In 1962, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson started the environmental movement in America, but it was a sleeping giant until the explosion of a chemical dump site in Elizabeth, New Jersey jump started it on April 20, 1980 which led to a clampdown on hazardous waste contamination throughout America.

The explosion set off a catastrophic fire that enveloped a two-acre facility along the Arthur Kill waterfront. Newspapers would later report that temperatures in the fire zone reached three thousand degrees, hampering efforts to bring the blaze under control. I rushed to the scene and watched from the waterfront on Front Street, horrified as I saw smaller explosions hurl 55-gallon drums filled with toxins into the air, where they then blew up. A toxic plume flew over North Jersey and lower Manhattan.

Mob bosses controlled solid and hazardous waste disposal throughout the state, and anyone who crossed their boundaries could expect retribution ranging from vandalized trucks to bodies found in car trunks under the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth to the murder of a competitor’s wife, her body found floating face down in a pool. That all happened, and more. Multiple federal charges were filed against the company and a host of defendants wound up going to prison for their illegal storage of toxic chemicals.

The Chemical Control explosion led to my sponsorship of legislation that licensed the waste disposal industry and drove out organized crime. The explosion also prompted me to sponsor legislation that  taxed petrochemicals coming into the state to clean up abandoned contaminated sites in the state. It was the precursor of the Federal Super Fund sponsored by Congressman Jim Florio.

The Lesniak Institute has identified five issues that will keep the environment movement going in New Jersey https://www.lesniakinstitute.org/top-5-bills-targeting-environmental-issues/

1. Adopt a Rule requiring zero-emission vehicles for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks. This Rule would affect both manufacturers and owners of commercial fleets.
2. Establish a solar energy development program in the Board of Public Utilities.
3. Establish statewide targets to reduce the disposal of organic waste in landfills.
4. Establish post-consumer recycled content requirements for certain containers. The bill will require manufacturers to produce single-use plastic products with a certain percentage of recycled content.
5. Establish the Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience Financing Program in the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. This program would provide low-interest loans and other financial assistance to projects whose primary purposes are to eliminate, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions or to protect human health and safety, the environment, and public infrastructure from the effects of climate change.

Alerting the world about the need to protect the environment, as Rachael Carson did, started a movement. The explosion at Chemical Control jump started it. We don’t need another explosion to keep it going, just citizen awareness and advocacy for good environment legislation proposed by our representatives in government.

Ray Lesniak is the former State Senator from the 20th Legislative District.