I. Introduction

In my senior year of high school, 2021, I heard a sound so loud it winded me and knocked me over. Looking up, I saw shards of glass and a broken window that opened into the maw of hell itself. Orange sparks, whipping wind, and desperate screaming. Cars floating in a lake of water. A flame three stories tall and two houses wide. Thick hot air, stinking with natural gas. Trees lined with pink cotton candy insulation. I found out later my neighbor’s house exploded due to a gas leak caused by Hurricane Ida’s flooding, spreading toxins and horror alike. It was not lost on me, even as a 17-year-old, that the nasty water in my basement, moldy belongings in the street, chunks of insulation and lead paint-lined walls scattered around town, and the charred remains of the destroyed house were all environmental hazards. My dad, who was chronically ill, had his health worsen from the pollution, and many classmates shared similar stories of family members being hospitalized due to exposure to nasty flood waters. It’s such an experience, and my education in environmental chemistry, that has drawn me to Manville, NJ, a neighboring town where residents share similar, and often worse, stories of flooding and the pollution it leaves in its aftermath.

On September 1st, 2021, Manville, New Jersey flooded similarly to my hometown, except the homes there were completely underwater, with residents being rescued by boat. Gas leaks caused both homes and a large banquet hall to explode and keep burning, even while submerged in water.^[1] Though horrific, this situation was made worse by the hidden threat of industrial pollution, potentially sloshing along in flood waters. Manville, New Jersey is infamously named after the Johns Manville Corporation, which ran an asbestos plant in the town until the mid-80s. To add to this, the town is also home to the Federal Creosote Superfund site, which was remediated in the early 2000s. Both asbestos and creosote are carcinogens that town residents were widely and unwittingly exposed to for years. To top this off, since Manville is surrounded by the Raritan and Millstone rivers, along with highly paved and developed towns, it has become a hotspot for severe flooding, especially during seasonal hurricanes and tropical storms. Though both the asbestos plant and the Federal Creosote site were remediated, residual soil pollution still remains at both sites,^[2] and groundwater pollution remains at the Federal Creosote site.^[3] Furthermore, asbestos was known to rain down over Manville, New Jersey during the plant’s operation, yet no reported overall cleanup or testing has been done for the town’s soil.^[4]

With this legacy of both pollution and flooding in mind, it is logical to suspect that floods may spread this pollution, further endangering frequently flooded communities. This matter is made worse when environmental justice is considered, since Manville is home to three census tracts labeled as overburdened communities under NJ’s Environmental Justice Law due to their low income and/or racial minority percentages.^[5] One of these communities, known as the “Lost Valley,” is a Hispanic minority community that faces the bulk of the severe flooding and potential pollution spread. Thus, Manville, New Jersey is a dangerous example of how disadvantaged communities live in both polluted sacrifice zones and low elevation flood prone land, exacerbating the danger of both threats into a perfect storm of pollution soup. Despite these issues, residents both historically and in the modern day advocate for economic advancement and flood prevention as the main needs for their town, ignoring the issue of legacy pollution. This opinion is rooted to the historic belief that pollution is a necessary tradeoff for economic advancement, and the town’s survival by proxy.

To understand these trends, first a general background on Manville’s history and demographics over time will be given. Afterwards, a historic account of Manville’s asbestos plant and the opinions of town residents will be analyzed. To add to this, the history of the Federal Creosote Superfund site and resident opinions on it will be examined. After this, the flooding in Manville will be catalogued along with resident opinions. Combining these trends, a data analysis will be presented on how historic pollution may exacerbate the danger of this modern flooding, especially for minority residents. Finally, all the historic and modern resident accounts will be taken into consideration to determine why town residents focus on economic advancement and flood mitigation while ignoring the legacy pollution’s effects.

II. Manville’s Story

In 1912, the Johns-Manville Corporation, the US’s first major asbestos company, set up an asbestos factory on a farm in Hillsborough, NJ. The town of Manville started to form as workers, many coming from coal mines in Pennsylvania, slowly moved into developing housing, like the Asbestos Hotel. In 1929, the town of Manville separated from Hillsborough, becoming its own borough, named after the factory that founded it. As asbestos came to be known as a potent carcinogen, the Johns-Manville Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1982 due to an abundance of lawsuits from past workers and their families. This eventually led to the shutdown of the Manville plant in 1986, with the company finishing a state-monitored cleanup of the site of the factory in 1992. From 1994-95, the factory was demolished and Adesa Auction Corp acquired the property, with it developing into a shopping area known as the Marketplace at Manville in 1998.^[6]

In addition to the asbestos, the town of Manville is also home to a Superfund site. The Federal Creosote Superfund site is a wood treatment site that was run from 1911 to 1956 and released carcinogenic chemicals, like PAHs and creosote, a wood preservative, into soil and groundwater.^[7] Following the closure of the facility, the land contained a residential area known as the Clairemont Development and a popular strip mall known as the Rustic Mall. Reports of contamination by residents led the EPA to investigate the site in 1997, and list it as a Superfund site in 1999.^[8] The site was unlisted in 2014 after a successful cleanup.^[9] After the cleanup, the homes were redeveloped, with some residents permanently or temporarily relocated.^[10] The Rustic Mall site remains undeveloped and vacant.^[11]

In the modern day, Manville faces an increased risk of flooding. As a town that’s sandwiched between the Raritan River and Millstone River, it has been hit hard by increasing development in larger neighboring towns, like Bridgewater and Hillsborough. This increase in impervious surfaces nearby leads these rivers to swell as runoff overwhelms them. All of this unwise development comes from poor historical flood management laws in New Jersey, which allow towns to redirect the flood water they receive to nearby rivers, harming people lower in the watershed.^[12] This flooding can be evidenced by the devastating impact of Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Irene (2011), and Hurricane Ida (2021).^[13] In fact, the record breaking flooding in 2021 led President Biden to visit the town, as boat rescues for trapped residents were underway.^[14] This flood was devastating to Manville, as over 100 homes were destroyed.^[15]

Manville’s population was highly influenced by the asbestos factory, steadily increasing from its founding in 1929 until 1970, peaking at around 13,000 residents. After this peak, the population decreased steadily until around 2019, with its lowest number at around 10,200 residents. A recent increase has been observed, with the population at 11,080 residents in 2026.^[16] The reasons behind these trends are not entirely clear, though the decline after 1970 corresponds to the government beginning to regulate asbestos products due to emerging knowledge of health risks.^[17] Furthermore, the Johns Manville Corporation relocated its research headquarters out of town in the late 1960s and began reducing the number of workers at the plant, offering another explanation for this dip in population.^[18] The recent rise in population is more enigmatic due to the recent issues with severe flooding.

