“It is important that we find the polluters and that they pay for the cleanup.”
— Congressman Rodney Freylinghuysen, September 16, 2013.
Me (kneeling), Congressman Rodney Freylinghuysen, Mayor Jim Oscovitch, and Deputy Mayor Marie Raffay at the Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund Site Tour on September 16, 2013
Last Monday, September 16th, I had the opportunity to take part in a tour of the EPA’s Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund Site tour with Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen on his first visit to the site.
I’ve been involved with helping the residents who are affected by the TCE contamination of their drinking water since 2005 – two years before I was elected to the Byram Council – as my friend Donna Griff is one of those impacted. It has been a long, slow process that is still far from complete, but seeing the progress that has been made by the EPA in cleaning up the site over the last year is encouraging. In the first phase of the clean-up last year, over 11,700 tons of contaminated soil was removed from the site. With the contaminants gone, the remedial investigation is now beginning in an effort to map the contaminants and their ‘flow’ in the fractured bedrock aquifer below the impacted homes. That process will take at least three more years, and it could be a decade or more before the site is finally cleaned up.
The tour drew some good coverage in local papers, with the New Jersey Herald giving reporter Joe Carlson’s article at the top of the front page in its September 17th edition and pointing out that:
The dump site is located near the Mansfield bike path between County Road 605 and Brookwood Road. The site, which was designated a Superfund site in 2011, consists of disposal trenches that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suspects were used as a dumping ground for septic wastes from the late 1950s through the 1970s. Trichloroethylene, a chemical solvent that is used for dry-cleaning of fabrics and for metal degreasing is believed to have been dumped there by an unknown third party.
“In the early 2000s one of the private homes on Brookwood tested their wells and found TCE,” site manager Kristin Giacalone said. “It was recommended that all homes test their wells, with 18 homes testing positive for TCE. All homes now have water treatment systems and five have vapor intrusion systems.”
Another article appeared in the September 19th edition of the weekly Township Journal, in which Amy Stewart reports a new issue now being faced by the affected residents:
The future of the site and the surrounding homes is of great concern to homeowners who have been affected by the TCE.
Point of Entry Treatment Systems (POETS) and ventilation systems have been installed rendering the homes safe for habitability and with no negative health consequences from the TCE. Homeowners are concerned about their futures however.
Currently the state is paying for the cost of the POETS. When a home changes hands the cost then gets passed on to the new owner. Bill S576 was introduced to State legislators to keep the cost of maintaining the POETS in the hands of the state. The bill passed and was forwarded to the Governor to sign, but he vetoed it. When asked by resident, Donna Griff, if the Congressman had any advice he said, “The bill needs to be reintroduced in both houses. We will work on the Governor to take another look at it. It seems reasonable that the coverage should continue.”
Congressman Frelinghuysen, EPA officials, Byram elected officials, and impacted Byram residents tour one of the dumping pits which has been cleaned of contaminants at the Mansfield Trail Dump Superfund Site Tour on Monday, September 16, 2013.
Trying to make changes to NJ Department of Environmental Protection regulations and current state law on use of the NJ Spill Compensation Fund Claims Program (Spill Fund) is the next battle for these homeowners. They are challenging the issue at this point with no support from local State Senator, Steve Oroho (R) and Assembly Members Alison McHose (R) and Parker Space (R) (all of whom were invited to the tour but did not attend) – nor Governor Chris Christie for that matter.
The State is currently maintaining the POETS and Vapor Intrusion systems for affected homeowners using the Spill Fund as payment for these services. If a current homeowner sells their property, however, the new owner has to assume the $1,200-$2,500 (or possibly greater) annual cost of maintaining these devices. That is a burden they are now saddled with, through no fault of their own, by an administration that sees penalties and regulation as an ‘unfair economic burden’ to businesses in New Jersey, ignoring their own responsibilities to the health, safety and well-being of their constituents. Shame on them.
Amy Stewart’s Township Journal article begins by saying “’Polluters Pay’ was the mantra of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen…” – Maybe it’s time the Christie administration and our local legislators take that same attitude? After all, what good is it to try and keep businesses in New Jersey if their workers have to breathe dirty air or drink polluted water?
Remember this when you go to the polls and vote on November 5th.