Brownfields are defined as any former or current commercial or industrial site, currently vacant or underutilized, on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of a contaminant. While, a historic fill is non-indigenous material placed on a site in order to raise the topographic elevation of the site. A historic fill may contain contaminants such as Arsenic, Lead, and Zinc.
Brownfield Sites are of great importance because they have been recognized as an environmental justice issue due the range of potential hazards associated with the area. When the sites remain vacant, toxins present on the land continue to impact air and water quality, and eventually human health. If more attention was brought to this topic area then more of the sites could be redeveloped. Historic Fills have also been recognized as an issue because of their health effects on humans over time. By raising awareness to the areas that are historic fill sites, it allows more people to do their research and take action to protect their health and well-being. Some common contaminants include but are not limited to Lead, Arsenic, and Zinc. These can cause kidney damage, learning disabilities, skin poisoning and other diseases/disorders.
Scientific monitoring of brownfields and historic fills contributes to the cleaning-up of our environment and our understanding of the pressures the local ecosystems face with these sites. The map displayed here presents the most recent estimates, generated by the NJ Brownfields 2021 Known Contaminated Site List, New Jersey Brownfields Sitemart, and Historic Fill in NJ on the number of brownfields and historic fills that surround the Madison area.
Note: the map above shows a comparison of the number and location of Brownfields in 2018 vs 2021 as well as the number and location of Historic Fills in 2021. Please clock the >> button in the top left corner to see the legend items for the map.
Two brownfield layers were used to accurately represent the number of sites within the Borough of Madison. It should be mentioned that each of these layers come from different years, with the 2021 layer demonstrating an increase in brownfields compared to 2018. In 2018, there was 8 sites in Madison out of 9,440 in New Jersey. In 2021, there was a total of 21 brownfields in Madison out if 13,981 in New Jersey. These two layers were used to demonstrate the changes in the number of brownfields from the past to the last updated version. Historic Fills are also related to brownfields. According to the layer added to our map, there are a total of 21 historic fills in Madison compared to 11,437 in New Jersey.
According the Data and information collected, it can be inferred that the number of Brownfields and Historic Fills has increased in the past years. From 2018 to 2021 there has been a 44% increase of Brownsites in NJ and a 162.5% increase in Madison’s Brownfield Sites from 2018 to 2021. Understanding this increase can help understand sources of contamination and what future work can be done in order to enforce programs like EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program.
Historic Fill in New Jersey is associated with the Department of Environmental Protection’s requirement, by the Brownfield and Contaminated Site Remediation Act, to map regions where historic fills exist. The data shown was collected via stereo aerial photography taken in March 1979 which was then supplemented in places by 1991 and 1992 planimetric aerial photography. Archival topographic and geologic maps from the 1840-1910 N.J. Geological Survey was used along with field observations and drill logs. The Brownfields SiteMart is associated with the NJ Department of State Office for Planning Advocacy whereas NJ Brownfields 2021 is associated with MSU. The data layers shown above in the map are updated and distributed by the above mentioned organizations. Project Link.
