OSWER/OSRTI

Washington, DC 20460

NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST (NPL) 

***Proposed Site*** December 2013 

UNIMATIC MANUFACTURING 

CORPORATION

Fairfield, New Jersey

Essex County

 Site Location:

The Unimatic Manufacturing Corporation facility is a former aluminum die-casting facility located at 25 Sherwood Lane in Fairfield, 

Essex County, New Jersey. The 1.23-acre subject property is immediately surrounded by industrial properties, including the Caldwell 

Trucking Superfund site to the southeast, and the industrial area is in turn surrounded by commercial areas and residential 

neighborhoods. 

 Site History:

Unimatic operated at the facility from 1955 until 2001, primarily as an aluminum die-casting facility. At its peak in the 1970s, the 

company operated eight die-casting machines 24 hours per day using lubricating oil which contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 

Beginning with the last facility expansion in 1970, large volumes of lubricating oil were sprayed throughout the shop area, to the point 

where it covered the walls and floor. Unimatic washed out the PCB-laden lubricant through floor trenches to the facility wastewater 

pipes, which subsequently discharged to a tributary of Deepavaal Brook. The facility discharged 16,000 to 44,000 gallons per day of 

contaminated water through the wastewater pipes. Poor construction of the pipes allowed the wastewater to leak into the ground at the 

site, leading to soil and ground water contamination throughout the subject property and beyond the property boundaries. 

 Site Contamination/Contaminants:

Until 1979, wastewater containing PCBs leaked through the pipes, which led to high levels of PCB contamination in soil and ground 

water throughout the subject property and beyond the property boundaries. The building itself is also infused with PCBs. The well 

water that was used at the site until 1989 contained high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are believed to have 

migrated from the Caldwell Trucking Superfund site. Wastewater discharged from the Unimatic facility into the tributary stream was 

shown to contain high levels of VOCs in the 1980s. The effluent also contained petroleum hydrocarbons and oil, and is believed to have 

contained PCBs. Soil at the discharge point is contaminated with PCBs, but the extent of contamination along the surface water 

migration route has not been investigated and is unknown. 

 Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment: 

The former Unimatic building is severely contaminated with PCBs, which have entered indoor air. The Unimatic operation resulted in 

contaminated soil, ground water and surface water due to decades of wastewater discharge through leaky pipes. The nearest wells 

currently used for drinking water are located less than one-half mile downgradient of the site, and ground water wells within 4 miles of 

the site provide drinking water to more than 20,000 people. The well water that was used at the site until 1989 contained high levels of 

VOCs, and the effluent to the unnamed tributary to Deepavaal Brook was shown to contain petroleum hydrocarbons, oil and high levels 

of VOCs in the 1980s. Deepavaal Brook flows into the Passaic River and there is a drinking water intake that serves more than 450,000 

people located 2.2 miles downstream of Deepavaal Brook. 

 Response Activities (to date):

Under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. NJ0031003, the EPA and New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued numerous non-compliance and violation notices beginning in 1982 to curtail the discharge of 

VOC-contaminated water, however, Unimatic continued to discharge 16,000 to 44,000 gallons per day to state waters until the facility 

connected to municipal water in 1989. Numerous investigations under NJDEP and oversight by the EPA since 2001 have shown that 

the building, soils and ground water on site are severely contaminated with PCBs. Unimatic has excavated some contaminated soils, but 

high PCB concentrations remain in soil and ground water at and beyond the subject property. The EPA has initiated and continues to 

perform interim protective measures inside the building, which ultimately must be vacated and sealed. 

 Need for NPL Listing:

Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. The EPA received a letter of support for 

placing this site on the NPL from the state of New Jersey. 

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may 

change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent 

FR notices.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to 

these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on 

the Internet at http://www.atsdr.csc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.