Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
DOVER TOWNSHIP -- Tests of ground water being treated at the former Ciba-Geigy Corp. plant have again shown that the water meets all standards specified in the company's agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Test results received Friday by Ocean County Citizens for Clean Water showed that Ciba is "doing quite well," in cleaning the contaminated water, said Benjamin Epstein, the group's president.
The group samples the treated water once every four months. The $5,000 cost of the quarterly tests is paid for by the company, now called Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp. But an independent testing laboratory draws the samples and analyzes them.
Ciba paid $41 million to build a state-of-the-art ground water treatment system that began operation almost two years ago. About 2.7 million gallons of contaminated ground water is extracted from the ground each day, treated to remove pollutants, and discharged through miles of pipeline to the northeast corner of the Ciba property.
Before the treatment process begins, the water contains levels of dichlorobenzene, chlorobenzene, trichloroethylene and trichloropropane that reach hundreds of parts per billion.
After treatment, only trace, or almost nondetectable amounts, of the chemicals remain. Epstein said Ocean County Citizens for Clean Water will continue to conduct the quarterly tests for the foreseeable future.
"I'm sticking with it," he said. "We take the view that if we were not on the alert, who knows, something might happen. We're just making sure that they are meeting all the standards."
The Ciba plant, which manufactured industrial dyes and additives for plastics, shut down in December 1996. Ciba's site, off Route 37, was placed on the federal Superfund list in 1983 after investigators discovered that drums and chemical wastes had been dumped on the property, often in unlined landfills.
Seepage from the drums contaminated ground water beneath the property.
Published: March 28, 1998
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