|
|
Reich Farm Health Assessment
(Dover Township) Toms River, New Jersey
|
Purpose and Health Issues
As part of the Public Health Response Plan (PHRP) developed by New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for the Dover Township Childhood Cancer
Investigation (NJDHSS/ATSDR, 1996), this Public Health Assessment will document and evaluate the public health significance of human exposure pathways associated with the Reich Farm (RF) site.
Background
Demography and Land Use
The RF site (CERCLIS #NJD980529713) is located in Dover Township, Ocean County, New Jersey (see inset), 500 feet east of New Jersey State Highway 9 and 1,000 feet south of Church Rd. The RF site occupies an area of approximately
three acres, with an additional 12 acres included within the scope of past remedial investigations. The site lies 8.4 miles west of the Atlantic Ocean, with the elevation of the site ranging from 65 to 80 feet above mean sea level.
The site slopes slightly toward the southwest, and there are wooded areas to the north and east. Soils at the RF site are sandy with minimal loose topsoil, and exhibit a relatively high percolation rate as compared to other soils
in the State. The environs of the site are primarily light commercial and residential. There are one-story structures immediately adjacent to the site occupied by active businesses.
The Kirkwood-Cohansey geologic formation, which underlies the RF site, is characterized by sand with clay and gravel lenses, and ranges to a depth of approximately 200 feet. The Cohansey is the shallower aquifer associated with this
formation, with the water table at the site found at a depth of approximately 30 feet below grade. There is a direct hydraulic connection between the Cohansey and the deeper Kirkwood water bearing formation. Estimates by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) of the rate of groundwater flow in the area of the RF range from 0.93 feet per day (340 feet per year) to 1.6 feet per day (5 80 feet per year) (NUS, 1986; Ebasco, 1988a).
The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer is extensively utilized as a potable water source in the area of the RF site by both private and community supply wells. Groundwater in the area of the RF site is acidic (median pH = 5.3), and exhibits a
relatively high concentration of dissolved iron and manganese.
Population demographics based upon the 1990 census have been prepared by the ATSDR using area-proportion spatial analysis, and are presented in Figure I (see Appendix for figures). ATSDR estimates that within a one-mile radius of the
RF site, there is a population of approximately 3,700 persons, and 240 housing units.
Site History
In early 1971, the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) entered into a contract with an independent waste removal contractor to transport 55 gallon drums of chemical wastes from the Bound Brook facility to the Dover Township Municipal Landfill
(DTML) for disposal (Ghassemi, 1976). Between March and December 1971, 5,000 to 6,000 drums labeled as containing organic wash solvents, still bottoms, and residues from the manufacture of plastics and resins were removed from the UCC
facility by the contractor for disposal. These wastes were reported to contain aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons, polymeric resins and unspecified petrochemicals (Ghassemi, 1976). Table I (see Appendix
for tables) lists general descriptions of UCC wastes found on the RF site.
In August 1971, the waste removal contractor leased a portion of the RF property from the owner on the premise of storing empty drums on the site. In December 1971, the owners of the RF property noticed unusual chemical odors emanating
from the portion of the property leased to the waste removal contractor. Visual inspection revealed the presence of drummed chemical wastes and trenches where bulk chemical wastes had been discharged (NUS, 1986). On December 15, 1971,
UCC was notified by the owner of the RF property of the presence of thousands of drums bearing UCC labels on the RF site. The waste removal contractor had illegally deposited approximately 4,500 drums on the RF site without the knowledge
of the property owner or the UCC. Upon notification of the presence of their drums on the RF property, the UCC immediately terminated their agreement with the waste hauler.
Of the 5,000 to 6,000 drums removed by the waste removal contractor, only some 4,500 were reportedly accounted for on the RF property. Approximately 10% of the drums located on the RF property were partially or completely empty, suggesting
that contained wastes were discharged on-site (NUS, 1986). The remainder of the drums removed from the UCC facility were assumed by the USEPA to have been deposited in the DTML, or possibly were emptied on the RF site after which the empty
drums were salvaged (Ghassemi, 1976). Figure 2 presents the relative locations of the RF and the DTML.
The RF property owners and the Dover Township Board of Health (DTBH) initiated a court action requesting that UCC remove the drums from the RF property. From February through April 1972, the UCC performed an initial removal of most of the
drums on the RF site back to the UCC Bound Brook Facility (Ghassemi, 1976; NUS, 1986). At this time, drums were also taken by the UCC to locations in and out of State for burial or incineration. In June 1974, approximately 51 additional
drums and approximately 1,100 cubic yards of contaminated soil were removed from the RF site by the UCC and transferred to the Kin-Buc Landfill in Edison, New Jersey (Ghassemi, 1976; NUS, 1986). In addition, 37 UCC drums were discovered
stored in two trailer trucks (belonging to the contracted waste hauler) which were parked in Dover Township (at Brookside Drive and Brier Avenue). These drums were also removed by the UCC.
Deposition of wastes at the R.F site resulted in contamination of the underlying Cohansey aquifer. Beginning in 1974, approximately 2 years after the discovery of drums on the site, off-site migration of contaminated groundwater resulted in
the condemnation of 148 private wells in the Pleasant Plains section of Dover Township, and a DTBH ordinance restricting the use of private wells in the area (see Figure 3). This contamination was identified as associated with the RF site by
the USEPA and the NJDEP (Ghassemi, 1976; NJDEP, 1974). In addition, site-related contamination subsequently affected the Parkway well field of the community water purveyor (the Toms River Water Company, later United Water Toms River) located
approximately one mile from the RF site (see inset). The chronology of the RF site's impact on both private and community water supplies, and the resultant public health implications are discussed in the "Environmental Contamination" and
"Public Health Implications" sections of this Public Health Assessment.