The asbestos factory attracted many workers from Pennsylvania coal mines, becoming home to many marginalized white ethnicities. Manville used to be home to many immigrants from Poland, Russia, Hungary, and Romania, with a highly Eastern European demographic. Such immigrants were typically workers at the Johns Manville factory and were generally looked down upon by more established groups of Americans, like those from Western Europe. In the modern day, the ethnic demographics have shifted towards Latino immigrants, showing a trend of the town being home to new immigrant groups.^[19] These qualitative observations are supported by data from the US Census Bureau, with 31.62% of the population being Hispanic or Latino in 2020, compared to just 19% in 2010.^[20]

III. Asbestos Pollution & Resident Opinions

The pollution of the Johns-Manville Corporation’s asbestos factory was a simple factor of life for residents of Manville during its operation. It was noticed and accepted by all residents, whether through resignation, a lack of power, or an appreciation for the jobs the plant offered. Accounts of the Johns-Manville Corporation “snowing” asbestos particles over the town of Manville for over seventy years are quite disturbing, given modern knowledge of the highly carcinogenic nature of asbestos. Residents described seeing children catch this asbestos dust in their mouths like fallen snow and recall the slang of the day where workers were called “snowmen” due to them leaving the plant covered in white asbestos fibers. Many residents accepted this snow, not knowing of the dangers and feeling helpless in the face of the town’s titular factory. For example, in an interview with the LA Times, a resident from 1935 to 1978 recounts how the dust frequently covered her garden, a block away from the plant, saying “Who were we to stop them?” That same resident also echoes a sentiment shared by many residents at the time, emphasizing the importance of the jobs the plant created and downplaying the cancers it caused, saying “We’re all going to die from something.”^[21]

The residents’ opinions at this time reflect a common belief held by workers that they had to choose to have a stable paying wage or environmental safety, not recognizing their right to both. Despite rising consciousness of the dangers of asbestos, the town maintained a grateful and acquiescent attitude toward the plant. In 1982, Joseph D. Patero, a NJ assemblyman and worker at the plant stressed that the plant provided $22 million a year in salaries, saying ”That paid off a lot of mortgages… and it sent a lot of kids to college.”^[22] This language praises the plant for providing jobs, and ignores the negative impact of the plant as if it is irrelevant to the town, or unavoidable. Another worker acknowledges the health issues more directly, but with a defeatist attitude, stating “It was either there or the coal mine. It wouldn’t have made any difference. Back then there was a problem in every factory. You took a shot wherever you worked. My family moved here from the coal country of Pennsylvania in 1927. We went from black coal to white.”^[23] This quote demonstrates the historical truth of this belief that work, and therefore survival, was only afforded to those who ignored environmental health issues. After all, with few laws protecting them, coal miners were economically trapped at rural coal mines, being paid worthless “scrip” currency that only paid for goods at company owned stores.^[24]

Issues from coal mining like black lung mirrored the later outbreak of mesothelioma caused by asbestos. Even so, a shift in power began to be seen as workers began to fight back successfully due to increased legal protections. Close to 900 lawsuits against the Johns-Manville corporation for asbestos-caused health issues hit the company hard as it filed for bankruptcy in 1982 in an attempt to save itself from closing permanently.^[25] Despite this seeming shift in power, workers still echoed opinions of loyalty to the plant, and fear of their economic survival with its imminent closure.  Many workers felt attacked by the lawsuits, with one saying “’Every Tom, Dick and Harry is filing. You get them from all over the world. And if J-M had to keep paying them all, we’d be closed up by the end of the year. I don’t want to see this place closed. Where am I going to go at my age? … I worked here all my life.” This worker reflects a common sentiment that being exposed to toxins was preferable to being out of a job, with job loss being seen as a horrifying outcome of tightening environmental protections. Many workers even refused to sue, with one employee who worked at the plant for 29 years saying “I can’t complain about the company. My father worked there all his life, raised his family and I raised my family, too. Yeah, I’m sick now with this lung thing, but I made a good living at J-M.”^[26] Such opinions not only reflect a fear that environmental protections destroy important jobs, but also an acceptance of sickness from pollutants as a necessary and tolerable part of life that is more than worth enduring for a stable well-paying job.

One might naturally assume that the closure of a large asbestos plant in a residential area would spark community concern over the proper cleanup and use of this site. The documentation of the cleanup online tells a different story, with little information being publicly available on the cleanup, and there being no evidence of residents discussing it. Of what is available, it can be concluded that the cleanup was monitored by the NJ DEP and carried out by the Johns-Manville Corporation. The cleanup involved removing soil and groundwater contamination, as well as stripping the factory buildings of any asbestos. The remainder of the asbestos was then buried with soil and paved with asphalt or covered with vegetation. Supposedly, groundwater monitoring wells were placed around the site, however I can find no records of the well data.^[27] Such sparse information about this cleanup is in stark contrast to Superfund cleanups, which include extensive online documentation and public forums.

After the shut down and cleanup of the asbestos plant, the Marketplace at Manville, with a Walmart and movie theatre, was built on the plot of land the factory once occupied. Not only have I found no resident opinions on this cleanup, but modern people I have spoken to in the area seem unaware that this famous local shopping center sits on top of the site of the old asbestos factory. For example, my grandmother, who has lived in the area since the 1970s, was shocked to hear the cinema she frequents was on the site of the infamous factory. The lack of opinions on or even awareness of the cleanup represents a continuation of the local lack of concern for environmental toxins, as if they are a tolerable fact of life.

