By Jan Hefler
Inquirer Staff Writer

Kiddie Kollege, a day-care center that opened inside a heavily contaminated building in Gloucester County with a fresh coat of paint and little else, is about to be razed, nearly four years after state inspectors discovered the contamination.

Workers in protective jumpsuits and masks have been preparing for the demolition, which is expected to start early next month, now that legal hurdles have been cleared. State, county, and local officials welcome the removal of the building, which has stood as a constant reminder of an embarrassing and troubling saga.

“Our concern for the welfare of these children will be ever-present, but at least we can get the site itself cleaned up and ensure it won’t cause any more harm,” State Sen. Fred Madden (D., Gloucester) said in a statement. “I don’t want any more lives put at risk.”

As many as 100 babies and children were exposed to toxic mercury vapors in the former Accutherm thermometer factory, a one-story concrete building in Franklinville, after it opened as a day care in January 2004. When the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered it shut in July 2006, 60 children who were tested had mercury in their bodies.

Mercury can cause damage to the central nervous system.

Over time, the mercury levels in the children dropped, but DEP reports revealed the building had harbored vapors 27 times acceptable limits.

Ed Putnam, an assistant director with the DEP site remediation program, said the boarded-up building would be knocked down with a backhoe and about 700 tons of debris would be taken to a toxin disposal facility in Indiana. Workers are deconstructing the interior, Putnam said.

Fog spraying will keep down the dust, and the air will be monitored to protect neighbors from mercury vapors.

The process, which is expected take more than 30 working days, will cost roughly $600,000 and is being handled by Atlantic Response Inc. of East Brunswick. New Jersey will pay for it and decide later whether to sue to recoup the money from the bankrupt factory owner and/or the former owner of the day-care building, Putnam said.

“We put them on notice to pay for it,” Putnam said, noting that neither party agreed to assume responsibility.

Diane Lilley, who lives behind the building, said she was happy to see the building go.

“Thank God,” she said last week, as a half-dozen workers were at the site. “It’s been a long time coming. I want it over and done with, and cleaned up the way it should have been done long ago.”

Lilley, a longtime resident, had warned Julie Lawlor, one of the day-care operators, about mercury spills in the old factory and said that the building was never properly cleaned up. But Lawlor, who had rented the facility, said in a 2006 interview that she had dismissed Lilley’s remarks as a rumor. She said her landlord, real estate broker Jim Sullivan III, had assured her the place was cleared for occupancy.

Lawlor is now a fugitive on unrelated embezzlement charges and was last seen in Ireland.

Sullivan testified in a court hearing earlier this year that he had misinterpreted documents that said the building was contaminated and said he believed it posed no health threat. He and family members acquired it in a tax foreclosure.

A year ago, Sullivan had blocked demolition by the DEP when he denied access. After lengthy litigation, the DEP a few months ago won approval to proceed.

A class-action lawsuit filed by parents and the day-care employees accuses Sullivan, the DEP, Franklin Township, the factory owner, and others of negligence. It is awaiting trial.

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Three Democratic state legislators are reaching out to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to request a meeting on a “troubling report” from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) that there is an increased incidence of certain types of cancer among residents who live in a contaminated area of the borough known as “the Plume.” U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez released a letter late Friday afternoon to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson calling for this meeting of agency officials, congressional staffers and community leaders.

“We believe that the situation in Pompton Lakes is a serious public health concern and needs immediate attention,” the letter stated.

Meanwhile, NJDHSS is expected to schedule a special hearing to discuss the latest findings on illnesses for residents who live in the area where there is groundwater contamination, known as “the plume.”

On Dec. 10, the NJDHSS and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a report that concluded that there were two statistically high elevations of kidney cancer in women (but not in men), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in men (but not in women) between 1994-2006 in the plume area.

To make this conclusion, the NJDHSS analyzed 13 individual types of cancer from 1979 to 2006 in the plume area. All other cancer rates were similar to statewide rates.

This report explained that since the rates for these two cancers were not elevated in both men and women, no conclusive link could be established between the cancers and the groundwater contaminants.

However, the contaminants cannot be ruled out as a potential cause of the elevated rates because other risk factors, such as tobacco use or occupational exposures, could explain the elevations, the report explained.

Mayor Katie Cole said she does not want to leave this as it is and will go to federal officials to find out more information to see if these elevated numbers are results of the contaminants.

“The Department of Health is not able to take it to the next level to confirm a conclusion, so I reached out to Congressman (Bill) Pascrell’s office to find an agency possibly on the federal level that could help us,” said Cole. “I feel that a door has been open where I feel that there is a possibility, although there is not a definite possibility that it is so we need to get answers for the residents.”

