Toxic waste from a Warren County business dating back to the 1950s is haunting current homeowners in 2025.

The EPA is testing tap water in Washington Township to see if it’s safe to drink. Those results could lead to wells being capped.

The EPA's on-site coordinator for the work is Margaret Gregor. From a makeshift office in Washington Township, she showed off a number of coolers containing bags of 23 bottles that need to be filled and tested to determine if well water in people's homes is free from - or contaminated with - toxins.

"We’ve sampled about 200 homes we’ve got 40 more appointments booked," says Gregor.

Gregor says 50 families are now receiving bottled water from the agency after samples tested above federal levels for PFAS, PCBs and heavy metals.

The chemicals are waste from the Castle Creek Fabrics and Northern Dyeing Corporation, which used to be housed in a building on Brass Castle Road. That company went out of business in the 1970's.

Castle Creek Fabrics and Northern Dyeing didn’t pollute that site - the company polluted nearby farmland.

“The facility had been going through about 300,000 gallons of wastewater per day. About 12,000 to 14,000 gallons per day of sludge," says Gregor. “So, we’re looking at all areas where the contamination may have migrated.”

That sludge, rich with lime and PH, was sent to the Rymon Family Farm, over a 20-year period. That farmland, as much as 100 acres, is off of busy Route 31 in Washington.

It was spread out all across the land, thinking it would be good as fertilizer, but it was not. It contained forever chemicals, which can cause birth defects and cancer. Those chemicals eventually seeped into the groundwater.

In a nearby neighborhood, Frank Maglione and his family are having their water well tested by the EPA. The results will be known in two months.

He has two little girls still on formula. To help, he put a temporary filter at the kitchen sink.

“With the formula, we use that filter water. And ever since we heard about this, I don’t even make pasta in that water," he says.

If his well tests are high, the EPA will install a permanent filtration system.

In addition, New Jersey American Water will start next year to install public service.

But Maglione says he doesn’t want it. He moved to the remote area for well water.

“But if these filters in the house is going to fix it, why am I going to have to deal with a public water system that I don’t know what they’re going to be adding to it," he says.

In the meantime, the EPA has identified about 160 more homes with wells it wants to test. It is knocking on doors looking for help.