Despite showing no interest in the environmental safety of Manville, the residents of Manville were greatly civically engaged in the economic prospects of their town. Resident Sally Saharko, the creator of TIGER (Truth in Government Expected by Residents), expressed support of the Marketplace at Manville as a good economic decision, stating “There are more restaurants in town and fewer kids on street corners. Manville kids are humble enough to work in those stores. I absolutely think the Marketplace was a good thing.” Among positive opinions, the creation of jobs and the development of a good area for residents to shop were stressed.^[28] Such opinions are curious, given the previous nature of the site, highlighting that the town residents value a lively economically developed neighborhood over a more vacant safely managed one.

Detractors of the Marketplace at Manville also focused on economic concerns, arguing that adding more shops in the north part of Main Street would take away from local strip malls on the south side, like the Rustic Mall. Shop owner Oscar Gonzalez said “I think we should have had some light industry. Something scientific maybe. So you’ve got a Wal-Mart. Whoop-de-doo. It’s another strip mall. It doesn’t turn any heads. Has it enhanced the town? Somewhat. The businesses that have survived have done well. Could have we done better? Yes.”^[29] Overall, there is a shocking lack of concern for how the cleanup went or if the site is safe, with residents that are politically involved focusing more on the economic future of the town, trying to fill the hole that the closure of the factory left. This reflects the view residents had of pollution being inevitable. Despite the harm done by the factory, many residents still craved that strong industry presence, viewing it as a sign of economic success, rather than environmental danger.

IV. Federal Creosote Superfund Site & Resident Opinions

Manville, founded by the cancer-causing asbestos industry, is also home to the Federal Creosote Superfund site, which dipped railroad ties and telephone poles in pits of creosote, a carcinogenic wood preservative. Unlined canals and lagoons of this carcinogen, as well as soil where the creosote frequently dripped, were left after the closure of the plant. In the 1960s, as characteristic of the time, no cleanup was done as this heavily polluted land was built into the Clairemont development, an area of over 100 homes, and the Rustic Mall, a popular downtown shopping area.^[30] The map below shows the evolution of the site over time.^[31] The housing can be seen on the right and the mall is marked by the parking lot on the left.

The opinions of residents on this polluted land track closely with the overall town’s opinion on the asbestos snow that fell over the town. They were aware that something was wrong, but mostly ignored it, due to a feeling of powerlessness and a sense that the danger of a dirty environment was not a big deal compared to the threat of homelessness. One resident, Zambo Snyder said this on an online forum in 2010: “My Mom used to ice skate there. She also remembers that some of the boys would pick up pieces of the creosote and chew on it like taffy.” Such an account demonstrates the day-to-day exposure to creosote that those same children catching asbestos “snow” in their mouth faced. Industrial pollution was just an accepted, almost charming, part of the local environment and culture. On the same forum, another resident states, “I lived in one of the homes years ago. Whenever we did dig up the yard to plant anything the creosote would come up from the ground and it was hard growing anything. That’s when my father had told me about what that land was used for before they built those homes.”^[32] This and similar accounts indicate that residents were aware that the land they lived on was polluted, making them unable to use the soil, but accepted this as a fact of life and were simply grateful to own a home. This opinion makes sense especially considering much of this development did not flood, making it somewhat desirable (see flood map in Data Analysis).

Such complacency from residents most likely arose from governmental negligence making residents feel powerless to advocate for safe living conditions. The site only began to be inspected in 1996, after a resident reported creosote shooting out of their basement sump pump. Despite clear evidence of carcinogenic pollution, the local government did not launch an investigation, claiming this problem only affected a single house. In 1997, a sinkhole with creosote in the neighborhood prompted testing of all of the houses in the development, however even when dangerous levels of contamination were found in 31 houses, the local government blamed locals for smoking and using mothballs, dismissing claims of industrial contamination. It was only in 1999, after more in depth soil tests showed the full area had been contaminated, that the Federal Creosote Superfund site was officially slated to be cleaned up.^[33] After repeatedly expressing concern, being dismissed, and even being blamed for the contamination in their houses, it is no wonder that residents felt powerless to advocate for a safer living space, and accepted contamination as the status quo.

The Superfund cleanup was completed with much more public documentation and opportunities for community involvement than the asbestos plant cleanup. The toxic materials in the canals, lagoons, and contaminated soils were removed above a certain level, and capped with clean soil. The groundwater pollution was treated and contained, now surrounded by testing wells with publicly available data. The contaminated houses were evacuated, residents were rehoused, and the land ultimately was cleaned and redeveloped into new housing units. The Rustic Mall was demolished and cleaned, remaining a vacant lot.^[34] The thoroughness of this cleanup is evidenced by continuing five-year reports, publicly available testing data, and opportunities for community comment. Such opportunities are clear in the announcement of the delisting of the site in 2014, where an EPA representative invites the public to comment on this decision.^[35] Unfortunately, I am unable to access these comments.

Once again, I can find little resident discussion on the safety of the cleanup, with the bulk of resident opinions focusing on the economic issues surrounding the vacant site of the Rustic Mall. While little concern is expressed for residual pollution, residents advocate for redevelopment, disgruntled that such an economically important plot of land on Main Street is not contributing to tax revenue as flooding causes so many homes to buy out. As the tax burden increases for remaining residents, they desire a commercial space to contribute taxes and prevent Manville from becoming a ghost town.^[36]  One business owner in Manville states, “We got economic challenges and the flood just wiped us out. We need help… We have a lot of empty stores here; a lot of empty real estate here… we are businesspeople trying to make it, trying to pay our taxes. We want people to shop down here, people to be interested.” Such concerns are often expressed by residents, and include a plea to develop the Rustic Mall to encourage people to shop and stay in town, revitalizing the economy.^[37] Once again, there is a stark lack of concern for the safety of the site, with residents seemingly viewing the pollution as either unfixable or unavoidable and seeing economic recovery from deindustrialization and flooding as more vital to their town than a clean environment.

