Organics are necessarily hazardous to humans, some you may be able to find in your household like Acetone and Isopropyl Alcohol. [6] However, the VOCs found in the soils of the now golf course and used in the manufacturing of bearings were 1,1 Dichloroethane, Trichloroethane, Chloroform and Bromoform, all of which are carcinogenic. This chemicals at a level of less then 1 microgram per liter can be hazardous to the humans and animals alike. For this level of hazard, physical exposure of touch or ingesting. Although inhalation of these chemicals can be bad, most of the time it has to be in high concentrations in a closed facility. [7] The concentration of the chemicals at the most were almost 880 times more than what was found in the ground water. Being that the concentration was in the ground water, most of the vapor is trapped in the soil therefore not allowing it to dissipate and level.

Lastly, the metal that was found in the soil of the golf course was lead. Lead is a hazardous chemical that can primarily affect the children of the surrounding area. According to the EPA lead can cause behavioral and learning problems, lower IQ, hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems, and anemia. Lead exposure in adults can cause cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension, decreased kidney function, and reproductive problems (in both men and women).[8] The most common ways of exposure to lead are through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption (absorbing the molecules through the skin; touching). With that being said up to 70% of lead that is ingested into a person’s body is absorbed. [9]

With the known contaminates proven to be hazardous to the public and the environment, the next area of focus is the proximity of homes to the facility. Looking at a map from the EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool shows that the closes houses are just across the street. After stitching over laying maps, I have found the area around the golf course to fall into the 80th to 95th percentile for hazardous waste proximity. Inside of that 80th to 95th percentile of hazardous waste proximity, the demographic shows that areas across the street from the golf course falls into an 80th to 90th percentile of children under the age of 5. In addition, the areas around the golf course are in the 80th to 90th percentile of people over the ages of 64 in the community.[10]

Environmental Injustice

As stated previously, when the sight closed in 1987 General Motors had tried to sell the property. The property was not able to be sold due to contamination that was done to the soils and waters on the sight. General Motors would have had to clean this entire sight before being able to sell it. However, General Motors argued that the contamination done at the sight was not directly due to them. In fact, they argued that the contamination immitted was done by the employee-owned company that operated from 1983 to 1987 at the facility manufacturing bearings for General Motors. A projected cleanup could cost at least 30 million dollars in the year of 1987. Although General Motors had denied all liability to the pollution of this property, they were willing to negotiate the cost to help pay for the cleanup that was well over due to the property.[3]

A superfund is a site that is contaminated site that exists nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open or otherwise improperly managed. Sites that fall under this category are manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills, and mining sites.[11] The Hyatt Clark Industries sight falls under two of these categories therefore it was deemed a superfund and a hazard to the public health.

The Environmental Protection Agency was involved and RCRA Corrective Action was set into place. In the process of setting this corrective action, testing was done in and around the facility. After testing was done, it was clear that the contamination had spread outside of the facility. With VOC levels of 880 micro gram per liter on the property, traces of VOCs were found at nearby testing wells off site. The well that was tested to find VOCs was across the street 1,000 feet away from the sites most contaminated area. The well testing had picked up traces of VOCs in the 120-microgram per liter range. General Motors however pressed back and did not claim liability to this pollution done. If proven that General Motors contamination had spread to outside areas, they would be liable to clean not only the boarding properties but the river that is in very close proximity to the facility.

A study was done by General Motors to prove that the contamination plume would not have reached to that distance yet. The contamination to make it 1,000 feet away from the initial site would take upwards of 99 years. Therefore, the plume would not have been caused by them but a possible outside source. However, the report states that this study was proven to be false and untrue. Although this report was proven to be untrue the Environmental Protection Agency did not hold General Motors liable to cleaning the surrounding area.[4]

In that same radius of 1,000 feet fall the houses just across the street from this former facility. The failure of the Environmental Protection Agency to hold General Motors accountable for their pollution has left the surrounding residence living with contaminated properties. This may have been in an effort to keep costs of remediation down to benefit the company as a whole. As it was discussed earlier, General Motors had the idea in hand to negotiate to only pay a portion of the bill and the final cost of the cleanup costing 12 million dollars. This cost covered not necessarily remediating the site but covering only 38 acres of the almost 100-acre facility with a non- permeable barrier and covering the barrier with fresh topsoil.[12] It can be assumed that General Motors may have made a back door deal with the Environmental Protection Agency to help themselves and cut costs back. If this is the case, the residence of the surrounding area are the one who are really suffering. Contamination in the soil can be a constant hazard that the residence experience when they step outside of their home. Contamination also can lower the property values of the homes in the surrounding area because this is now an undesirable area to raise a family. General Motors was able to keep their costs low at the cost of the surrounding residence in this area.

