From grease traps to septic tanks: New Jersey’s dirtiest jobs revealed

Many of us who work hard to make ends meet and provide for our families started and maybe continue to do some of the dirtiest jobs in America.

I have often told the story about growing up in a machine shop family and working from the age of 12, cleaning up the oil on the shop floor. My upbringing taught me how to value hard work and develop a toughness for adverse circumstances.

Eric Scott has shared a similar upbringing, working in the family restaurant cleaning out the grease traps as a kid and having the cows on the farm target their "spring movements" as he walked by!

Got us thinking about the dirty jobs that are being done right now by New Jerseyans of all ages in towns across the state.

Here are a few of the calls we received:

Steve from South Plainfield:

Steve currently works as a septic tank pump operator.

Andrea from New Hope:

Andrea was previously a zookeeper at The Popcorn Zoo. She cleaned up after the elephants!

Sean from Kinnelon

Sean used to spread oil sorbents then scrape it up and do it all over again!

Eric Scott

Eric used to clean the grease trap in his family's restaurant growing up. He also used to clean up after the cows on a farm in the spring! It was rough, he said.

If you've got a dirty job, let us know on the free New Jersey 101.5 app and you may hear your name and job on the air!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own.

Report a correction 👈

FOLLOW BILL: Join the Bill Spadea's New Jersey channel on our Facebook page.