V. Flooding & Resident Opinions

Flooding, much like pollution, has left Manville residents feeling powerless in the face of governmental systems that seemingly do not care about them and actively discriminate against them. Even so, the anger and desperation expressed by residents in the face of flooding is a far cry from the tolerance we have seen for the polluted conditions. This contrast is due to the fact that, while pollution is often viewed as a necessary tradeoff for survival, flooding is viewed as the antithesis of the town’s survival. If flooding continues, there will be no Manville. If pollution continues, the comfortable status quo is maintained, and economic advancement is possible.

Residents feel helpless in the face of flooding for good reason, as their town has been systematically discriminated against by inadequate flood protection laws and government resources that only benefit areas deemed worth it, like those with high property values. This discrimination can be seen in the Green Brook flood control project, which excluded Manville in building flood protection walls due to the Army Corps of Engineers deeming Manville not economically worth protecting due to low property values. In this same process, Bound Brook, a neighboring town, was surrounded by flood walls due to having higher property values. Putting flood walls across this flood plain further inundates Manville with all the water that Bound Brook previously would have held. In addition to this lack of governmental protection, residents’ express annoyance with the government’s tendency to blame Manville’s flood problems on climate change, while ignoring the more influential and controllable issue of unrestricted nearby development causing flooding. As one resident puts it, “Climate changing? No! It’s not the climate changing, it’s the building houses left and right. Where’s the water gonna go?” New Jersey’s unrestricted laws for development in flood prone areas have led the towns surrounding Manville to divert flood waters to the rivers surrounding the town.^[38] Once again, Manville, with its lack of influence in New Jersey politics, is left to bear the brunt of environmental harm.

This discrimination causes feelings of helplessness in the aftermath of flooding as well, as residents continue to feel a lack of governmental support, fearing the government wants to see their town wiped off the map. One Lost Valley resident, Bob Simpson, living in a hotel room for over two years after Hurricane Ida expresses feeling like he’s being forced to accept a buyout as the government delays funding for rebuilding his house on stilts. He says, “They had said you cannot begin work on the house if you have applied for the HARP funds. Suddenly we all received a notice one Friday afternoon that Manville was no longer eligible to receive any funds from federal or state.”^[39] In August of 2023, homeowners in Manville who were waiting on state funding to raise their houses were informed that Manville is no longer covered by the Homeowner Assistance and Recovery Program (HARP), meaning residents cannot rely on state funding to fix, rebuild, or raise their houses after flood damage.^[40] Instead, Manville is now part of the Blue Acres program, meaning the only assistance available to them is to sell their home to the government so their house can become a permanent plot of empty land.^[41] The statement the government is making with this decision is that Manville, and specifically the minority community of the Lost Valley, has been slated to become an empty flood plain, while areas with higher property values, like Bound Brook, get flood walls and a pass to keep developing, worsening flooding for unprotected towns like Manville. Low-income residents are forced to take this deal, as they do not have the resources to rebuild, showing the cruel nature of disadvantaged people being forced to live on low elevation land, and now being forced to sell their homes when they flood.

In the face of these discriminatory policies, Manville residents express a fear of their town slipping away, and a desire to keep their town economically afloat despite the flooding. This desire explains the previous pushes for economic development, such as in the abandoned Rustic Mall site. Having more popular businesses and a larger tax base would reduce the stress on the remaining residents. One resident expresses this hopeful opinion, saying “To sell every home in the [Lost] Valley isn’t realistic… It’ll just put the tax burden on the rest of the town. I really think that people should explore elevations to raise their homes. You cannot buy a home right now for the price you are going to sell at.”^[42] This resident brings up a good point: that the minority community in the Lost Valley being forced to sell is being sent into the volatile housing market, undoing any economic progress they made in buying a house and possibly barring them from being future homeowners. Residents strongly advocate for more grants and governmental support being given to their town for rebuilding and flood prevention, showing that Manville residents are not complacent, but care deeply about the survival of their town and are willing to fight for it.

VI. Flooding Spreads Pollution

While Manville residents are vocal about how their town needs flood protections to survive, little, if anything at all, has been said about how the industrial pollution of the past may impact the worsening modern flooding. Perhaps, yet again, this is due to an acceptance of pollution as the status quo, an unchangeable consequence of development. However, just because this issue is ignored does not mean it is not important to the health of Manville residents. Literature acknowledges this injustice, with one paper highlighting how poor and minority communities tend to live in areas that have both high flood risks and have historical industrial pollution. Such risks combine as flood waters spread historical pollution, describing a new and mostly unrecognized form of environmental injustice.^[43] To determine how the synergy between flooding and pollution plays out in Manville, NJ, I have mapped legal records of pollution, flood zones, and overburdened communities under the Environmental Justice Law. The results of this analysis can be seen below.

My analysis asks one main question: How do flooding, pollution and low income/minority communities overlap spatially and interact with each other in Manville, NJ? Firstly, this map shows industrial pollution. The red polygons outlined are New Jersey Deed Notices, which encompass legally recognized areas of soil contamination.^[44] The many red polygons in the center of Manville encompass the remediated Federal Creosote Superfund Site. The small red polygons are houses, which have toxic organic compounds around 10 feet below the soil surface. The large adjacent polygon is vacant land that used to contain the Rustic Mall, which has soil contamination around 14 feet below the surface.^[45] The area marked by black lines, known as a Classified Exception Area (CEA) for groundwater, represents persisting groundwater pollution from the Superfund site.^[46] Lastly, the extremely large red polygon in the upper right corner of Manville is the site of the Johns Manville asbestos plant, now containing the Marketplace at Manville shopping center.^[47] Data on the exact nature of the soil pollution at this site is not available publicly.

