Due to recent contamination findings at a day care facility in Glouster County, New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has begun inspecting 1,846 sites throughout the State that are suspected of containing contamination.  These sites were previously removed from the NJDEP list of Known Contaminated Sites, but as a result of the recent day care contamination case, have been reinstated, pending further review. 

Slated for inspection are the over 4,200 day care centers across the state, for any signs of contamination. “We will try to figure out which ones might be near some proximal risk and then go out and take a look at those,” said Irene Kropp, Assistant Commissioner for Site Remediation at the NJDEP.

Under a recently issued NJDEP directive, day care operators must check their immediate area for contamination before a license is issued to operate.  The State now requires day-care centers in New Jersey to ensure there are no contaminated sites within 400-feet of the property before they can obtain a license from the State to open.

Day-care centers are to contact the NJDEP, so a record search can be performed on a 400-foot radius surrounding the property, to identify nearby contaminated sites.  If contamination is discovered, the NJDEP will determine what type of remediation is necessary, and a certified environmental company would have to be retained to perform the remediation.

According to the NJDEP, once contamination is documented at a site, day care businesses at the site may be shut down until the clean up is complete.  Close to 100 staff members at the environmental agency have been deployed throughout the State to quickly identify and categorize contaminated sites, so that clean up can begin as soon as possible.  The sites under review primarily consist of commercial/industrial properties, however some residential properties with potential contamination problems are being examined as well.