{"id":468447,"date":"2026-02-14T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468447\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:43:09","slug":"smelly-slimy-discharge-found-in-n-j-river-locals-worry-its-toxic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468447\/","title":{"rendered":"Smelly, slimy discharge found in N.J. river. Locals worry it\u2019s toxic."},"content":{"rendered":"

Patricia McConn stepped onto her porch Thursday and crinkled her nose. <\/p>\n

It was to look through binoculars she just bought on Amazon. Not in response to the pungent smell a neighbor anonymously reported nearby this past fall.<\/p>\n

Someone took a whiff of an \u201codorous, slimy residue\u201d at the roughly 12-mile Elizabeth River tributary and called it in.<\/p>\n

The sticky stuff appeared white and gray by the waterway and, federal inspectors found, red and brown discharge inside a suspected source of the problem, a produce company. <\/p>\n

It all came as news to McConn, a systems analyst in her 50s from Hillside, that the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> was in her neighborhood at all. Let alone investigating industrial pollution at the tributary. <\/p>\n

Thus far, federal officials have linked the issue to the nearly century-old Gargiulo Produce. <\/p>\n

The company is one of the largest receivers of fresh fruits and vegetables on the East Coast, according to its website<\/a>. It also got a $111M defense department contract four years ago to supply schools with goods, a news release showed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s going to cause a health issue, then yes, it needs to be cited,\u201d McConn said of the food service distributor that regularly brings truck traffic to the area but otherwise is not a bother. \u201cBut no, I didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

McConn hopes state and federal regulators keep her and others in the area informed of any important updates that may impact families\u2019 health.<\/p>\n

As of now, only the EPA\u2019s probe \u2014 which is still ongoing \u2014 will make clear whether there should be reason for alarm, two experts told NJ.com. It\u2019s also not clear if the pollution could have other sources.<\/p>\n

After the compliance letter, \u201cGargiulo Produce immediately stopped the discharge and is currently working on (a) longer-term plan,\u201d Nikita Joshi, an EPA spokesman, said Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Early findings \u2014 and simply the fact four months have elapsed with no reports of impacts to people or animals \u2014 are positive signs. <\/p>\n

More will be known soon, experts said.<\/p>\n

Gargiulo Produce this week did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The company has not been penalized financially but federal regulators asked it take steps to address issues that were flagged.<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethA view of the Elizabeth River in Hillside, NJ on Thursday, February 12, 2026John Jones | For NJ.com\"ElizabethDischarge from the crushed fruits and vegetables into a catch basin via
\na pipe connected to the compactor which discharges into the Hillside separate storm sewer system, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.Courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency\u2018Crushed produce and particulate matter\u2019<\/p>\n

On a sunny day in October, the EPA visited Gargiulo Produce\u2019s nine-acre Hillside facility following a resident\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n

It was a surprise inspection.<\/p>\n

Federal regulators said they were mindful that Gargiulo\u2019s stormwater flows into the Hillside Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System discharging into the tributary. <\/p>\n

Samples were collected, a meeting was held with the owner and a walk-through then followed. <\/p>\n

Discharge flowing from an outfall pipe at the facility \u201cwas observed to have residuals of crushed produce and particulate matter,\u201d according to a December 2025 letter and inspection summary sent by the EPA to Gargiulo Produce, obtained by NJ.com via a Freedom of Information Act request.<\/p>\n

In addition, inspectors said they smelled \u201ca strong odor.\u201d <\/p>\n

Images from the facility, and obtained by NJ.com, showed piles of vegetables, fruits and other unidentifiable gunk congealing on a drain and in the back of a truck.<\/p>\n

At the time of the inspection, the EPA said the produce company did not have a \u201cBasic Industrial Stormwater General\u201d permit or \u201cNational Pollutant Discharge Elimination System\u201d permit. Both are standard, a health expert said.<\/p>\n

The NJDEP has not cited Gargiulo Produce for water violations in the past, state spokesman Larry Hajna said Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cGargiulo does not have a NJPDES stormwater permit. Under the regulations, it is a facility\u2019s obligation to apply for necessary permits. The DEP is reviewing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 5, the EPA issued an administrative order requiring Gargiulo Produce \u201cto stop the unauthorized discharge immediately\u201d and \u201cobtain appropriate permits for industrial stormwater discharges.\u201d <\/p>\n

The produce company was also ordered to develop practices and control measures to ensure ongoing compliance with the Clean Water Act. <\/p>\n

Preliminary results from inspectors showed the non-stormwater discharge there had an ammonia level of 25.3 milligrams per litter. Ammonia at or above 17 mg\/l for more<\/a> than an hour can be detrimental for fish. No major impacts to marine life are known as of Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily it\u2019s not anything toxic\u201d for people, Alexis Mraz, a public health professor at The College of New Jersey, told NJ.com on the phone. The EPA\u2019s current \u201ctrack down study\u201d will reveal more on anything else detected or sampled, she noted.<\/p>\n

Based on preliminary information provided by federal investigators, \u201cit\u2019s definitely not a sound the alarm situation,\u201d Mraz said. <\/p>\n

Nevertheless, she advised people in the area take notice and refrain from allowing their dogs to drink from the tributary.<\/p>\n

The Elizabeth River tributary is not a source for drinking water for residents in the state.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a public health point of view, it\u2019s possible that there could be pathogens but vegetable waste in particular may be less likely to have pathogens in it,\u201d Robert Laumbach, a Rutgers University professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice, said after reviewing EPA\u2019s preliminary findings. <\/p>\n

Like Mraz, Laumbach said more needs to be studied before saying anything too definitive.<\/p>\n

\"ElizabethAn exterior view of Gargiulo Produce in Hillside, NJ on Thursday, February 12, 2026John Jones | For NJ.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patricia McConn stepped onto her porch Thursday and crinkled her nose. It was to look through binoculars she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-468447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}