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Model Cleanup Process Could Face Delay Due to Funding Cutoff When Robert Spiegel visited the Chemical Insecticide Corporation (CIC) site in Edison, New Jersey, in 1991, he was appalled. "The first thing that struck me was the smell-the smell of death and decay. Nothing grew on the property except a strange fluorescent green moss. Small animal carcasses littered the area, and there were, indeed, 'green' rabbits living there. The rabbits had developed an abnormal greenish-yellow undercoat that I would later discover was the result of Dinoseb, a pesticide disposed of in larger quantities throughout the state."(1) On that visit, Spiegel videotaped a child playing in a nearby brook contaminated with off-site runoff. He subsequently learned that "the vacant CIC lot was a playground for local children, the chemical lagoons were their wading pools, and adults routinely scavenged materials from the site."(2) Now, more than a decade later, contaminated soil and groundwater remain on site, and the cleanup has stalled for lack of funding. A temporary tarp that covers the chemical lagoons and hazardous waste barrels has begun to rot. Robert Spiegel's eerie encounter with green rabbits at the CIC site led him to work for its cleanup through the Edison Wetlands Association, a local citizens group. The site once contained a manufacturing operation that produced pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, including Agent Orange, a defoliant used widely in the Vietnam war. Dioxin, a known contaminant of Agent Orange, is a harmful byproduct of its manufacture.(3) Poor disposal practices resulted in obvious pollution problems when the CIC plant was in operation from the mid-1950s until 1970. Foul odors, discharges of hazardous wastewater, and factory fires provoked public complaints.(4) In one publicized instance, the plant owner was fined $200 when six cows died after drinking water from a nearby brook.(5) In the late 1960s, the Edison Department of Health and Human Resources stepped in, ordering a suspension of wastewater discharges at the plant and providing oversight for the disposal of leaking drums and the closing of two on-site waste pits.(6) The owner of CIC declared bankruptcy in 1970, and the plant's buildings were demolished in 1975.(7) When the owner left the property, however, buried drums and debris remained behind. Scores of drums at the site still await removal.(8) The site is contaminated with arsenic, pesticides-including DDT and chlordane-herbicides, and other hazardous substances.(9) Because the cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater investigations are incomplete, the CIC site remains a significant threat to the health of neighbors in the urban area. Exposure to high levels of arsenic can be fatal, and even low-level exposure can cause a number of illnesses, including skin disorders, changes in blood cell production, nausea, and other disorders.(10) DDT, the notorious pesticide, lasts a long time in soil. Exposure to DDT affects the nervous system and may have a harmful effect on human reproduction.11 Chlordane is a mixture of related chemicals that can remain in soil for over 20 years, and can damage the nervous system, the digestive system, and the liver.(12) Three presidents, three governors, and all of the interested parties have decided that removal of contaminated soil from the CIC site is the best course of action.(13) Nevertheless, the soil cleanup process scheduled for the fall of 2002 will be delayed if funding is not made available. The removal of contaminated soil at the site is crucial to making the site and surrounding areas safer for human health. Because CIC went bankrupt, the federal government is responsible for carrying out the cleanup. The estimated cost of removing the contaminated soil from the CIC site is $40 million.(14) For fiscal year 2002, the Region 2 office of the U.S. EPA requested $28.5 million for the cleanup of the site. No funds have thus far been distributed in response to that request.(15) The CIC site is located near several residential areas. Six schools are located within a 1.2-mile radius of the CIC site, and one is located less than half a mile away.(16) Even after the CIC site was added to Superfund's priority cleanup list in 1990, many nearby residents did not know of its status or its dangers. Eileen Nobrega, a former president of the Edison Glen Terrace condominium association, asserted in a lawsuit that condominium owners who purchased units between 1987 and 1991 were unaware of the contamination of the CIC site at the time of their purchase.(17) Residents of nearby neighborhoods still fear illness that the contamination from the CIC site could produce, and they are disappointed that the cleanup process may be delayed.(18) Without timely action the progress of the cleanup will be undermined, and the longer the delay, the greater the risk to the community. "This was once a model cleanup," Robert Spiegel asserts. "We had public participation, good communication with the EPA. But now it could become a model of failure."(19) Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
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