Old Bridge Nike Missile Base NY-58/60

Submitted by h_sa t3_z0on1j in newjersey

I’m curious about the Jake Brown Road NY-58/60 missile base’s history. (From a contamination perspective as it’s eerily close to a new development currently being built in the vicinity—oaks at Glenwood)

  1. What missiles operated at this site? AJAX or Hercules (Ajax had toxic fuel & Hercules was compatible with nuclear warheads)..
  2. Regardless of which missile was there.. the chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) was used to clean the pits during this time and that’s a concerning as it’s a contaminant.
  3. Does the government or township survey the land for contamination after a facility of this sort shuts down? Or prior to a new development being built?
  4. Has this specific base been cleaned before? The government spent millions cleaning up former contaminated defense sites —was this one one of them?
  5. What radius of distance is considered safe from a contaminated site?

Any insight appreciated

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Comments

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Vermalien t1_ix77ag6 wrote

I cant answer any of your questions, but your post sure brought up a lot of great exploration memories from my days living in Old Bridge.

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Krypto_Kane t1_ix85rjp wrote

Missle site is right. In HS we would go out there with our girl friends to make out or just hang out with friends. Had no idea

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h_sa OP t1_ix9571c wrote

Yeah also a lot of kids made their way out there because it was featured on Weird NJ as “haunted” due to the abandoned neighborhood (rumors say: homes that were strangely still furnished)

Makes me wonder: was it abandoned because the NIKE program ended and naturally everyone moved out or did they abruptly evacuate due to a contamination leak?

Maybe a stretch—but I do wonder why the homes were allegedly still furnished.

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MY_FUCKING_USERNAME t1_ixgttuw wrote

The missle site was BEYOND the area you describe. Surround by gates and barbed wire. Far from where the abandoned houses were.

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supertutti t1_ix8qb6e wrote

Same here! Used to go explore all the time in my school days there.

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tenPUNded t1_ix88rhc wrote

Toxic chemical cleanup efforts are typically referred to as Superfund Sites. Hit up the ol’ goog with “superfund sites nj” or Old Bridge and see if it comes up

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h_sa OP t1_ix95h0o wrote

Thanks! My very quick search showed no cleanup activity in OB. Will keep looking

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EmbracedByLeaves t1_ix8wce7 wrote

File an OPRA request with the DEP if you are actually serious about looking into this.

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johnbell t1_ixbehmo wrote

My parents used to hang out there. Smoke, beer, pizza, etc.

Coincidentally my mom died of cancer last month. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I wouldn’t move there.

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_R3N3G4D3 t1_ix87gbe wrote

great questions. Probably why old bridge has so many incidents of brain cancer.

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h_sa OP t1_ixe8qvs wrote

Didn’t know this. Do you have a reference for this claim?

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