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TR Water, Ciba suits moved
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Published in the Ocean County Observer
By DON BENNETT
Staff Writer
State shifts cases to Middlesex
TOMS RIVER -- Lawsuits filed by hundreds of current and former Ocean County residents claiming they were exposed to toxic chemicals by the Ciba-Geigy dyeworks and the Toms River Water Company have been shifted to Middlesex County.
The state Supreme Court ordered the transfer of "all pending and future litigating seeking damages or other relief arising out of alleged environmental contamination by Ciba-Geigy" transferred to Middlesex County, where special arrangements have been made to handle large class action lawsuits.
There, according to a Jan. 12 order signed by Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz, the cases will be assigned to Superior Court Judge Marina Corodemus.
She will be assisted in pre-trial work by a special master previously appointed by the high court to oversee class action lawsuits like these.
Once that's completed, she will decide where and when the lawsuits will be tried.
Regardless of where the suits are filed, for now they will be handled in Middlesex County.
A series of lawsuits has been filed against the Swiss chemical giant claiming people face an increased risk of cancer and other illnesses as a result of their alleged exposure to chemicals from the Ciba-Geigy plant in West Dover.
"Based on what we know of the site and the studies that have been done there was no health impact. We intend to defend ourselves," said Ciba Specialty Chemical Corporation spokeswoman Donna Jakubowski.
George Flegal, manager of United Water Toms River, said he was unaware of the change of venue. "We have in-house attorneys working on it. The company's position hasn't changed," he said.
The utility has denied the claims made in the lawsuit.
Ciba-Geigy made dyes and plastics additives at the plant from 1952 to the mid-1990s.
The suits claim toxic chemicals from the Toms River polluted two drinking water wells used by the Toms River Water Company (now United Water Toms River) in 1965 and 1966 at the Holly Street wellfield, which is located on the river just west of the Garden State Parkway and south of Lakehurst Road.
Lawyers say that was an exposure pathway to their clients and point to a February 2000 public health assessment done by the state Department of Health reporting the presence of dyes and chemicals used to make them.
Other pollutants wafted in the area from the chemical plant, and some seeped into private wells near the plant, the lawsuits claim.
Those filing the suits seek compensation for future medical surveillance, wrongful death, conspiracy, negligence, trespass, nuisance and negligence.
The Ciba-Geigy plant site is on the federal Superfund list because large amounts of toxic chemicals were buried or seeped into the soil. Those pollutants continue to seep into the groundwater, creating a huge underground lake of pollution.
Ciba is pumping 2.7 million gallons of the tainted water out of the ground each day, treating it to remove the pollutants, and allowing the treated water to seep back into the ground.
That is seen as a holding action, preventing a further spread of the contamination, until the pollution sources can be eliminated.
In November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decided that bacteria will be encouraged to destroy the toxic pollutants after contaminated soil is unearthed at the plant site.
More than 31,000 drums of chemical waste will be dug up and hauled away for disposal elsewhere, along with 5,000 cubic yards of tainted soil. Barrier walls and protective caps will be used to limit contact with other pollutants.
The price for that part of the cleanup, which Ciba will pay, is $92 million.
Published on January 31, 2001
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