After mapping pollution, I mapped the flood zones in Manville to see if they intersect the polluted areas. Both moderate (light blue) and severe (blue) flood hazard zones from FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer are mapped.^[48] The darkest blue filled polygons are representative of properties with severe flooding that are most in need of grants for mitigation of flooding (like raising the house on stilts), and acquisition (selling the property to the government due to flood risk).^[49] Lastly topographic contours were graphed as black dotted lines, which mark areas of higher elevation (20 meters).^[50]

Lastly, the demographics of the town were mapped by highlighting overburdened communities within Manville in yellow. According to data from the 2023 5 year American Community Survey, there are three overburdened communities (census blocks) within Manville, NJ based on the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law. According to the law, these communities must have at least 35% low-income households, at least 40% racial/ethnic minority population, and/or at least 40% households with limited English proficiency. The southeastern most overburdened community, known as the “Lost Valley” locally, has a 51% minority population (%not non-Hispanic white), and a poverty rate of 34.96% (below the cutoff, but close). Meanwhile, the southwestern most overburdened community has a 64% minority community. Lastly, the northwestern most overburdened community has a 54% minority community, and a 35% poverty rate.^[51]

The first trend of interest is the overlap of the soil and groundwater contamination and the flood zones. The asbestos soil contamination (red), seen in the northeastern part of the town, overlaps quite significantly with a zone of severe flooding (blue). This overlapped severe flood zone directly connects with the more populated region in the southeast of the town, which contains both a minority community known as the Lost Valley (yellow) and many flood properties targeted for mitigation (dark blue). Such a connection between the asbestos soil pollution site and the flooded portion of Manville is concerning as it hints at a potential spread of asbestos fibers in floodwaters if the engineering controls of burying the contaminated soil are insufficient. It should also be noted that I could find no public testing data for asbestos content in the general soil of the town, despite many historical reports of it raining asbestos “snow” during the factory’s operations.^[52] Without testing, it is unknown if the town’s soil has asbestos fibers that are being unearthed by flood waters.

The Superfund site is mostly not situated in flood zones but is comparable in elevation to them (see dotted black elevation lines). Some of the deed notices (red) of the residential properties overlap with the moderate flood zone (light blue) and, concerningly, the groundwater contamination (black hashes) does partially overlap with both the moderate and severe flooding zones (bright blue). Such overlaps suggest a risk of spread of the toxic organic compounds present in both the soil and groundwater contamination. Once again, the minority community (yellow) in the southeast of the town has flooded areas both including and connected to these contacts with the contamination, suggesting possible exposure to toxic organic compounds during and after flooding events.

The second trend of interest is the intersection between the flood hazards and the overburdened communities. Overall, the bulk of the flood hazard appears to affect the southeastern minority community (yellow, bottom right of map) known as the Lost Valley, indicating that the flooding is possibly disproportionately affecting racial/ethnic minorities in Manville, NJ. Of note is the exposure of this Lost Valley community to floodwaters connected to both the asbestos soil contamination and the organic compound soil/groundwater contamination in the town, suggesting this minority community may also experience increased toxics exposure during floods. Generally speaking, the communities that are not overburdened (not highlighted in yellow), tend to live in non-flooding areas, though oddly the Superfund site (center of map) contains an ostensibly privileged community, suggesting that the fact that this site does not flood matters more to citizens than the legacy of contamination. There also is an overburdened community in the northwestern part of the map (yellow, top left), which is mostly safe from flooding, suggesting that this trend is not universal.

Overall, the trends seen in this analysis hint that racial/ethnic minority communities tend to face higher flood risk, with an additional potential for toxic contamination in floods. This trend is likely linked to historic discriminatory loan and housing practices, like redlining, which prevented racial/ethnic minorities from buying houses in desirable neighborhoods, such as those in higher elevation in a flood prone area. Such trends may be seen throughout the US, as flood risk increases due to increased urbanization and increased impervious surfaces. In addition, as climate change makes hurricanes more severe, catastrophic flooding has the potential to destroy the assets and endanger the lives of many minority communities exposed to flooding. There is a concerning lack of attention for the potential exposure of minority communities to toxins due to this flooding, as just as minority communities tended to be pushed into lower elevation areas by redlining, a lack of political power led them to also carry the burden of more toxic industries near them. This combination of flooding and toxics may act synergistically, as floods spread toxins intimately into the life of overburdened communities.

VII. What Manville Cares About

From the story this report has told, some clear trends about Manville residents’ attitudes and civic focuses clearly emerge. The first trend is that Manville residents, much like many environmental justice communities, feel undervalued. One resident and council member states “I can’t tell you the number of times people have told us: ‘Don’t move to Manville! Don’t do it. Number 1, it floods. Number 2, the people are not that great. Number 3, it’s the low brow area’… We’re a bit more classist than we tend to acknowledge… Manville is still haunted by the not so nice cultural ideas behind a blue collar town.”^[53] This sentiment of being viewed as lesser than due to harboring minorities, like the original Eastern European immigrants and the modern Hispanic population, and lower class or blue collar residents is felt heavily by town residents, as do the perilous environmental conditions such residents were forced to live in often for those very reasons. The idea that minority and low-income residents are lesser than higher brow society leads to discriminatory housing opportunities and zoning that forces such populations to live in polluted and flood prone areas. Following this, those negative environmental conditions are further used to shame the town and the people who live there. As someone who lives nearby Manville, NJ, I can attest to the fact that residents of neighboring towns are aware of Manville’s legacy and look down upon it as a no man’s land that is not worth saving.

In addition to feeling undervalued, Manville residents also feel powerless. This theme of powerlessness repeats itself throughout the story of Manville, first with workers in coal mines moving to the town and finding themselves unknowingly exposed to asbestos. Such workers accepted this condition as a necessary part of life if they wanted steady work, and yet still were left without a job when lawsuits led to the closure of the Manville plant. Later in the town’s history, residents of the Clairemont Development pointing out that creosote was pooling in their basements and lawns were dismissed by local governmental officials, with it taking years for the Federal Creosote Superfund site to be listed. In both cases, town residents accepted the asbestos snow and creosote ice skating lagoons as a fact of life, despite being at least partly aware of their danger. In the modern day, Manville faces flooding due to systematic inequalities viewing their property as too low value to save, like exclusion from the Green Brook flood control project meaning neighboring towns get flood walls while Manville does not and exclusion from the Homeowner Assistance and Recovery Program, meaning residents are only able to sell their flood damaged homes to the government, or pay themselves to get them fixed. Meanwhile, neighboring towns were able to develop uninhibited by regulations, routing the burden of flood waters onto Manville. Despite this obvious correlation, government leaders blame climate change, and paint the situation as unavoidable, with President Biden saying “Climate change [is] here and we’re living through it now, we don’t have any more time” during his visit to Manville after Hurricane Ida. Residents express exasperation at this handwave of responsibility and feel abandoned by their government.^[54]

