The Reliable Tire Site is located at 1115 Chestnut Street in the City of Camden’s Gateway neighborhood. The Site comprises approximately 1.98 acres across Block 1302, Lot 1. It was the site of the Camden Pottery Company, a pottery manufacturing operation, from approximately 1906 until 1964 and then as the Reliable Tire Company from 1964 until 1999. The site included vacant buildings from 1999 until 2011. A fire consumed the onsite buildings in June 2011, and the site has been vacant unimproved land since 2011. The Site is owned by the City of Camden.
In 2020, the Camden Redevelopment Agency (CRA) conducted a Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the site. A Site Investigation and a Remedial Investigation was conducted between 2021 and 2023. The results of this environmental assessment work confirmed the presence of three heating oil and two unknown underground storage tanks (USTs) and of semi-volatile organic compounds and metals (benzo(a) pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, lead, and mercury) in soils at concentrations exceeding those allowed by NJDEP regulations. This contamination is likely attributable to historical site operations from the Camden Pottery Company and the Reliable Tire Co. Prior to reuse of the site, the CRA will conduct environmental clean-up activities that will involve the removal of the USTs and the excavation and off-site disposal of the contaminated soil to an appropriate facility.
The CRA secured a State Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Program grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Economic Development Authority. In addition, the CRA will utilize up to $500,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) monies for the site’s cleanup and subsequent redevelopment for reuse suitable for light industrial use.
As of February 20, 2025, remediation of the former Reliable Tire site has been completed in compliance with the Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (N.J.A.C. 7:26C), that is protective of public health, safety, and the environment. This remediation includes the completion of a Preliminary Assessment, Site Investigation, Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action as defined pursuant to the Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (N.J.A.C. 7:26E).
The Site’s environmental documentation is available below. For more information, contact Olivette Simpson, Interim Executive Director at
OlSimpso@camdennj.gov or Alison Devine at
adevine@brsinc.com
1.
Reliable Tire Site Investigation Report-Remedial Investigation Report 1 2 3