Published in the Ocean County Observer
BY LAWRENCE MEEGAN
STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER — In a joint statement issued by Dover Township Mayor Paul C. Brush and Council President Gregory McGuckin, the township is demanding Ciba-Geigy acknowledge its responsibilities and remove environmental and health hazards from its property.
The township first filed a lawsuit in 2003 to force the company to remove hazardous materials from a site on its property known as Cell One.
The township hired two experts, Andrew Michalski and Richard S. Greenberg, to test the site for signs of leakage from drums stored in that area.
The court ordered Ciba-Geigy to allow the pair onto the site to conduct testing of the integrity of Cell One, which contains the drums.
"This past Tuesday, the mayor and Township Council reviewed the findings of our experts," said Brush and McGuckin in the joint communique. "As anticipated, both our experts have confirmed, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, including known carcinogens, that Cell One is leaking hazardous materials."
They said copies of the report have been filed with the court and the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection.
"Amazingly, Ciba continues to deny that Cell One poses an environmental and health risk to our community," they said. "Moreover, Ciba has been relentless in its efforts to prevent full disclosure and conceal the facts relating to the viability of Cell One and the contamination present on its site. We believe, however, that the date included in our experts' report will compel the court to rule in our favor."
They also believe the report will strengthen the DEP's hand in forcing Ciba-Geigy to remove the materials, they said.
"At this point, we want to assure the public that the contamination emanating from Cell One does not appear to jeopardize our public drinking water supply," they said. "However, the contamination may pose a risk to the irrigation wells in the surrounding neighborhood. Cell One does, nonetheless, pose a substantial environmental and health hazard which must be eliminated."
Published in the Ocean County Observer on 06/23/06
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