Eastern Seaboard Superfund Sites Spread Worries in Wake of Sandy

By: Duane Craig
Wherever Hurricane Sandy traveled over land and along waterfronts, the risks of all types of contamination increased. From every minor little spill to major stockpiles of contaminated land waiting for shipment to disposal facilities, the possibility increased dramatically for their contaminated payloads to be dislodged and spread around. But perhaps the potential largest threats came from Superfund sites in New Jersey and New York.

Residents in Brooklyn, N.Y. with properties near Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal take great precautions as they clean up their properties, wearing masks and gloves, according to this article. That’s because the nearby Superfund sites, in the process of cleanup, still harbor a rich array of heavy metals and other serious environmental contaminants. The Environmental Protection Agency has so far given the sites passing grades in terms of potential effects on the health and lives of neighbors, however a disturbing trend of sewage contamination has no doubt added to the cleanup complexities. That sewage came from sewage treatment plants that were damaged or that lost power during the storm.

In New Jersey, with 111 Superfund sites - the most of any state, according to this EPA list - residents and cleanup crews may face bigger challenges. For example, the Rarity Bay Slag Superfund site released large enough quantities of lead onto the surrounding ground to warrant warnings being placed at a nearby playground. But even modern facilities, especially those handling petrochemicals, were damaged by the storm.

New Jersey has a concentration of petroleum industries and facilities. In one case, the storm tipped a fuel storage tank, causing it to spill more than 350,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the navigation channel between New Jersey and Staten Island. At a Kinder Morgan terminal, flooding water caused an empty tank to collide with one filled with biodiesel. The spill entered a nearby waterway, according to this report. Sampling and testing continue throughout the area affected by the storm surge.

Lawmakers demand action on New Jersey cancer cluster

December 13, 2009 - New Jersey federal lawmakers are asking the U.S. environmental agency to review whether a DuPont pollution treatment project in Pompton Lakes is adequately protecting residents from harm by contaminants.

In June 2008, DuPont and the state Department of Environmental Protection reported that two chemicals, PCE and TCE, that had migrated from a closed company-owned munitions factory were sending toxic vapors up through soil beneath some 430 homes and potentially into their basements.

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NJ residents get more money in Ford pollution suit

December 10, 2009 - The borough of Ringwood, New Jersey has agreed to a financial settlement with more than 600 current or former Upper Ringwood residents who sued it over Ford Motor Co.'s dumping in their neighborhood 40 years ago.

The agreement follows a $10 million settlement in September that residents' attorneys reached with Ford and a handful of companies involved in the dumping. At that time, residents - who claim a wave of unexplained deaths and illnesses in the community were caused by dumping - said the amount won't begin to cover their pain and suffering.

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Environmentalists Press for NJ River Cleanup

May 17, 2009 - The Raritan River is New Jersey's forgotten waterway, the largest river in the state but one that lacks the star power of the Hudson, which has Manhattan so close, or the Passaic, whose entire lower stretch is designated a superfund site.

It's time to change that, environmentalists said Friday at a symposium dedicated to the Raritan that is to be held annually. It needs major toxic cleanup and more public access points, they said.

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Vapor Testing Planned for NJ Middle School

March 18, 2009- During spring recess next month, the Lakeside Middle School and nearby school board offices will undergo precautionary testing for the type of toxic vapors haunting a nearby neighborhood.

Both DuPont and the state Department of Environmental Protection already have said the school buildings on Van and Lakeside avenues are outside the zone of contamination.

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Town Bank, New Jersey Residents Concerned with Well Contamination

February 21, 2008 - Town Bank residents asked Lower Township Council Feb. 20 to be next in line to receive municipal water based on a number of toxic chemicals discovered in homeowners' wells.

“For too many years the people of Town Bank have been pleading for good water,” said resident Bea Cassario.

She said Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) has been aware of water quality problems for years but failed to address the issue.

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Tale of two toxic schools in New Jersey

February 20, 2008 - The issue of children's exposure to toxic chemicals while at schools and day care centers has exploded as a political issue in New Jersey, as a result of several high profile cases reported by media. A series of tragedies across the state have exposed major flaws and breakdowns in DEP's toxic site cleanup program

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Green group spotlights toxic sites in Newark, New Jersey

February 17, 2008 - Neighbors of the crumbling former Pabst brewery in Newark are probably accustomed to the factory's hulking, hollowed-out buildings, which have been undergoing demolition for a few years.

But what might not occur to them and others, according to environmental officials, is that chemicals remain on the site, seeping into the soil or perhaps buried in it, and that asbestos may drift into the air every time a block of concrete is broken off and tossed in a pile of rubble.

Yesterday, a group of about 150 spent the morning touring some of the most environmentally blighted spots in Newark, and learning just how toxic they are.

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Residents of formerly contaminated area in New Jersey still waiting for DEP clearance to sell their homes

February 8, 2008 - A homeowner living near the former Keystone Metal Finishing plant on Humboldt Street has complained to the Town Council that she and her neighbors have yet to receive promised "clean bill of health" letters from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would enable them to sell their homes.

Their neighborhood became a touchstone of controversy a decade ago when it was discovered that contamination from the old plant had reached neighboring properties.

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Contamination forces New Jersey couple from home

February 4, 2008 - A Burlington County family says they are living a housing nightmare.

They said they were forced to leave their dream home because the land is contaminated with heating oil.

The family said fumes are making them sick at their home on North Carolina Trail in Pemberton. And the well water has been deemed unsafe to drink.