Despite these setbacks of feeling undervalued and powerless, Manville residents show a strong desire to see their town survive and therefore believe that economic recovery and flood abatement must be the focus of Manville’s future development. Such a focus is understandable, given the huge economic hits the town took with the closure of its titular asbestos factory and later the closure of the Rustic Mall for a Superfund cleanup. Such economic decline is symptomatic of the general trend of deindustrialization seen in the mid twentieth century, with industries moving from the Northeastern “Rust Belt” to the southern “Sun Belt” to escape unions and regulations.^[55] As such, residents focusing more on the economic development of the Marketplace at Manville and the vacant plot of land where the Rustic Mall once was makes sense given the context of deindustrialized areas being abandoned. Furthermore, the focus on flooding is also understandable, as it is a very visible threat that destroys businesses and homes, directly draining the tax revenue of the town. In fact, one council member said “There’s many issues in our town that need to be addressed but [flood abatement] should be the forefront because without that we possibly won’t have a town one day.”^[56] This quote reflects the common attitude of residents that Manville is in survival mode, and must address the most pressing economic and flood issues.

As such, it is no wonder that the less visible, and seemingly less pressing issue of legacy industrial pollution and its spreading during floods is hardly talked about. When this issue is discussed, residents waive it off as a waste of time, as if pollution is an unavoidable fact of life. These attitudes make perfect sense, as of course it would seem ridiculous to complain about pollution when the very town’s survival is being threatened by floods and economic decline. Pollution is continuously viewed as something to be tolerated, while bigger threats are addressed. Therefore, this sense of powerlessness and desperation as their home is threatened has made residents all but accept pollution as an issue that is not possible and not important to address right now.

With all these struggles in mind, it is important to highlight why Manville residents fight so hard to stay in their town. Many residents stress that Manville is a walkable town with a strong community, with one resident and council member stating “in theory, you can get from any home in this borough to a grocery store, to a library, to a park, to a pool, to a school, to a job, without having a car… When you live in a town that you can truly do all of those things… you can have genuine relationships with people who live all over your town.” Such quotes are backed up by resident experiences, as residents continually advocated for businesses opening in their town and providing jobs within the town, such as in the Marketplace at Manville and vacant Rustic Mall sites. Furthermore, residents stressed how they felt much more supported by their community than by the government during the Hurricane Ida disaster.^[57] As such, the residents’ desire for the town’s survival despite economic and environmental hardships, and their willingness to accept pollution as a fact of life, makes sense given their desire to maintain a cohesive sense of community and the idyllic and rare living environment of a walkable town.

VIII. Conclusion

During Hurricane Ida, houses and businesses in Manville, NJ were stranded, surrounded by 16.7 feet of water on the town’s Main Street. In the absence of governmental support, residents took it into their own hands to rescue other residents by boat and provide displaced residents with food and shelter. After this event, those same passionate residents advocated for their town’s survival, attempting to raise their houses after flooding, pointing out the government’s discriminatory flood protection policies, and making “The Asbestos City” documentary to raise awareness about their town’s struggles.^[58]

Such trends of a strong community and residents consistently advocating for the survival of their town are seen repeatedly throughout the town’s history. Despite continual themes of lacking power and being discriminated against and undervalued, residents spoke up about their desires for economic recovery and flood abatement and pointed out the governmental hurdles that seemed to call for their town’s demise. Such residents had strong opinions on the development of the Marketplace at Manville after the asbestos plant’s closure and express a strong desire for the vacant Rustic Mall plot to be developed. Furthermore, residents advocate for flooded properties to be given mitigation funding so they can be raised, rather than sold.

Despite this strong desire for town survival, residents of Manville have continually accepted and ignored the very real threats of legacy industrial pollution from the Johns-Manville asbestos plant and Federal Creosote Superfund Site, accepting the pollution when it occurred, not questioning the quality of subsequent cleanups, and actively calling for the land to be developed after the cleanups. These same residents show no awareness or concern for the invisible issue of pollutant spreading during flooding, which may disproportionately affect the town’s southern Hispanic community, known as the Lost Valley. Such acceptance of toxins comes from a belief that economic survival is only possible by tolerating pollution as a necessary trade-off, calling back to the days of factory workers and coal miners accepting their sickness for a chance at stable work.

Even though Manville residents have historically accepted pollution as a fact of life, the minority voice of people who spoke up about the injustice of pollution have made a slow but steady difference over time, showing that resistance against the status quo is not futile. The workers who sued the Johns-Manville corporation eventually led the company to file for bankruptcy, and leave Manville, NJ permanently, freeing the town of a major source of pollution. The residents who reported creosote on their land, despite repeatedly being ignored, eventually got the site listed as a Superfund site and cleaned up. Such examples make it clear that residents should continue to advocate for their safety because, despite the number of times they may have to say the same thing before they are heard, progress towards a safer and cleaner community is possible. So, to anyone reading this essay who faces flooding, please tell your government to look into what pollution the flooding might spread. You do not have to accept uncertainty or unsafe living conditions, despite what a history of powerlessness has led many undervalued communities to believe. Everyone has a right to both economic survival and a safe environment.

^[1] Jessica Layton, “Nightmare in Manville, NJ as Homes and a Business Explode in Ida’s Aftermath; Family Grateful to Be Alive,” cbsnews.com (CBS News, September 4, 2021), https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ida-manville-new-jersey-flood/.

^[2] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Deed Notice Extent in New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2024, https://gisdata-njdep.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::deed-notice-extent-in-new-jersey/about.

^[3] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Classification Exception Areas-Well Restriction Areas for New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2020, https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::classification-exception-areas-well-restriction-areas-for-new-jersey/about.

^[4] Associated Press, “Manville Closing Flagship Factory after 74 Years,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 1986, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-29-fi-14447-story.html.

^[5] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Overburdened Communities under the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law (Current),” Arcgis.com, 2020, https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::overburdened-communities-under-the-new-jersey-environmental-justice-law-current/about.

