Published in the Asbury Park Press
By Jean Mikle
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Also studies effects of tainted well water
DOVER TOWNSHIP — State officials have discovered that at least 15 irrigation wells in a northwestern neighborhood are contaminated with high levels of benzene, a human carcinogen.
But where the pollution comes from, and what its potential health effects are, the researchers have yet to determine. Those were the key questions asked by several residents who attended a special meeting Tuesday night held at town hall by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
"I am concerned about people who are continuing to use their well," Fiddlers Run resident Mindy Jonkoski said.
Jonkoski's irrigation well tested positive for benzene, a volatile organic contaminant that is a component of gasoline. She has stopped using the well but said she is worried because some residents continue to irrigate with polluted wells.
"When will they determine the health risk?" asked Theresa Deoliveira, who also lives on Fiddlers Run. She doesn't have an irrigation well or a sprinkler system, but said she is worried about possible health effects from nearby polluted wells.
Two potable wells in the area — one on Ronda Road in Dover, and another on Locust Street in Lakewood — were found to contain benzene at levels far above the state drinking water standard of 1 part per billion. The Ronda Road well contained 125 ppb of benzene and 5.5 ppb of 1,2-dichloroethane, which is used to make plastic products but is also added to leaded gasoline to remove lead.
The drinking water standard for 1,2-dichloroethane is 2 ppb.
The Locust Street well had 124 ppb of benzene in an initial test, and 75.4 ppb in a subsequent test. Filtration systems were installed on both potable wells, with the state's Spill Compensation Fund paying for the installation.
Irrigation wells are a different story. There are no state standards for contaminants in irrigation wells.
Testing of irrigation wells was conducted in the North Maple Avenue area of Dover on April 27 and 28, and 15 of the 36 wells tested were found to be polluted with benzene and 1,2-dichloroeth-ane.
Levels of up to 1,086 ppb of benzene and up to 46 ppb of 1,2-dichloroeth-ane were found. In May, the DEP returned to the neighborhood and took indoor air samples at 17 homes, with researchers also drilling into the slabs under the homes to determine the potential for benzene to enter the indoor air.
The results of the air sampling are still being analyzed, said Ron Poutschi of the DEP's Bureau of Environmental Evaluation & Risk Assessment.
The DEP is studying the potential risk of exposure to polluted irrigation wells, research that is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Ed Putnam, assistant director of the DEP's Site Remediation & Waste Management Program, said the department will look at a number of potential areas of exposure to the benzene, including inhalation during sprinkling or running through a sprinkler to cool off; consuming vegetables that have been watered with polluted well water, and absorption through the skin by wading or swimming in a pool that was filled using a sprinkler system.
Putnam noted the DEP had sent letters to 22 homeowners on Fiddlers Run and Donna Dee Court, recommending that they not use their irrigation wells. The letters went to the 15 homeowners with contaminated wells, along with their immediate neighbors.
"Based on the simple logic that the water is contaminated, it's best not to use it," Putnam said. He stressed that the levels of pollutants in the irrigation wells do not present an immediate health risk. The risk assessment study is meant to determine if they present a long-term risk.
DEP officials have identified several potential sources of the pollution, including businesses located near the intersection of Routes 9 and 70. William Lowry, bureau chief of the Bureau of Environmental Measurement & Site Assessment, declined to name the businesses, since the DEP has not yet undertaken the more extensive testing necessary to determine the source.
He said state officials will return to the neighborhood July 17 for three more weeks of extensive testing that will help researchers delineate the extent of the pollution plume and help give a better idea of potential source areas.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/28/06
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