Published in the Ocean County Observer
BY CHRIS LUNDY
STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER — "Critical" test results of wells on the Ciba-Geigy property will prove that the landfill is leaking, and should strengthen the township's case for removing buried drums from the property, township officials said last night following a closed-door meeting.
However, a Ciba representative said the contamination cannot be blamed on the company, saying that the chemicals found in the test are not the same as what is in the landfill.
The township is currently in litigation regarding the cleanup of the 1,350-acre property is located off of Route 37 west. Ciba has already removed more than 47,000 drums from the property.
Township officials have routinely stated the 30,000 drums should be removed from a section of the property known as Cell 1, a lined landfill.
The mayor and council met in executive session last night with scientists, engineers, and other officials to review tests of material leaching out of the landfill, Mayor Paul Brush said.
Although Ciba officials have claimed there is no reason to remove the drums, the results indicate Cell 1 is leaking, like officials have said all along, he said.
Sending this along to the DEP might help the township's case in having them removed, he said.
The tests are of "critical importance to our community," Council President Gregory McGuckin said.
The specifics of the tests will be released later in the week.
The courts allowed the tests to be done a few months ago, he said. Workers monitored a number of wells, some that have not been tested in 10 years.
The results of the tests "validated what Dover Township has been saying for a number of years," he said.
The chemicals found in the tests were not the same as what is in the landfill, Ciba spokeswoman Donna Jakubowski said after the meeting.
"(The tests) showed conclusively that the landfill is not leaking," she said.
Ciba and Dover Township shared results, which showed a concentration of toluene, she said.
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, toluene is a clear, colorless liquid that occurs naturally in crude oil. If breathed in or ingested through contaminated well water, it affects the nervous system.
This chemical is not in the landfill, she said.
"There is a plume of contamination beneath the site. This we have never refuted," she said. The contamination in the groundwater does not match the material in the landfill.
For some residents, proof of the leaching chemicals is good news. It will finally force Ciba to remove the contaminants, said Carol Benson, past council candidate and long-time advocate for removal of drums.
"I don't care how much money they have to spend," everything should be removed from the site, which she said is within 1,200 feet of the West Dover Elementary School.
"I don't want us 15 or 20 years from now fighting the same issue," she said.
Published in the Ocean County Observer on 06/21/06
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