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New Jersey's industrial past is buried all over - maybe even in your own back yard

January 27, 2008 - Ten years ago, Wade Dawkins bought a home on Somerset Avenue, a quiet street in Pleasantville. He knew there was a stone and recycling business nearby, but 10 acres of trees stood between Dawkins' house and the recycling operation.

Those trees, he recently learned, did more than provide a nice view, shade and separation from the business. They were growing over at least 20 years of trash and debris.

"I really didn't know about the landfill," Dawkins said. "I might not have bought the house if I'd known."

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Scientists want to test New Jersey homes for toxic chromium

December 8, 2007 - On Dec. 1, scientists held an informational meeting at the Monumental Baptist Church on Lafayette Street in Jersey City about their ongoing study to see if area homes are contaminated with chromium that has been dumped in Jersey City or used as fill for construction projects.

The study, known as the Hudson Chromium Exposure Route and Pathway Investigation, is being conducted by the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway, NJ. The study started last year.

The results will be used by the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to determine the amount of chromium in the air at these dumpsites, and if caps placed on chromium waste sites are still protecting the public.

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New Jersey residents meet with EPA about groundwater contamination issues

December 1, 2007 - Concerned residents had the opportunity Thursday to meet with a project manager from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to discuss groundwater contamination stemming from the sites of two former dry-cleaning businesses.

Geologist and remedial project manager Matthew Westgate met with residents for seven hours Thursday at the municipal building on Allaire Road.

Officials believe tetrachloroethylene a possible carcinogen also known as PCE that is commonly used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing leaked into groundwater not used for drinking from underground storage tanks at the former Sun Cleaners, 2213 Route 35, and the former White Swan Laundry and Cleaners just to the south at 1322 Sea Girt Ave., now a Bank of America branch office.

One of the Wall residents who attended the meeting, 34-year-old Robert Fuhr of Belmar Boulevard, said he was "just very curious to learn about this. It seems to be something that's been going on for years . . . (and) it's amazing that (the sites) sit the same way as they were even when we were kids."

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Health Department Examines Possible Cancer Cluster in Sayreville New Jersey

September 13, 2007 - The state health department is expected to present an expanded study next month in response to concerns that a cancer cluster exists in the borough.

State Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D- 19) made the announcement during a meeting on environmental concerns last week at borough hall. Experts from various state and federal agencies discussed the borough's three Superfund sites and other issues broached since the cancer cluster concerns came to the attention of local officials in May.

Wisniewski said the state Department of Health and Senior Services would increase the amount of data being used to make its conclusion, going back to statistics from 1978 that was not used in their original survey.

An earlier analysis by the state looked at cancer statistics in Sayreville from 1990- 2004, and concluded that there was no evidence of a cancer cluster. The expanded probe comes in response to criticism from residents who said that the report was rushed and did not take enough data into consideration.

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New Jersey day care stays open despite contamination

August 28, 2007 - An environmental review of a child care center operated by Tri-County Community Action Partnership here has revealed the presence of "potentially contaminated areas of concern."

According to a press release from Tri-County, a site investigation has identified certain environmental contaminants at the center's 10 Washington St. location that are typically associated with the use of petroleum-type materials.

Based on the levels of the environmental contaminants discovered during the site investigation, further investigation will be required.

However, current information related to the nature and concentrations of the environmental contaminants observed during the site investigation are such that there are no known concerns with the safe operation of a child day care center.

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Parents learn about ground and water contamination under new school in New Jersey two weeks before classes begin

August 23, 2007 - Parents of children enrolled at a newly constructed middle school are anxious after learning of soil and groundwater contamination on the site weeks before classes begin.

"All these parents found out two weeks before school that the ground was contaminated," said Lisa Barno, whose 11-year-old son is set to attend the school. "It seems we should have known beforehand."

Schools Superintendent Nicholas L. Perrapato said that he learned about the contamination earlier this month, although state officials overseeing the construction discovered the contamination in 2004 and took steps to remediate it.

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New Jersey neighborhood concerned about property value impact after discovery of contaminated soil

July 30, 2007 - Tainted soil found at West Brook Middle School months ago has some Paramus homeowners concerned that their property values will drop.

So far, there's no hard evidence that prices in the neighborhood around West Brook have dipped in response to the pesticide contamination. But those who predict a downswing feel sure that the school district's tarnished reputation for covering up the contamination can mean only one thing for property owners.

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11 years later the fight for answers on childhood cancers in Toms River New Jersey goes on

July 22, 2007 - TOMS RIVER — In the beginning, more than 1,000 people poured into the Toms River High School North Auditorium in search of answers.

Eleven years later, only a fraction of them continue to ask publicly for the cause of the high number of childhood cancer cases in Toms River.

Those left vow not to give up until it is found and remedied.

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Sayerville New Jersey is one of Money Magazine's best places to live (despite all the contamination)

July 19, 2007 - The publicity comes at a time when Sayreville is contending with several major issues, ranging from the proposed redevelopment of a 400-acre brownfields site once home to National Lead, to a dispute over whether a cancer cluster exists in town.

"We are surrounded by landfills … the Edgeboro Landfill, the Edison Landfill. There are a couple of Superfund sites still left in town," Streck said. "I'm not saying that Sayreville doesn't deserve the ranking, but I was surprised in light of the other circumstances. Sayreville, for a time, had all of the industry."

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New Jersey Residents Skeptical About Cancer Cluster Report Findings

July 6, 2007 - A state health official told Sayreville residents Monday that there is no reason to believe a cancer cluster exists in the community.

Still, many remained skeptical of the report issued by the state Department of Health and Senior Services, and said it was issued too quickly and without consideration of a variety of factors.

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