Health Assessment Activity Summary
The ATSDR conducted a Public Health Assessment of the RF site in April 1989 (ATSDR, 1989a), and concluded that the RF site represented a potential public health concern because of potential exposure to hazardous substances at levels that may
result in adverse health effects over time." This conclusion was based upon a potential human exposure pathway to various volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals through oral and/or dermal exposure to
contaminated groundwater. More recent evaluations of the data confirm this conclusion with respect to site-related volatile and semi-volatile compounds, but not with respect to ingestion of heavy metals, which do not appear to be site-related.
A comprehensive evaluation of human exposure pathways is presented in the "Pathways Analysis" section of this Public Health Assessment.
The 1989 Public Health Assessment further concluded that the remedial actions proposed in the USEPA's Record of Decision (ROD) for the RF site appear to be protective of the public health (USEPA, 1988). Subsequent to the release of the Public
Health Assessment, the USEPA issued an Explanation of Significant Difference (ESD) for remedies regarding the RF site as discussed in the 1985 Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)(NUS1985a). The ESD (USEPA, 1995), which presented
a modification to the originally selected remedy for groundwater contamination, was not reviewed by the ATSDR.
The 1989 Public Health Assessment recommended that private wells in areas potentially affected by the RF site be monitored. This recommendation was satisfied as part of the activities performed for the present Public Health Assessment. The
NJDHSS and the ATSDR have reviewed private well data associated with the Pleasant Plains section of Dover Township (the area denoted in the 1974 well restriction ordinance; proximal to the RF site; see Figure 3). Areas near the DTML (the Silverton
Road Groundwater Investigation and the Silverton Private Well Contamination Investigation) are evaluated in a separate Public Health Assessment. In addition, in support of this Public Health Assessment, the NJDHSS and the ATSDR have conducted
an exposure investigation of potentially affected private potable wells in Dover Township to determine current groundwater quality (see Figure 4). The nature and extent of groundwater contamination in the RF study area and consequent public health
implications are discussed in the "Environmental Contamination", "Pathways Analysis" and "Public Health Implications" sections of this Public Health Assessment.
In the 1989 Public Health Assessment, the ATSDR did not make a specific recommendation for follow-up health study activities, citing insufficient human exposure data. The document further stated that should data become available suggesting that human
exposure to hazardous substances is occurring at a level of public health significance, the site would be evaluated for follow-up health studies. Based in part on findings related to the development of this Public Health Assessment, and in response to
concerns regarding childhood cancer incidence in Dover Township, the NJDHSS and the ATSDR are currently conducting an epidemiologic study of childhood cancer in Dover Township, which will consider relevant completed human exposure pathway information
including, but not limited to, the RF site.
In October 1993, the ATSDR released a Lead Initiative Summary Report (ATSDR, 1993a). This report did not identify a RF site-related lead hazard associated with groundwater. The report concluded that lead levels detected in private wells, which were
cited in the ATSDR's 1989 Public Health Assessment, were the result of corrosion of household plumbing by acidic groundwater, or an unidentified circumstance at individual residences. The Lead Initiative Summary Report recommended additional groundwater monitoring for lead.
Site Visits
As part of the activities conducted in support of this Public Health Assessment, staff of the NJDHSS and the ATSDR performed multiple visits of the RF site and other locations within Dover Township during 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.
Community Concerns
The discovery of contamination at the RF site and the consequent impact to area groundwater quality have resulted in a high level of community concern and media attention over the years. Residents of Dover Township have also expressed concern about the incidence
of childhood cancer in the community. In the summer of 1995, the ATSDR asked the NJDHSS to perform an analysis of childhood cancer statistics for the township. The NJDHSS found an elevated occurrence of certain childhood cancers.
Community concerns about this finding led the ATSDR and the NJDHSS to formulate a multi-activity Public Health Response Plan (PHRP) in June 1996 (NJDHSS/ATSDR, 1996). The PHRP included an updating and reevaluation of information on childhood cancer
incidence and assessments of environmental issues of concern to the community. Originally included in the PHRP were Public Health Assessments of the RF site and the Ciba-Geigy Corporation site (CERCLIS #NJD001502517); subsequently, the NJDHSS and the ATDSR
added a third Public Health Assessment for the DTML site (CERCLIS #NJD980771570). The PHRP also included a Public Health Consultation, performed jointly with the NJDEP, that evaluates extensive water quality testing data from the community water system in Dover Township.
Other activities of the PHRP are the development of a community and health professionals education program (see "Public Health Action Plan" section), compilation of a compendium of environmental contamination sources in Dover Township, and inclusion of New Jersey in a
multi-state study of brain cancer incidence in proximity to National Priorities List sites.
Since March 1996, the NJDHSS and the ATSDR have participated in monthly public meetings of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster (CACCCC) in order to discuss progress toward implementation of the PHRP, cancer incidence, environmental sampling data,
and community concerns related to the on-going investigation.
Statement of Issues
Based upon past and current data on the RF site, and other environmental concerns communicated to the NJDHSS and the ATSDR, this Public 14ealth Assessment will address the following issues:
Exposure Pathways Associated With Private Wells
This Public Health Assessment will evaluate the potential public health significance of past and present exposure pathways associated with private well water quality in areas of Dover Township near the RF site.
Exposure Pathways Associated With Community Water System Wells
Several wells in the United Water Toms River's Parkway well field have been, and continue to be, impacted by RF site-related contamination. This Public Health Assessment will evaluate the potential public health significance of exposure pathways associated with these community water supply wells.
|
 BACK
||
CONTENTS
||
NEXT
||
|
|
|