“The findings are not surprising to many of us long-time residents here. I am elated to know that some of the information is finally being unfolded. Unfortunately I think it is just the beginning,” said Councilwoman Lisa Riggiola.

Regina Sisco, president of the Citizens for a Clean Pompton Lakes group, said, “If they do a real intense study and go door-to-door to everybody that lived in town and do a history of people that moved out of the area, they will find a lot more and I wish that could happen.”

This past April the NJDHSS performed a survey of this area and initially reported that cancer-related illnesses in the Plume area are not the result of contaminants in the ground water.

“It (the NJDHSS report) is a big step in the right direction that they finally documented that. We do have clusters of illnesses in the area. If you can be happy about the situation we are happy that finally things are moving in the right direction and that people are believing us and doing a thorough job this time,” Sisco also said.

This study sprung from a request made by Mayor Cole after Plume area residents learned the volatile organic compounds (VOC) Tetrachloroethene (PCE) and Tricholorethene (TCE) were seeping into the air from the contaminated groundwater.

In the 1980s contaminants were found in the groundwater below 450 homes originating from the DuPont Company, which manufactured explosives at a facility in the borough for many decades. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ordered the company to remove these pollutants. As part of this cleanup, since the late 1990s, DuPont has been treating the contaminated groundwater on the site of its former manufacturing plant and pumping treated water back into the ground to prevent further spread of contaminants off-site.

To treat the TCE and PCE, DuPont has been arranging with every homeowner in the affected area to test the air and install a vapor mitigation system that would remove these pollutants.

The NJDHSS report explains that residents can decrease their current and future exposures to these chemicals by participating in the vapor mitigation system. According to this report, so far 368 of the 450 homes in area either have the system installed or they are preparing to do so.

If these systems are not installed, the NJDHSS has concluded there is a potential that the TCE and PCE could affect the health of residents. The report explains that if conditions such as temperature, wind or moisture change, these gases can enter their home.

On Dec. 11, DuPont’s Public Affairs Manager Bob Nelson said that DuPont is still reviewing the NJDHSS report.

“We agree with their recommendation that all homes above the contaminated groundwater Plume get a mitigation system installed to eliminate the health risk from Plume contaminants,” he said.

“Since June 2008, we have actively encouraged homeowners, in cooperation and coordination with the DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to have the mitigation systems installed at no cost to residents as a remedy that is protective of human health. We will continue remediating our historic contamination in Pompton Lakes and will do so in a responsible and science-based manner that is protective to the environment and to the safety and health of residents of Pompton Lakes,” said Nelson.

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By COLLEEN O’DEA
GANNETT NEW JERSEY

Experts disagreed whether electromagnetic fields from power lines cause cancer or other health problems, as they testified at the final state Board of Public Utilities hearing on Public Service Electric and Gas Company’s proposed line upgrade.

Shortly after the discussion of EMFs, the utility and opponents of the $750 million, 47-mile Susquehanna-Roseland project wrapped up five days of testimony Monday in front of BPU Commissioner Joseph Fioraliso. The entire board is expected to decide Jan. 15 whether PSE&G should be allowed to add 500-kilovolt lines to the corridor, which passes through Morris County.

No studies have proven that EMFs from power lines cause leukemia or other health issues, testified PSE&G’s expert, William H. Bailey, a scientist, although he did say some studies have found an association between the fields and childhood leukemia.

Martin Blank, an expert for eight municipalities, two school districts, environmentalists and a citizens group opposing the project, said there is much evidence that fields at lower levels than those expected on the new line could lead to leukemia, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Because of the wide range of biological systems affected, the low response thresholds, the possibility of cumulative effects by repetitive stimulation and the inadequacy of exposure standards, it is urgent that the proposed power line be moved to a distance where the anticipated magnetic fields will not pose a hazard to the community,” Blank, a professor at Columbia University, said in his written testimony.

In response to a lawyer’s question, Blank said there has not been enough research to determine what a safe distance from EMFs is.

“All I know is, the farther away you can get, the better off you are,” he said. Blank cited studies that found correlations between cell phone use and head cancers, and between an electrified railroad and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dueling statistics

PSE&G’s lawyer, David Richter, asked Blank about the criticisms several international groups have made against a report Blank referred to in recommending safe exposure levels of no more than 4 milligauss. That’s less than one tenth the maximum of 48.6 milligauss expected at the edge of the line’s right of way when using monopole structures, which PSE&G plans to install exclusively on the eastern portion of the line.

Kyle G. King, the utility’s EMF expert, testified that the median field measurement is expected to be 19.3 milligauss, but it would be as high as 120 milligauss directly beneath the 500-kilovolt lines.

