Published in the Ocean County Observer
By MARY DEMPSEY
Staff Writer
TOMS RIVER -- Local officials are at odds over a proposed investigation into the dumping of toxic materials at the closed Dover Landfill.
Township Committeeman John Russo, a Democrat, said details about alleged illegal dumping of chemicals at the former landfill by an independent trucker hired by Union Carbide in the early 1970s should be investigated.
"Before we put this thing to rest we need to know what happened back then," Russo said. "Somebody opened the gates to the township's property and allowed the dumping of toxic products there at the former landfill. We know nothing of what happened back then, and at the end of the day, we need to know."
A final report of monitoring wells at the landfill was recently sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection for review, Russo said. The review process could take up to one year.
Russo said officials do not know if toxic materials were dumped directly into the landfill from containers or were dumped at the landfill in the drum containers.
"The man who did the dumping was a drum recycler, which is a pretty good indicator that he never dumped the drums," Russo said. "I want our attorney to depose the man who did the dumping to find out what happened."
Buried drums of toxic materials may pose a future threat to groundwater at and around the former landfill as the drums deteriorate over time and release the toxins, he said.
"Are the drums still there and are they still intact? If they are out there, every day the integrity of the drums may be breeched as they may be rusting out very slowly. I really want to know if my concerns are realistic," Russo said.
The landfill was opened for about 30 years between the 1950s and 1980s, Committeeman Clarence E. "Bud" Aldrich III said.
Aldrich, a Republican, has been involved in the landfill debate since it began more than 20 years ago.
"The dumping was investigated at the time, nearly 30 years ago," Aldrich said. "The officials involved took depositions from the people involved and nobody could figure out what happened. Union Carbide denied that anything was even dumped at the landfill at the time. I don't know if it was ever proved."
Representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told Aldrich that drums buried in the closed landfill would have decayed years ago, releasing whatever toxins were inside.
Testing from monitoring wells near and in the landfill have revealed no significant contamination of groundwater in the area, Aldrich said.
The township will continue to have the monitoring wells in place indefinitely, he said.
"Our obligation is to make sure that the groundwater supply is safe," Aldrich said. "The best thing we can do is to continue monitoring the wells that are in place."
Published on May 2, 2001
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