Химический Берег Нью-Джерси: История и Промышленность

Section of Union and Middlesex counties in New Jersey

The Chemical Coast is a section of Union and Middlesex counties in New Jersey located along the shores of the Arthur Kill, across from Staten Island, New York. The name is taken from the Conrail Chemical Coast Line, an important component in the ExpressRail system serving marine terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

In 1907, John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil company, acquired several hundred acres of the former Morse family estate between Linden and Elizabeth for what would become the Bayway Refinery. Construction of the facility took place the following year and the first crude oil stills were fired up on January 2, 1909. The facility underwent
a series of ownership changes and capacity expansions throughout the twentieth century. By 2002 it was owned by ConocoPhillips. The Shell Oil Company opened a terminal facility on a former Boynton farm property along Arbor Street in Sewaren in 1928. The terminal was transferred to the Motiva Enterprises Shell subsidiary during the 20th century and expanded to a storage capacity with connections to the Colonial pipeline and barge docks on the Arthur Kill in addition to the rail connections. The facility now handles gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, ethanol, and fuel mixtures. The current Chemical Coast connection to Staten Island is freight service only, although separate plans are also being studied to reactivate passenger service on the North Shore Branch on Staten Island. Some of these latter proposals would run passenger trains to Cranford Junction, while others call for a western terminus at either the former Arlington or Port Ivory stations on Staten Island.

In August 2006, the Linden Terminal intermodal facility started operating on Point Tremley along the Arthur Kill in Linden. The facility transfers ethanol for fuel use between barges, rail cars, trucks, and temporary storage tanks.

In May 2007, The Star Ledger reported that New Jersey based biodiesel producer Fuel Bio "is trying to plant a green footprint on New Jersey's notorious Chemical Coast." The company is a producer of biofuels located inside of New York Terminals, whose production facility is located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, across the Arthur Kill from Staten Island.

On October 25, 1972, an oil barge docked in Carteret, exploding and causing fires and oil slicks in Arthur Kill. On April 12, 1973, a fire broke out at the GATX oil tank farm and docking facilities in Carteret, New Jersey. In 1995, at an Amoco fuel storage depot in Carteret, a spray of fuel vapor created a fire. On September 29, 2000 at 4:55 AM, a tank car carrying more than of butane derailed while switching off to a siding along the Chemical Coast line in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Residents of 163 houses were evacuated while the cleanup effort took place. The car was rerailed and put back into service undamaged later that day. On January 25, 2005, an accidental gas explosion killed three workers and injured a fourth at the Acetylene Service Company plant in Perth Amboy. On March 12, 2009 at 10:16 AM, a tank car carrying isopropyl acetate through Carteret developed a leak. Conrail contacted the Carteret Fire Department and the Middlesex County Hazmat Response Team for assistance. The leak was fixed by 12:04 PM after a spill of had already taken place. In 2012, as a result of Hurricane Sandy, a storage facility owned by Motiva Enterprises, LLC ruptured and spilled 350,000 gallons of fuel into Arthur Kill. On July 5, 2016, at the Freeport McMoRan facility in Carteret, four chemical drums ruptured and emitted fumes; several firefighters were taken to the hospital for exposure.