Bailey said even that maximum level would be below the limits recommended by two international bodies. Based on numerous studies that looked for a link between EMF exposure and cancer, Bailey said, “the evidence does not support a cause and effect.” He said, though, that there is a “statistical association” between long-term exposure and childhood leukemia.

Saying he has not seen any proof that power lines are responsible for any cancer clusters, Bailey also discounted the suggestion by the lawyer representing the eight municipalities that the current line is to blame for the cancers that have struck every family living on one street along the line in East Hanover, saying, “Based on the weight of the scientific evidence, I do not see a basis for that allegation.”

“It’s not a coincidence,” countered East Hanover Mayor Joseph Pannullo, who attended the morning session. “Why not err on the side of caution? We’ve given them an alternate route, out of Troy Meadows and away from the homes. They’re more worried about a delay.”

PSE&G recently offered to abandon plans for a new switching station in East Hanover, but still supports its chosen route along the current 230-kilovolt lines, from Pennsylvania to Roseland, as minimizing environmental impacts.

The line — on towers as tall as 195 feet — would pass through Jefferson, Rockaway Township, Kinnelon, Boonton Township, Montville, Parsippany and East Hanover in Morris County.

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Hopewell Council gets Rockwell plan update

Rockwell Automation has no immediate plans to sell Somerset properties and is unconcerned about possible rezoning in the area

By Aleen Crispino, Special Writer

Posted: Thursday, July 10, 2008 11:19 AM EDT

   Representatives of Rockwell Automation — owner of at least four and possibly seven vacant residential properties on the south side of Somerset Street in Hopewell Borough — say the company has no immediate plans to sell the properties and is unconcerned with the possibility, being explored by the borough Planning Board, of rezoning.

   This information was reported by Councilman David Mackie and Borough Administrator/Clerk Michele Hovan to Hopewell Borough Council at its regular meeting Monday.

   Rockwell intends to apply to the Planning Board for permits to demolish the remaining homes on the properties, then “plant some trees and landscaping and maintain them as residential properties until the (groundwater) treatment is finished,” said Councilman Mackie.

   In a conference call Monday with Jennifer Elder Brady, project manager at the Cranbury-based environmental engineering firm Arcadis BBL, and John Persico, Arcadis BBL associate, Ms. Hovan and Councilman Mackie received an informal update on plans by the firm, hired by Rockwell Automation of Milwaukee, Wis., to build a groundwater treatment facility at 21 and 29 Somerset St. and to maintain the property surrounding it.

   ”They said their general procedure is they complete the remediation and then divest themselves of the property,” said Councilman Mackie. Exactly how long it will take to pump out and treat all of the contaminated groundwater is unknown. The project could be completed in “five, 10, 15, 20 years,” said Ms. Brady in June 2007.

   Rockwell Automation, which, as Rockwell Manufacturing Co., operated a plant at 57 Hamilton Ave. from the early 1900s to 1975, has been ordered by the state Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to clean up air, soil and groundwater contamination by “volatile organic compounds,” primarily trichloroethene (TCE), in an area extending from Somerset Street south to Lafayette Street and from Hamilton Avenue east to The King’s Path development in Hopewell Township.

   As part of its effort to remediate the site, Rockwell has purchased two residential properties: 19 and 21 Somerset St., and has already demolished houses and felled trees in order to remove contaminated soil at these locations. In addition, the company has either purchased or is in the process of purchasing the five remaining homes on the south side of Somerset that lie within the borough, Mr. Persico said Dec. 20. The borough has received copies of deeds for 29 and 37 Somerset St., indicating that those sales have been completed, said Ms. Hovan in May.

   Rockwell plans to build a recovery well and an approximately 60- by 40-foot Cape Cod-style treatment building, constructed of pre-engineered metal, at 21 and 29 Somerset St., said Ms. Brady in December 2007. Before doing so, it would need to present an application and site plan and receive the approval of the borough Planning Board. Demolition of any of the remaining houses also would require approval from the board.

   At its last few meetings, the Planning Board has been holding public discussions of the 2007 Master Plan recommendation that the south side of Somerset Street be rezoned for commercial or industrial use. This recommendation was triggered by Rockwell’s purchase of the residential properties for its treatment facility as well as future plans by New Jersey Transit to create a railroad parking lot on the north side of the street for a reactivated West Trenton Line.

   Members of the Hopewell Woods Homeowners Association, whose members reside on Elm Street and whose back yards are adjacent to the south side of Somerset Street, have publicly opposed rezoning for anything other than park or recreation use, and have stated their desire to keep the south side of the street residential.