The Environmental Protection Agency should have conducted their own study to disprove General Motors. This would have put them liable to the contamination rather than having residence live with the possible health risks. Building upon this using the NJDEP’s data miner, I found that the golf course has a permit they were approved for to reallocate the ground water. [13] This allows the golf course to pump the ground water into the man-made pond and us it to irrigate the property.[4] This shallow end rock is contaminated with PCBs, VOCs and Metals. This process brings the toxic chemicals to the surface and disperses it throughout the golf course leaving a greater possibility of exposure to the residence. Ultimately not only are the residence suffering from deep soil contamination they are also suffering from shallow soil contamination due to run off. It can be assumed that this is happening due to the fact that General Motors has tried to cut costs in the past and looking to save by not having to pay for irrigation services for the facility.

Ultimately, the residence of the area is at risk of these toxic chemicals due to the lack of response done by the Environmental Protection Agency towards General Motors. If the Environmental Protection Agency would not have cut General Motors a break the facility would not have any toxics remaining in the soil as well as the neighboring area. By not holding General Motors accountable to the surrounding contamination done around the site from the original site negatively affects the living conditions of the residence.

Image Analysis

The two images presented above are of the Hyatt Hills Golf course that was formally the Hyatt Clark Roller Bearing Industries site. This golf course was formally a site that developed and manufactured the roller bearings for General Motors. Through the years, the Hyatt Clark Roller Bearing industries would use very carcinogenic chemicals to produce their product. With regulations of chemical safety not to what they are now, contamination was produced down to the bed rock with various VOCs and PCBs. The contamination was deemed so bad that instead of hauling the dirt away, a non-permeable barrier was used to cover the areas deemed the “most toxic”. The two images presented show the setup of the driving range/ club house restaurant and the map of the contamination. With the information presented, a question arises: how could the golf course been set up differently to guarantee the maximum safety?

The first image is an aerial view of the golf course taken in 2008. This image came from a website that represented the golf course for a brief period of 6 months.[14] Although this isn’t a full shot of the course, this gives a good aerial view of the most contaminated part of the golf course. The second image share the information of the site map. This came directly Arcadis- Ground Water Monitoring report of March 2009.[15] This map shows the sampling that was done in various aeras through the years as well as the contamination levels. The intended audience for the first image is more of an advertising piece. Its more so to draw people in to see how marvelous the course really is. This is not the same for the second image, this intended audience is more for an ownership or higher official view. The second image is to demonstrate that there is more than what may meet the eye.

Although a driving range is a great way to take up space and not have a lot of foot traffic, a restaurant being within proximity defeats the purpose. From the map provided it can be obtained that the restaurant sits awfully close to the area with the most contamination of VOCs and the only area where PCBs were detected. With a restaurant in such proximity, diners have a chance of being exposed to this area. The consumption of food with VOCs and PCBs in the air can make a horrific combo.

Building off proximity, the grade of the land shows that the most contaminated area is up hill from the club house. The grade can present an issue in the event of rainfall. As the runoff water runs down the hill it flows directly towards the restaurant. This may present an issue with safety, run off water has a chance of being littered with hazardous chemicals. In the event that a diner is on the outdoor patio this may be at risk.

With the wide range of the golf course, the second image suggests that the club house was built in the worst area. The image shows that the area of the whole golf course is almost 100 acres. The possibility of putting this recreational area for dining are virtually endless. A suggestion would have been to put the restaurant in the corner to the far bottom right. This area has the least contamination throughout the whole site. This would there for prevent the guests to a possible exposure.

As a result, the golf course could have been set up differently to prevent a possible exposure of the imposing contaminates. With the club house in one of the most contaminated areas, there is a possibility that guests will be exposed. A minor change could have been made to have the club house on the bottom right corner of the map, which in turn would still fall in the same proximity as the parking lot. This change would ultimately keep guests further away from harmful chemical contamination.

Conclusion

In Clark New Jersey, a mild and welcoming Saturday in spring would typically present a golf course full of golfers. For Hyatt Hills of Clark New Jersey, some might get more then they bargained for. The amount of contamination done to this facility with the little response has ultimately left this place as a toxin riddled area. Not only affecting golfers alike but the surrounding residence in the area.

The amount of contamination done in this site over the years has left not only the site, but the surrounding properties burdened with toxins in the soil. The lack of the enforcement to General Motors from the Environmental Protection Agency has left entire radius hazardous. To make matters worse the golf course continues to pump ground water riddled with toxins to irrigate the course. This ultimately disburses the contamination more so leaving residence impacted even further.

This paper can reflect directly on how big business tries to benefit themselves at all costs no matter how hazardous to the environment around it. Ultimately this paper is to highlight the impact that a company can have on the lifestyle of others due to their actions. Although this may only touch slightly upon this topic, the idea can hold of keeping people and business accountable for their pollution done. In Clark New Jersey, a mild and welcoming Saturday in spring would typically present a golf course full of golfers.

