Published in the Asbury Park Press
An Asbury Park Press editorial
The state Department of Environmental Protection says the liner to the former Ciba-Geigy Corp. landfill in Dover Township is doing its job: The toxic waste stored in drums there isn't leaking.
But hazardous waste wasn't supposed to be dumped at the site in the first place. To protect the health of township residents, the 30,000-plus drums in the lined portion should be removed along with the 40,000 now being carted out of the unlined section.
In the last few weeks, residents have been protesting at the site's entrance, trying to build support to have the entire landfill cleaned, not just the unlined area now handled as a federal Superfund project.
Regardless of whether the liner's documented history of leaking has been corrected, hazardous wastes dumped there violated terms of the initial permit that called for it to be filled only with nonhazardous waste. That violation puts the health of neighbors at risk -- a risk that can be removed only by cleaning up the entire site.
The DEP says that's unnecessary. Tell that to users of the township-owned Winding River Park, where groundwater contamination is blamed on Ciba-Geigy's former dye- and resin-making operations. Tell it to property owners nearby, who might not be able to sell their homes for what they could in another part of town. Tell that to the parents concerned that unseen toxins in their neighborhood made their children sick, or might make them sick in the future.
The Superfund work, overseen by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, may be finished by the end of the year. That gives cleanup crews a perfect opportunity to do the job right by doing it completely while the equipment and expertise are at the site.
After the cleanup began in December, the EPA's remedial project manager for the site noted that even the nonhazardous material being carted off the site contains chemicals: "It's not something you'd want in your back yard," she said.
DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell should start developing a plan to arrange for work to continue at the site to remove the drums outside the unlined Superfund project. And Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J., whose congressional district includes Dover, should demand that the EPA work with the DEP to make sure every single drum is removed to ensure the area's future health.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/01/04
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