|
|
Reich Farm Health Assessment
(Dover Township) Toms River, New Jersey
|
Summary
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(CERCLIS #NJD980771570).
The Public Health Assessments provide a review of environmental health issues and evaluate past and current human exposure pathways associated with these sites.
Bulk and drummed chemical wastes originating at the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) facility in Bound Brook, New Jersey were deposited, by a waste hauler contracted by the UCC, at both the RF site and the DTML in late 197 1. Wastes at the RF site have migrated through groundwater and impacted private and community water supply wells with volatile
and semi-volatile organic chemicals. While private well contamination is documented as early as 1974, contamination of certain wells at the Parkway well field of the community water supply was not documented until 1986. However, hydrologic models predict that contaminated groundwater may have reached the Parkway well field beginning some time in the period 1976 to 1991.
The chemical composition of the groundwater contamination in the past is not well characterized, but a variety of chemicals including trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and a previously unknown material -- styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) trimer -- have been found in the plume. Although a toxicological evaluation of levels of exposure to known contaminants
did not suggest that adverse health effects are likely, this evaluation is based on limited historical environmental data. Much uncertainty exists concerning the composition, levels, and toxicologic characteristics of past exposure to contaminated private and community water supplies. Therefore, although it cannot be documented, the public health significance of past exposures
related to the Reich Farm site may have been greater than is apparent from the toxicological evaluation of the levels of known contaminants performed in the Public Health Assessment.
The Reich Farm site is therefore 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 private and community water supplies) to volatile organic chemicals (including PCE and TCE)
and other chemicals, to a potentially large exposed population; 2) epidemiological studies in other communities suggesting that exposure to TCE and PCE may increase the risk of certain childhood cancers and adverse neurological effects; and 3) the presence of an excess of childhood cancers in the community.
Current conditions indicate that exposure to contaminants from the RF site is no longer occurring. The exposure pathway through private well use was interrupted by the establishment of a well restriction zone, and there is no indication that private wells are still in use for potable purposes in the area above the RF plume. The exposure pathway through the community water supply
has been interrupted by the diversion and treatment of contaminated water from wells #26 and #28 at the Parkway well field, and the recent installation of treatment for well #29, which has shown sporadic RF-related contamination. (Treatment was also extended to the nearby well #22 as a precaution.) However, treated output from wells #26 and #28 may be pumped into the community
water supply in times of high water demand. Containment of the RF-related groundwater plume through effective management of the Parkway well field is critical to ensure that currently unaffected wells remain so. In addition, proper operation of the treatment systems in place is necessary to reduce or eliminate the entry of RF-related contaminants into the distribution system.
On-going water monitoring is needed to document the effectiveness of well field management and treatment systems. For these reasons, the ATSDR and the NJDHSS are categorizing the RF site as no apparent public health hazard under present conditions. Should NJDHSS or ATSDR become aware of information indicating that RF-related exposure is still occurring, or if private wells are
still in use in the plume area, this determination will be reconsidered.
Further epidemiologic and toxicologic evaluations are warranted in order to evaluate the public health significance of past risks posed by the site. The NJDHSS and the ATSDR are conducting an epidemiologic study of childhood cancer in Dover Township. This Public Health Assessment supports the consideration of exposure pathways related to the RF site in that study. In addition,
a working group of Federal and State public health and environmental agencies is coordinating the development of toxicologic studies of styrene-acrylonitrile trimer to understand better the public health implications of completed exposure pathways at the RF site.
|
 BACK
||
CONTENTS
||
NEXT
||
|
|
|
