Published in the Asbury Park Press
An Asbury Park Press editorial
Concerns shown by New Jersey's two U.S. senators for the health of Toms River residents is welcome. The timing of their criticism of Gov. Whitman's order for additional treatment of well water, however, makes it seem as if Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert G. Torricelli, both Democrats, are trying to politicize the situation.
If politics could ensure that the children of Toms River would face no increased cancer threat, bring on the politicians. The senators may argue that their call for filtration and air-stripping systems on the wells of United Water Toms River prompted Gov. Whitman to act. After hearing from the senators, the governor ordered filtration systems on two additional United Water wells. That wasn't enough for Lautenberg and Torricelli, who called for carbon filtration and stripping systems on all the company's wells -- a call that exceeds even the demands of members of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Clusters.
In the long run, however, state and federal officials need to work closely to protect Toms River residents from any health threats. The scientific research and possible remediation efforts -- if a source of the elevated cancer levels is found -- are expensive undertakings.
No one wants to weigh public health against dollars, but the cost of providing water to Toms River residents could become prohibitive if extraordinary filtration procedures are placed on wells that have shown no evidence of contamination, far from the Reich Farm Superfund site.
Whitman's order called for carbon filtration of water from two additional wells in the parkway field. It would be prudent to install air-stripping devices on both those wells, to ensure that volatile organic chemicals will be removed.
Who will pay for the filtration and aeration systems -- no insignificant question -- is still to be determined. The carbon filtration systems alone will cost $1.5 million. Lautenberg and Torricelli have suggested that Union Carbide pay the bill. The company is paying for the filtration of two other wells because drums that were dumped at Reich Farm in the 1970s contained chemicals from one of its New Jersey plants.
Whether United Carbide will pay for these new, largely precautionary measures remains to be seen, but the company would not likely pay to filter water from wells outside of the parkway field. As United Water officials point out repeatedly, no link between the cancer cases and the water supply has been established, and the water from its wells meets or exceeds existing safety standards.
The safety of water from the shallow Cohansey aquifer, from which the parkway field wells draw, has come into question recently as elevated level of radium have been detected. Understandably, that has raised new fears in the Toms River area. The governor's order was a proper reaction to the fears. So would be the installation of air strippers on two more parkway wells. At this point, anything beyond would appear to be an over-reaction.
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: November 03, 1998
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