Unattended Death and Biohazard Cleanup in Budd Lake, NJ

Budd Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) within Mount Olive Township in Morris County, built around the glacial lake of the same name.

The community and lake are named for John Budd, who acquired 1,300 acres in the area in 1714; before that, the lake was called Hattacawanna Lake.

Budd Lake itself covers 374 acres at an elevation of about 933 feet and is the largest natural lake in New Jersey, formed by glaciers rather than by a dam.

The lake serves as the headwaters of the South Branch of the Raritan River and is recharged by groundwater seeping through a ring of wetlands, including the spongy Budd Lake Bog at its edge.

The 2020 census counted 9,784 residents in Budd Lake — its highest total ever — up from 8,968 in 2010, and the 2010 census counted 3,232 households in the CDP.

Although the lake is 7 to 12 feet deep and prone to summer algal blooms, the CDP around it spreads over about 6.4 square miles, nearly a square mile of which is water.

Budd Lake's population has climbed in every census since 1950, growing from just 1,032 residents to nearly 10,000 as the lakeside community became a year-round suburb.