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[1] “Welcome to Hyatt Hills Golf Complex,” Hyatt Hills, December 3, 2018, https://www.hyatthills.com/

[2]David D. Jackson, “ Hyatt Bearings Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two/WWII,” last modified October 5, 2015, https://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/hyatt.htm .

[3] Daniel J. Walkins, “Hyatt-Clark Closes, Ending an Employee-Owned Experiment,” AP News Online, August 25,1987, https://apnews.com/article/ddbc01832d8deffbad0e6bed8f7f4b14.

[4]US Environmental Protection Agency, “Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Hyatt Clark Industries In Clark, New Jersey,” last modified June 2009, https://www.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-hyatt-clark-industries-clark-new-jersey.

[5] Obaid Faroon and Patricia Ruiz, “Polychlorinated Biphenyls: New Evidence from the Last Decade,” Toxicology and industrial health (U.S. National Library of Medicine, November 2016), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4673019/.

[6] M.Y. Song and H. Chun, “Species and characteristics of volatile organic compounds emitted from an auto-repair painting workshop,” Scientific Reports 11, Article number: 16586 (2021).

[7] Barbara L. Rowe et. al. “Occurrence and Potential Human-Health Relevance of Volatile Organic Compounds in Drinking Water from Domestic Wells in the United States,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, No 11 (2007).

[8] US Environmental Protection Agency, “Learn About Lead,” last modified July 2021, https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead .

[9] “Lead (PB) Toxicity: What Are Routes of Exposure to Lead?,” Center for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2, 2019, https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/leadtoxicity/exposure_routes.html

[10] “Ejscreen – United States Environmental Protection Agency.” EPA Ejscreen. https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ .

[11] US Environmental Protection Agency, “What is a Superfund,” last modified November 2021, https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund.

[12] Eliot Caroom, “GM Bankruptcy won’t close Hyatt Hills Golf Course,” The Starledger Online, July 06, 2009, https://www.nj.com/news/local/2009/07/post_6.html.

[13] “DEP Dataminer,” NJDEP, https://www13.state.nj.us/DataMiner.

[14] “Hyatt Hills Golf Complex,” Racer Properties Information Hub, https://www.racertrust.org/properties/hyatt-hills-golf-complex .

[15] Arcadis, “March 2009 Interim Groundwater Monitoring Report,” last modified June 2009.

Bibliography

1. “Welcome to Hyatt Hills Golf Complex.” Hyatt Hills. December 3, 2018. https://www.hyatthills.com/ .
2. Jackson, David D. “ Hyatt Bearings Division of General Motors Corporation in World War Two/WWII.” last modified October 5, 2015. https://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/hyatt.htm .
3. Walkins,Daniel J. “Hyatt-Clark Closes, Ending an Employee-Owned Experiment.” AP News Online, August 25,1987. https://apnews.com/article/ddbc01832d8deffbad0e6bed8f7f4b14.
4. US Environmental Protection Agency. “Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Hyatt Clark Industries In Clark, New Jersey.” last modified June 2009. https://www.epa.gov/hwcorrectiveactionsites/hazardous-waste-cleanup-hyatt-clark-industries-clark-new-jersey.
5. Faroon, Obaid, and Patricia Ruiz. “Polychlorinated Biphenyls: New Evidence from the Last Decade.” Toxicology and industrial health. U.S. National Library of Medicine, November 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4673019/ .
6. Song, M.Y. and Chun, H. “Species and characteristics of volatile organic compounds emitted from an auto-repair painting workshop.” Scientific Reports 11. Article number: 16586 (2021).
7.  Rowe Barbara L., Toccalino, Patricia L., Moran, Michael J., Zogorski, John S. and Price, Curtis V. “Occurrence and Potential Human-Health Relevance of Volatile Organic Compounds in Drinking Water from Domestic Wells in the United States.” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 115, No 11 (2007).
8. US Environmental Protection Agency. “Learn About Lead.” last modified July 2021. https://www.epa.gov/lead/learn-about-lead .
9. “Lead (PB) Toxicity: What Are Routes of Exposure to Lead?” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2, 2019. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/leadtoxicity/exposure_routes.html.
10. “Ejscreen – United States Environmental Protection Agency.” EPA Ejscreen. Accessed December 13, 2021. https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ .
11. US Environmental Protection Agency, “What is a Superfund,” last modified November 2021, https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund.
12. Caroom, Eliot. “GM Bankruptcy won’t close Hyatt Hills Golf Course.” The Starledger Online. July 06, 2009. https://www.nj.com/news/local/2009/07/post_6.html.
13. “DEP Dataminer.” NJDEP. https://www13.state.nj.us/DataMiner.
14. “Hyatt Hills Golf Complex.” Racer Properties Information Hub. https://www.racertrust.org/properties/hyatt-hills-golf-complex .
15. Arcadis. “March 2009 Interim Groundwater Monitoring Report.” last modified June 2009.