Hazard Trailer Script

[MUX IN: “Hazard Theme”] 

CP_Jenny_Ketrow_11132021

Jenny Ketrow: Most people, if you tell them, “Yeah, by the way, there's, like, this Superfund site back there.” They don't believe you. They’re, like, “Wait, they’d never let that happen.”

JGP VO 

SUPERFUND SITES… THEY’RE THE BLACK SLUDGE ON OUR COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE.

Mark-Schmidt_EPA_American-Cya namid20220215

Mark Schmidt: If a person were to come in contact with these wastes, it would be very detrimental, you know, because it, the material is very toxic, you would not want to ingest it. Even breathing it can // cause some, some issues.

JGP VO 

THESE ARE THE FORMER LANDFILLS… THE POWER PLANTS… AND THE CHEMICAL REFINERIES THAT DOT THE LANDSCAPE OF AMERICA.

BUT NOBODY LIVES FAR FROM A SUPERFUND SITE HERE IN THE GARDEN STATE.

Ana-Baptista_In-Person-Interview20220219

Ana Baptista: The little you knew about the river was don't get near it. Don’t go in it. Definitely don’t touch it, like, everybody knew, like, it was a dirty river, very polluted. 

JGP VO  

THERE’S ONE-HUNDRED-AND-FOURTEEN OF THEM… THE MOST OUT OF ANY STATE IN THE U-S. 

Maria-Lopez-Nunez-Side 

Maria Lopez-Nuñez: So, the Diamond Alkali site, it was the largest producer of Agent Orange in the world and everyone talks about this one thing: a white powder that, like, covered the whole factory, you know, like, everything was covered in this white dust and it was, like, a sticky dust. So if you walked in, you would get it all over your shoes and that dust was dioxin. And so, it was being carried all over the neighborhood.

JGP VO

AND WHILE FEDERAL CLEANUP IS UNDERWAY FOR SOME OF THESE TOXIC SITES… THE GREATER THREAT TO THEM NOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE.

Mark-Schmidt_EPA_American-Cyanamid20220215 

Mark Schmidt: So, based on what has happened, // we’re concerned with // the flooding events. We've been fortunate that nothing has happened. But, you know, what's the future gonna look like?

JGP VO

AND OH, WHAT A MESS THAT WILL BE…

MANY OF THE SUPERFUND SITES IN NEW JERSEY ARE VULNERABLE TO FIRES… FLOODS… STORM-SURGES… AND RISING SEA LEVELS. 

Greg-Michele-Interview_20220331

Michele: One of the biggest concerns is how to plan for something that we don't know the extent of going forward?

JGP VO

WHEN THESE SITES FLOOD… THEY CAN WASH ALL KINDS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS INTO NEARBY BODIES OF WATER… EVEN HOMES. 

THE TOXIC REMNANTS OF THE STATE’S INDUSTRIAL HEYDAY ARE BURIED UNDERGROUND.

AND LURK UNDERNEATH PLACES LIKE THE PASSAIC RIVER. 

HERE IN NEW JERSEY… MOST OF THESE TOXIC SITES ARE IN THE BACKYARDS OF LOW-INCOME… MINORITY COMMUNITIES.

RESIDENTS ALREADY FACE A GREATER RISK OF HEALTH PROBLEMS.

AND NOW CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS TO DAMAGE SUPERFUND SITES AND SPREAD POLLUTION EVEN FURTHER.

Booker_Cory_20220318

Cory Booker: I'm one of the, I would imagine, few senators that lives in a city that has the number of Superfund sites this one has and surprise, surprise, I’m a senator, I think the only senator who lives in a low-income black and brown community. 

JGP VO  

I’M JORDAN GASS-POORE’... A JOURNALIST WHO WAS RAISED IN A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS… WHERE I WAS FED A GOOD HELPIN’ OF STORIES INVOLVING THREE-EYED FISH… AND GULPED DOWN PLENTY OF ORANGE TAP WATER. 

I NOW LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY… IN AN APARTMENT THAT SITS ON TOP OF A FORMER CHEMICAL COMPANY… AND MY NEIGHBORHOOD IS SURROUNDED BY CONTAMINATED SITES.

THESE EXPERIENCES LED ME TO CREATE HAZARD… A PODCAST ABOUT THE WAYS CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER WILL IMPACT SUPERFUND SITES IN NEW JERSEY. 

WE’LL HEAR FROM THE POLITICIANS, THE E-P-A, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS… BUT OUR REAL GUIDES ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE SHADOW OF THESE TOXIC SITES. 

LISTEN TO THEIR STORIES BEGINNING IN MAY… WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS. 

[MUX fades down]