^[6] Kathryn Quick, Manville a History Enduring (Xlibris Corporation, 2010), https://www.amazon.com/Manville-History-Enduring-Kathryn-Quick/dp/1450024289. A general history of Manville is given on pages 103-104.

^[7] US EPA, OSRTI, “FEDERAL CREOSOTE | Superfund Site Profile | Superfund Site Information | US EPA,” Epa.gov, 2026, https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.Cleanup&id=0204097#bkground.

^[8] Pat Evangelista, “FOURTH FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT for FEDERAL CREOSOTE SUPERFUND SITE SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY” (New York , New York: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, 2021), https://semspub.epa.gov/work/02/609907.pdf. Page 3.

^[9] Elias Rodriguez, “03/07/2014: EPA Proposes to Remove Manville, New Jersey Site from Superfund List after Successful Cleanup,” Epa.gov, 2026, https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/a6e27fd9e30a43df85257c9400476773.html.

^[10] Pat Evangelista, “FOURTH FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT for FEDERAL CREOSOTE SUPERFUND SITE SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY” (New York , New York: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, 2021), https://semspub.epa.gov/work/02/609907.pdf. Page 6.

^[11] Chris Basista, “PART 1: What Is the ‘Rustic Mall’ in Manville?,” Manville.Today – How Manville NJ’s Mayor & Borough Council Affect You (ManvilleToday, May 10, 2024), https://www.manville.today/part-1-what-is-the-rustic-mall-in-manville.

^[12] Elizabeth Ulrich, ed., The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film (Mariano Films, 2025). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 10:00-11:40, 14:19-15:00.

^[13] Bill Duhart, “Here’s the Awful Scene from above in Manville, Where Flooding Again Overran This N.J. Town,” nj, September 2, 2021, https://www.nj.com/news/2021/09/heres-the-awful-scene-from-above-in-manville-where-flooding-again-overran-this-nj-town.html.

^[14] Juliet Macur, “In the Flooded New Jersey Town That Biden Visited, Residents Feel Forgotten.,” The New York Times, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/07/us/manville-nj-ida-biden.html.

^[15] Jessica Layton, “Nightmare in Manville, NJ as Homes and a Business Explode in Ida’s Aftermath; Family Grateful to Be Alive,” cbsnews.com (CBS News, September 4, 2021), https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/ida-manville-new-jersey-flood/.

^[16] World Population Review, “Manville, New Jersey Population 2026,” World Population Review, April 24, 2026, https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/new-jersey/manville.

^[17] Mesothelioma Research Foundation of America, “Asbestos History and News Archive 1950’S through Present,” mesorfa.org, 2026, https://mesorfa.org/exposure/history.php.

^[18] Nancy Anita Williams, “Leaving Town,” Business Journal of New Jersey 4, no. 9 (1987): 44, https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/leaving-town/docview/198046019/se-2?accountid=35725.

^[19] Max Pizarro, “From Asbestos Factory to Wal-Mart: The Journey of Angelo Corradino and Manville,” Observer, November 27, 2007, https://observer.com/2007/11/from-asbestos-factory-to-wal-mart-the-journey-of-angelo-corradino-and-manville/.

^[20] 1. U.S. Census Bureau, “HISPANIC or LATINO, and NOT HISPANIC or LATINO by RACE,” Decennial Census, DEC Demographic and Housing Characteristics, Table P9, 2020, https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDHC2020.P9?q=Manville+borough,+New+Jersey&t=Hispanic+or+Latino. 2.  U.S. Census Bureau, “HISPANIC or LATINO, and NOT HISPANIC or LATINO by RACE,” Decennial Census, DEC Summary File 1, Table P9, 2010, https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALSF12010.P9?q=Manville+borough,+New+Jersey&t=Hispanic+or+Latino. Source 1 gives the 2020 statistic and source 2 gives the 2010 statistic.

^[21] Associated Press, “Manville Closing Flagship Factory after 74 Years,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 1986, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-29-fi-14447-story.html. This source contains accounts of the asbestos “snow” and the quote.

^[22] Samuel G. Freedman, “THE TOWN MANVILLE BUILT HAS MIXED FEELINGS; the Talk of Manville,” The New York Times, September 1, 1982, sec. New York, https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/01/nyregion/the-town-manville-built-has-mixed-feelings-the-talk-of-manville.html.

^[23] Max Pizarro, “From Asbestos Factory to Wal-Mart: The Journey of Angelo Corradino and Manville,” Observer, November 27, 2007, https://observer.com/2007/11/from-asbestos-factory-to-wal-mart-the-journey-of-angelo-corradino-and-manville/.

^[24] West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, “16 Tons: Company Scrip & Tokens,” West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, 2022, https://wvminewars.org/16tons.

^[25] Nancy Anita Williams, “Leaving Town,” Business Journal of New Jersey 4, no. 9 (1987): 44, https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/leaving-town/docview/198046019/se-2?accountid=35725.

^[26] Nancy Anita Williams, “Leaving Town,” Business Journal of New Jersey 4, no. 9 (1987): 44, https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/leaving-town/docview/198046019/se-2?accountid=35725.

^[27] J. C. Shearman, “Johns-Manville Agrees to Final Cleanup – UPI Archives,” UPI, July 17, 1989, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/07/17/Johns-Manville-agrees-to-final-cleanup/8889616651200/.

^[28] Max Pizarro, “From Asbestos Factory to Wal-Mart: The Journey of Angelo Corradino and Manville,” Observer, November 27, 2007, https://observer.com/2007/11/from-asbestos-factory-to-wal-mart-the-journey-of-angelo-corradino-and-manville/.

^[29] Max Pizarro, “From Asbestos Factory to Wal-Mart: The Journey of Angelo Corradino and Manville,” Observer, November 27, 2007, https://observer.com/2007/11/from-asbestos-factory-to-wal-mart-the-journey-of-angelo-corradino-and-manville/.

^[30] Mike Deak, “Could Manville’s Former Rustic Mall Site Finally Be Redeveloped?,” Courier News (MyCentralJersey.com, August 3, 2021), https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/development/2021/08/03/manville-nj-again-explore-redeveloping-former-rustic-mall-site/5455602001/.

