Tensions rise over the future of this polluted land in New Jersey

The former Ciba-Geigy chemical plant poisoned the land and water in Toms River, New Jersey, where childhood cancer rates soared in the 1980s and 1990s.

It was one of the worst toxic waste storage sites in the country, it was listed on the federal Cleanup Superfund list, and it still has a huge plume of chemically contaminated groundwater underneath it.

But government officials and the current owner of the site, the German corporation BASF, believe that the fenced area, after some restoration work, may again become suitable for the population. Under a proposed agreement with New Jersey conservation authorities, BASF will carry out nine environmental projects, including restoration of wetlands and grasslands; creation of footpaths, sidewalks and an elevated viewing platform; conservation of forests and construction of an environmental education center at a cost of approximately $30 million.

Judging by two emotional public hearings, most residents of Toms River, an upscale Jersey Shore neighborhood about 55 miles north of Atlantic City, want the state to cancel the deal and start over.

In addition to the widely held belief that the settlement does not penalize BASF for Ciba-Geigy’s behavior (which it is not intended to), many residents still express a deep distrust of not only the company but also the government, citing decades of neglect and lax oversight. which allowed Ciba-Geigy to dump chemicals and dyes into the Toms River and directly onto land for years with impunity. As longtime environmental activist Peter Hibbard put it, “It’s like they had a golden ticket to pollution.”

And during Monday’s hearing, which lasted nearly six hours, several residents said the place was too toxic – chemically and symbolically – to ever be used for anything again.

“Why not just run wild around the area?” asked Summer Bardieu, whose uncle worked in a factory and came home on hot days sweating from the color of the paint he was working on. “Why potentially harm other people, expose them, injure them, and possibly kill them? This land is now closed; people don’t want to go back there.”

“The public won’t want to use this for passive recreation,” local resident Phil Solomon added.

Soon, a whole fleet of special electric vehicles will roam the streets of New York to keep an eye on what is in the air. News 4 correspondent Melissa Colorado reports this.

Sean Moriarty, deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, grew up near the Ciba-Geigy plant; he and his friends jumped the fence and played in the factory woods, much to the dismay of his mother, a cancer nurse at the local hospital.

“I wouldn’t be standing here tonight in front of where I still say I come from if I didn’t personally believe in the settlement that the DEP is proposing,” he said. In response to a question about whether he would build a house on the site and move his family there, Moriarty said he plans to bring his children to walk the trails once the projects are completed.

Beginning in the 1950s, Ciba-Geigy Chemical Corp., the city’s largest employer, dumped chemicals into the Toms River and the Atlantic Ocean and buried 47,000 barrels of toxic waste in the ground. As a result, a plume of contaminated water was formed, which spread off the site and into residential areas.

Even though it has been reduced in size, the plume remains and cleanup efforts will have to continue for many years.

Officials say the water in the Toms River is now safe to drink.

The State Department of Health found that between 1979 and 1995, 87 children in Toms River, then called Dover, had been diagnosed with cancer. compared to government rates. Similar indicators were not found in boys.

In the 50-plus years since Republican President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law in 1970, progress has been made, with six of the most common pollutants reduced by more than 75%. The action is now limited to the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. EPA, explains LX News climate story teller Chase Kane.

The company, which has been criminally charged, has paid millions of dollars in fines and fines, in addition to the $300 million it and its successors have already paid to clean up the 1,250-acre (506-hectare) site — a constant effort with no end in sight.

The settlement, announced in December, seeks to have BASF — Ciba-Geigy’s corporate successor — compensate New Jersey for environmental damage caused by decades of pollution. But instead of just writing a check, the deal obliges BASF to save enough land to replenish groundwater that was contaminated when Ciba-Geigy dumped chemicals into pits or directly onto the ground.

BASF said in a statement that it remains committed to the settlement, which has yet to be finalized.

“We look forward to conserving the land, implementing planned restoration projects and discovering new opportunities to encourage recreation, learning and community participation at this location,” said company spokeswoman Molly Bierman. She noted that the company continues to fulfill its responsibility to treat groundwater at and near the site, which is separate from the proposed natural resource settlement.

In 1992, Ciba-Geigy paid $63.8 million to settle criminal charges of illegal disposal of hazardous waste, and she and two other companies reached a $13.2 million settlement with 69 families whose children had been diagnosed with cancer.