Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- Paul C. Brush, the independent candidate for Dover Township mayor, has criticized Republican Mayor John F. Russo Jr. for failing to attend the Oct. 20 meeting of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster.
"John Russo no longer has any credibility with the community he wants to govern," said Brush, who is running against Russo and Democrat John M. Furey for a four-year term as mayor. "He skipped an important Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster meeting with federal and state officials to instead serve the residents of Lakewood as attorney for their Board of Adjustment."
Furey and Brush have scheduled a joint press conference for today, at which, sources say, Furey will step out of the race and endorse Brush, a long-time Democrat.
Brush and Furey both attended the Oct. 20 citizens committee meeting, the first one held in several months.
Russo said he had to attend the Lakewood meeting because he serves as the board attorney.
"For the five years I've been involved actively in local politics, I've attended dozens of EPA, Ciba and Cancer Cluster hearings and meetings," Russo said, speaking of meetings held by the federal Environmental Protection Agency on the Ciba-Geigy Corp. Superfund site. "Paul has never been at one until he became a candidate. It's the height of hypocrisy for him to question my credibility on this topic."
Brush said he saw the mayor in town hall 45 minutes after the start of the 6 p.m. citizens committee meeting, but Russo did not come upstairs to the meeting.
"He has made serious allegations about the Ciba site and . . . he was derelict in his duties by not meeting with the citizens he wants to represent," Brush said.
Brush was speaking about a lawsuit filed by the township against Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp., the company that now owns the site. The lawsuit, championed by Russo, demands payment from the chemical company for lowering property values at nearby Winding River Park.
The park, which is owned by Dover, has been affected by a plume of groundwater contamination from the Ciba property, the township alleges. Dover also alleges in the lawsuit that Ciba has violated the terms of its permit for a lined landfill on the property.
The landfill, which contains thousands of drums of waste, was built for the disposal of non-hazardous substances, but state Department of Environmental Protection records show hazardous waste was dumped there, Russo has said.
Russo has also said that experts who have reviewed DEP files say the records show the landfill's liner is likely leaking, which could eventually pose a threat to public health. For that reason, the township is asking that DEP and EPA to force Ciba to close the landfill and remove the drums.
DEP officials who attended the citizens committee meeting said they are unaware of any records suggesting the landfill's liner is leaking. They asked the township to produce the records if they exist.
Brush has questioned the timing of the Ciba suit, which was filed only weeks before the Nov. 4 election. Russo's campaign recently issued a flier accusing Brush of being in favor of keeping the drums in the lined landfill.
"I'd like to remind Mr. Brush that even though he thinks our lawsuit is a campaign gimmick, I have been working with the people who live in the neighborhoods around Ciba-Geigy for almost four years on a lawsuit for loss of property values and trespass from the toxic plume running underneath the property," the mayor said.
Russo reiterated his belief that the lawsuit is the only way to make sure all drums are removed from the landfill.
He said Brush is hurting the township's position by implying the lawsuit is a campaign stunt.
"He is hurting the residents of Dover Township and he is helping, once again, Ciba-Geigy," Russo said.
Brush said the mayor "has made the Ciba-Geigy site a major issue in his campaign without regard for the memories it has rekindled in our community. He has again created a sensitive and emotional issue for his own political expediency."
Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/27/03
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