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Dover Township Municipal Landfill & Silverton Private Well Contamination Investigation
Toms River, New Jersey
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Summary
In response to concerns of the Dover Township community regarding an increased incidence of childhood cancers, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
developed a Public Health Response Plan to organize and conduct public health investigations. In addition to evaluating the chemical and radiological quality of the community water supply and analyzing New Jersey State Cancer Registry statistics,
the NJDHSS and the ATSDR initiated Public Health Assessments for two National Priorities List sites, which are located in Dover Township. - Reich Farm (RF; CERCLIS #NJD980529713) and Ciba-Geigy Corporation (CERCLIS #NJDOOI502517).
Based upon information collected by the NJDHSS and the ATSDR during health assessment activities for the RF site, and a high level of community concern, the NJDHSS and the ATSDR also began a Public Health Assessment to evaluate the public
health issues associated with the Dover Township Municipal Landfill (DTML; CERCLIS #NJD980771570). Because of a high degree of community concern, private well contamination in the Silverton section of Dover Township (Silverton Private Well
Contamination Investigation (CERCLIS #NJD981877-780)) is also evaluated in this Public Health Assessment, although the source of this contamination is not known. Together, the Public Health Assessments provide a review of environmental health
issues and evaluate past and current human exposure pathways associated with these sites.
There are multiple sources of wastes at the DTML, including chemical wastes from the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) facility at Bound Brook, N.J. which were deposited by a waste hauler contracted by the UCC at both the Reich Farm site and the
Dover Township Municipal Landfill in late 1971. Groundwater contamination (volatile organic chemicals and lead) associated with the Dover Township Municipal Landfill impacted private wells in 1987 to 1989, in areas adjacent to the landfill,
requiring provision of alternate water supplies under the New Jersey Spill Fund law. Earlier, in 1982, several private wells located approximately 8,000 feet to the east of the DTML were found to be contaminated with volatile organic chemicals,
including carbon tetrachloride, benzene, chloroform, 1, 1,2,2-tetrachloroethane and others.
Based upon the information reviewed, the Dover Township Municipal Landfill is considered by the ATSDR and the NJDHSS to have represented a public health hazard because of past exposures. This determination is based on the following considerations,
taken together: 1) the presence of completed exposure pathways in the past (through the use of private wells) to benzene, chlorinated benzenes, PCE, vinyl chloride and lead; and 2) toxicological evaluation of lead indicating a health hazard to the
developing fetus and young children. The exposure pathway through private wells adjacent to the landfill was interrupted through the provision of alternate water sources and extension of the community water supply in 1991. Therefore, the
DTML site is considered to represent no apparent public health hazard at present. However, the nature and extent of the DTML groundwater contamination plume is currently under investigation, and the status of the DTML as a continuing source of
groundwater contamination has not been determined. The potential for a future exposure pathway associated with the use of private potable wells down gradient of the DTML site may be determined by the results of the on-going Remedial Investigation.
The contamination of Silverton private wells is categorized as a public health hazard because of past exposures. This determination is based on the following considerations, taken together: 1) the presence of a completed exposure pathway in the past
(through the use of private wells) to methylene chloride, 1,2, -dichloroethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloropropane, TCE, 1, 1,2,2 tetrachloroethane, benzene and chlorobenzene; 2) toxicological evaluations indicating a public health hazard
because of adverse non-carcinogenic effects of exposures to carbon tetrachloride and an estimated low increased cancer risk from exposure to several volatile organic chemicals; 3) epidemiologic studies in other populations suggesting that exposure to
benzene and TCE may increase the risk of certain cancers; and 4) the presence of an excess of childhood cancers in the community. Because the exposure pathway has been interrupted for the wells studied in this investigation, there is no public health hazard at present.
The past completed human exposure pathway associated with the Silverton Private Well Contamination Investigation was of sufficient public heath significance to warrant consideration of this pathway in the on-going epidemiological study of childhood cancer incidence in Dover Township.
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