   Richard Friedman, of 31 Elm St., president of the association, presented the board Dec. 12 with a letter citing homeowners’ fears that rezoning would “adversely affect the quality of life on our street and in surrounding neighborhoods,” as well as that “this action would have a negative impact on property values,” which have “already suffered due to Rockwell’s pollution of the groundwater and soil in the Somerset Street area.”

   The Planning Board has said its main concern is to prevent unwanted use of the properties upon possible future sale by Rockwell. “My overriding concern is to be able to control what happens there,” said Planning Board Chairman Bob Donaldson in May, describing a possible scenario where the land is sold to a developer wishing to build townhouses or condominiums.

   Councilman Mackie said the views of neighborhood residents might be a factor in Rockwell’s future plans. “They’ve had some conversations with residents of Elm Street,” said Mr. Mackie, adding that this may have influenced the decision of company representatives to maintain the residential character of the property for the duration of the remediation effort.

   IN OTHER BUSINESS, council postponed a public hearing on the proposed 2008 budget to 7 p.m. today (Thursday) in the Hopewell Fire Department conference room on the first floor of the Municipal Building at 4 Columbia Ave.

March 12, 2008

One type of cancer is double N.J. rate

Sarcoma cases in Toms River

By LAUREN O. KIDD
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

The incidences of childhood cancer that occurred in Toms River from 2001 through 2005 were on par with what was expected to occur in a township of its size in New Jersey, but the diagnosis of one certain class of cancer — soft tissue sarcoma — was more than twice the expected rate, a state Department of Health and Senior Services analysis found.

The analysis compared the number of cases observed and how they occurred here with the number of cases expected to occur in a population of the township’s size over that period. Toms River’s population was about 93,000 in 2004, according to the U.S. Census.

Incidences of soft tissue sarcoma — defined by the National Cancer Institute as “a cancer that begins in the muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, or other supporting tissue of the body” — were more than double the expected rate, according to the study.

Four Toms River children were diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas between 2004 and 2005. Three of those children are girls, which is statistically more than five times as many girls than would be expected to be diagnosed with the disease, Jerald A. Fagliano, program manager for consumer and environmental health with the Department of Health and Senior Services, told the Toms River Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster Monday.

Three of the diagnosed children also live in the section of the township that used to be known as the village of Toms River before then-Dover Township changed its name in 2006, he said.

“Chance is not the likely explanation, but it could be for that difference,” Fagliano said of the cause of the high number of soft tissue sarcomas.

Fagliano presented a summary of the study findings to the committee. A full report on the findings should be released next month, he said.

Overall, the analysis found 26 cases of childhood cancer diagnosed in Toms River residents up to the age of 19 during the five-year period between 2001 and 2005. The rate to be expected is 22.8 cases, meaning there were 1.1 times more cases in Toms River than expected, which is not statistically significant, according to Fagliano.

The study is just the latest to be launched since residents began observing a high number of children diagnosed with cancer in Toms River in the mid-1980s.

A previous study of the elevated childhood cancer levels in Toms River began in 1996 and was completed in 2001.

That study found that exposure to contaminated drinking water from United Water Toms River’s Parkway well field and to polluted air from the former Ciba-Geigy Superfund site was associated with leukemia development in young girls, but no links between environmental pollutants and leukemia development in boys or nervous system cancers in male or female children were found.

Researchers have stressed repeatedly, however, that the limited number of cases included in that study makes it impossible to draw any conclusions about causes. Both United Water Toms River’s Parkway well field and Ciba-Geigy plant were closed in the mid-1990s.

The most recent study found that the number of cases of childhood leukemia was less than what would be expected, while the number of brain and central nervous system cancers was slightly higher than expected, but not statistically significant.

Linda Gillick, chairwoman of the committee, said the data on leukemia are “great,” but the data of the elevated soft tissue sarcomas are troubling.

“We need to go and talk to the families and see if they have anything in common,” she said.

Fagliano recommended that the state continue to monitor the number of children diagnosed with cancer in Toms River. He said that so far, the state is not aware of any cases of soft tissue sarcoma diagnosed in 2006, 2007 or 2008, but he stressed that the data are preliminary.

“We are going to continue to watch,” he told the committee.

Gillick and others, though, pushed for the state to ask questions of the families of diagnosed children to find similarities in their cases.

“These parents want answers,” Gillick said.

Fagliano said that the state could gather information, but “the question is whether it will be meaningful in any way.”

Gillick noted that representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency and area legislators were invited to the meeting but failed to attend.

The state is in the process of starting a study into incidences of childhood cancer throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to Fagliano.