Editing Laurence Harbor, New Jersey (section)

==Pollution and lead contamination==
Pollution issues are being addressed on the southern half of the Old Bridge Waterfront Park. The main beach has been contaminated with toxic levels of lead. The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] has closed the beach to the public. There is information on the site at their web site under the National Priorities List for the [[Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site]].<ref name=":0" /> It is believed that [[slag]] from the [[National Lead]] factory in Sayreville was placed along the retaining wall in the 1960s and the 1970s to prevent erosion.<ref>DiIonno, Mark. [http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2012/06/di_ionno_ghosts_of_industrial.html "Di Ionno: Ghosts of industrial past keep Laurence Harbor from its beach"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', June 24, 2012. Accessed July 21, 2016. "The problem is lead-laden slag, which was taken from the old National Lead industrial site in Sayreville, where Dutch Boy paint was made, and used to anchor jetties and bolster the seawall in the area."</ref>  Additionally, the same slag was used to build an entire jetty on the northern end of Morgan Bridge in [[Morgan, New Jersey|Morgan]]. The slag comes in the form of about 20" diameter discs similar in shape to tire hubs and some are disc halves. The slag was a byproduct from the lead refining process that contains mostly steel with small percentages of lead and other heavy metals. The slag does not significantly affect the water quality due to dilution from ocean water that continuously comes in and out of the bay. Testing showed that the sand under the slag has lead particulates that have separated over time and there are traces of lead particulates in the sand below the tidal line. Once the slag is removed or contained the beach will be reopened.<ref name=":0">[http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/raritanbayslag/ Raritan Bay Slag], [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]]. Accessed November 28, 2012.</ref>