Health main concern at meeting in Avenel Mayor says cleanup of Gen. Dynamics site is high priority BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - Preliminary tests on the soil around the exterior of the Fifth District Park in Avenel show compounds of polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], semi-volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals, including arsenic and lead, township officials said last week. Residents expressed shock when they heard about the chemicals that were found in the exterior of the park. Township officials along with their independent engineering consultants, Birdsall Engineering Inc., based in Eatontown, and state Department of Environmental Protection officials presented their preliminary findings of 10 sample tests to more than 150 Avenel residents who came to the Avenel Middle School for the second of many meetings to discuss the contamination on the former General Dynamics Corp. site, which is now owned by Joe and Tobey Cohen of Edison, and the surrounding areas on June 27. The General Dynamics Corp. site, 150 Avenel St., had been the leading supplier of defense systems to the U.S. military. Electro Dynamics Corp. of General Dynamics decided to close its Avenel plant of 357,811 square feet on 27.54 acres and relocate operation elsewhere in 2000. Township officials presented a map to the residents, which displayed spots where tests were done. Some of the chemicals that were found in the soil on the General Dynamics Corp. site were also found in the preliminary tests on the soil around the exterior of the park. "Even though many of the same chemicals were found in the park does not mean they were caused by General Dynamics," said Tim Kinsella, a consultant at Birdsall Engineering. Kinsella said when the final results come back, they would know what percentages of the compounds were found on the exterior of the park. On June 11, township officials decided to temporarily close the park, which is located in the college town section of Avenel and is adjacent to the General Dynamics Corp. site. Township officials have removed the playground equipment from the park. Township officials are still waiting for results of additional soil tests that were done to the interior of the park. The indefinite closure of the 1.9-acre park, which is owned by the township, was ordered after preliminary environmental test results indicated the potential levels of base-neutral compounds and other contaminants in soil samples taken from the perimeter of the park warranted closure. Mayor John E. McCormac said the township's first priority is to clean up the site. "Our main concern is public safety," he said. "We need to clean the site up as quickly as possible and make it an unrestricted use." The last known tests that were done on the General Dynamics site were in 1993, when township officials said the corporation was discussing a possible land swap. Residents said they received a letter in 1993 informing them that contaminants were found on the site. Residents questioned why it has taken from 1993 to 2007 to do something about the site. "I have been sick since 2000," said Gerard Robson, who has lived in Avenel since 1990. "I had been put on life support and sent down to Johns Hopkins, and now I find out that this could have possibly been prevented. How could the township and state DEP allow this to occur for 14 years?" Wayne Howitz, state DEP assistant director, said even though tests were done in 1993, the state DEP did not receive the test results until 2001. "The original tests on the park came back below the state DEP's standard for cleanup," said Howitz. "There was no reason to clean the site; it was not an area of concern at that time." Residents expressed concern about contamination in the neighborhood; however, McCormac said there was no evidence that the township needed to test further into the neighborhood. "We will test the yards adjacent to the park," he said. The residents' overall concern was health. McCormac said he would hold another meeting with the township's health director to answer concerns on health. Carol Hruschka, who lives on Lehigh Avenue, expressed concerns about the contamination at the first Avenel meeting on May 17. She presented township officials with 14 names of residents in the college section of the township between the ages of 15 and 60, who have died or have been diagnosed with cancer. Richard Combs, who moved to Avenel in 1957 and lives a half-mile from the General Dynamics site, said he went on an interview at General Dynamics in October 1975. "It wasn't too clean," he said. "They made me walk down to the end of the building and cut steel." Prior to General Dynamics, the site was home to the Security Steel Corp. In 2004, General Dynamics was one of 10 companies to have had natural resource damage suits filed against them by the state DEP. According to the complaint, the corporation has conducted cleanup on the site in the form of a "pump and treat system, which was in use beginning in 1995. General Dynamics has proposed natural attenuation to remedy the sediment and groundwater at the site. The contamination continues." The suit charges General Dynamics on three counts: violation of the Spill Act, creating a public nuisance and trespass. The suit claims that beginning in 1963, the Electro Dynamics Division of General Corp. acquired the property and began manufacturing and assembling components for military and industrial equipment. As a result, the suit alleges, hazardous substances, including volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene and total xylenes, which are the suspected causes of some health problems, contaminated the site. Howitz said he did not know the status of the lawsuit but said he would inquire about the status. McCormac said the township would provide residents with the final test results and anything the township receives on the contamination. Township officials said in the coming weeks they would have the Township Council introduce a resolution declaring the 27-acre property in Avenel a redevelopment area.