^[31] Michael Polnasek, “Manville Creosote Factory,” Manville, NJ … Revolution on the Millstone, March 10, 2010, https://manville.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/manville-creosote-factory/.

^[32]  Michael Polnasek, “Manville Creosote Factory,” Manville, NJ … Revolution on the Millstone, March 10, 2010, https://manville.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/manville-creosote-factory/.

^[33] Stephen Stirling, “EPA Deems Manville Superfund Site Clean, Proposes Removing It from List,” nj.com, 2014, https://www.nj.com/somerset/2014/03/epa_deems_manville_superfund_site_clean_proposes_removing_it_from_list.html.

^[34] Pat Evangelista, “FOURTH FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT for FEDERAL CREOSOTE SUPERFUND SITE SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY” (New York , New York: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, 2021), https://semspub.epa.gov/work/02/609907.pdf. Pages 1-9.

^[35] Elias Rodriguez, “03/07/2014: EPA Proposes to Remove Manville, New Jersey Site from Superfund List after Successful Cleanup,” Epa.gov, 2026, https://www.epa.gov/archive/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/a6e27fd9e30a43df85257c9400476773.html.

^[36] 1. Chris Basista, “PART 1: What Is the ‘Rustic Mall’ in Manville?,” Manville.Today – How Manville NJ’s Mayor & Borough Council Affect You (ManvilleToday, May 10, 2024), https://www.manville.today/part-1-what-is-the-rustic-mall-in-manville.

2. Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 1:08:00-1:09:50.

Source 1 highlights residents’ desire for development and concern for high tax burdens falling on them. Source 2 highlights how flooding is worsening this tax burden and further shows resident’s desire for development of the site to alleviate this.

^[37] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 1:02:10-1:02:42. This is the time for the quote. Discussion of the Rustic Mall is seen at 58:28-1:02:10.

^[38] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Flood information: 10:00-13:40. Quote about climate change: 38:15-38:47.

^[39] Naomi Yané, “‘Like a Purgatory.’ Manville Residents Impacted by Ida Outraged by Lack of Federal Funding,” News 12 – New Jersey, 2024, https://newjersey.news12.com/like-a-purgatory-manville-residents-impacted-by-ida-outraged-by-lack-of-federal-funding.

^[40] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 1:21:37-1:21:59.

^[41] Jon Hurdle, “NJ Pushes Blue Acres Buyouts in Manville | NJ Spotlight News,” NJ Spotlight News, August 30, 2023, https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2023/08/nj-says-buyouts-best-for-storm-damaged-homes-manville/.

^[42] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 1:09:23-1:09:50.

^[43] Thomas Marlow, James R Elliott, and Scott Frickel, “Future Flooding Increases Unequal Exposure Risks to Relic Industrial Pollution,” Environmental Research Letters 17, no. 7 (June 28, 2022): 074021, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac78f7.

^[44] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Deed Notice Extent in New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2024, https://gisdata-njdep.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::deed-notice-extent-in-new-jersey/about. Deed notices describe the type of contamination, whether it restricts certain uses of the property (like future construction), and what engineering controls are currently in place and need to be maintained (like soil caps or fences). All of this information must be acknowledged by new owners in order to ensure the property is safely used.

^[45] Pat Evangelista, “FOURTH FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT for FEDERAL CREOSOTE SUPERFUND SITE SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY” (New York , New York: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2, 2021), https://semspub.epa.gov/work/02/609907.pdf. Pages 4-8.

^[46] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Classification Exception Areas-Well Restriction Areas for New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2020, https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::classification-exception-areas-well-restriction-areas-for-new-jersey/about. A CEA zone is an area where New Jersey Ground Water Quality Standards are not met, designating to the public that the water from this aquifer should not be extracted or used.

^[47] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Deed Notice Extent in New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2024, https://gisdata-njdep.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::deed-notice-extent-in-new-jersey/about.

^[48] 1. NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Flood Hazard Zones in the Borough of Manville New Jersey,” Arcgis.com, 2024, https://gisdata-njdep.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::flood-hazard-zones-in-the-borough-of-manville-new-jersey/explore?location=40.542409%2C-74.581676%2C15. This source shows the data mapped.

2. FEMA, “Flood Zones,” Fema.gov, July 8, 2020, https://www.fema.gov/about/glossary/flood-zones. This source gives a definition of the flood zones. The severe flooding areas (bright blue) have a 1-percent or greater chance of being flooded in any given year, meanwhile the moderate flooding areas (pale blue) have between a 1-percent and 0.2-percent chance of flooding yearly.

^[49] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Priority Cluster Areas Identified in Manville Borough’s 2018 Acquisition Action Plan,” Arcgis.com, 2018, https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::priority-cluster-areas-identified-in-manville-boroughs-2018-acquisition-action-plan/about.

^[50] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “DGS00-3 Topographic Elevation Contours for New Jersey (1:100,000 Scale),” Arcgis.com, 2026, https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=85c8203bec7c49fca287f84d10a0e52a.

^[51] NJDEP Bureau of GIS, “Overburdened Communities under the New Jersey Environmental Justice Law (Current),” Arcgis.com, 2026, https://njogis-newjersey.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/njdep::overburdened-communities-under-the-new-jersey-environmental-justice-law-current/about.

^[52] Associated Press, “Manville Closing Flagship Factory after 74 Years,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 1986, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-29-fi-14447-story.html.

^[53] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 1:12:33-1:13:26.

^[54]  Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Information on flooding in this paragraph comes from this source. Time: 38:10-38:15.

^[55] “28. The Unraveling | the AMERICAN YAWP,” The American Yawp, 2019, https://www.americanyawp.com/text/28-the-unraveling/.

^[56] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Time: 11:40-11:49.

^[57] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Quote: 7:50-9:55. Evidence of community support during Hurricane Ida: 32:00-35:00.

^[58] Ulrich, Elizabeth, ed. The Asbestos City (2024) Documentary Film. Mariano Films, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pFBReZ9zk. Boat rescues during Hurricane Ida: 17:20-19:14.

Primary Sources: