This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began cleaning up the former Lawrence, NJ site of Friction Products Division (FDP), a company that manufactured brakes which contained asbestos.

An article in the Trenton Times notes that officials from the federal EPA brought a crane to the five-acre site near the state’s capital to begin removing 10 “baghouses” or fabric filters, all of which will be transferred to a sealed area and decontaminated.

FDP had manufactured brakes at this site for about 15 years. When they closed their doors in 1997, they allegedly filed the proper paperwork with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) but no follow-up was completed. When the DEQ finally visited in December 2005, they determined that clean-up was necessary.

An initial assessment found that the company had left behind about 1,000 bags of chemical waste. However, further testing revealed that the dust in the baghouses contained dangerous asbestos fibers. Because the property has not been disturbed by outsiders, the DEQ says there is little concern about exposure to asbestos by the general public.

FDP has since moved to neighboring Morrisville, PA, but the EPA has vowed to pursue both the company and the land owner, DSC of Newark, for reimbursement of the $800,000 it will cost to clean up the area. The clean-up should be complete by early July.

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