Firm confident former General Dynamics site safe Toxins found near three property lines, but said to be no threat to residents BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer After preliminary testing, only the borders of three residential property lines - two on Lehigh Avenue and one on Dartmouth Avenue - have been found to contain lead, arsenic, and base neutral compounds in the Avenel section of the township. "We have a great deal of confidence, and there is no real concern that these [metals] will migrate into these properties," said Jeffrey Kozic, geo-environmental project manager for Birdsall Engineering Inc., based in Eatontown, whose company was hired as an independent environmental engineering company for the township. "There has been very little or no contamination [that has been found] to have made its way to residences," Kozic said. Kozic said he expects to receive the final results for the two Lehigh residences in the next couple of weeks, and the results for the Dartmouth residence at a later date since the preliminary results were only sent out to the state last week. More than 200 Avenel residents came to the third public hearing, held at the Avenel Middle School on Nov. 28, focusing on health concerns stemming from the contamination on the former General Dynamics Corp. site, which is now owned by Joe and Tobey Cohen of Edison. Mayor John E. McCormac and Ward 3 Councilman Greg Bedard, who lives in the college section, were joined by other members of the township, members of Birdsall Engineering Inc., officials from the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), and officials from the Federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to present the preliminary findings to the residents. 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 in 2000 and relocate operation elsewhere. Prior to General Dynamics, the site was home to the Security Steel Corp. McCormac said the township's first priority is to "clean up the site to the highest possibility." On June 11, township officials made the decision to temporarily close the 1.9-acre Fifth District Park, which is owned by the township and abuts the General Dynamics property, as a precautionary measure after preliminary tests on the soil around the exterior of the park showed compounds of polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], semi-volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals, including arsenic and lead. The park is still closed. The majority of the border of the residential property lines that abut the park have been tested and found to contain chlordane, which officials said should not be of any concern. "Usually chlordane is found with pesticides; once one knows that they have chlordane on their property, they must clean it, which we will be doing," said McCormac. According to the ATSDR Web site, chlordane was a manufactured chemical that was used as a pesticide in the United States from 1948 to 1988. Because of concern about damage to the environment and harm to human health, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned all uses of chlordane in 1983 except to control termites. In 1988, the EPA banned all uses. Township officials have reached out to state and federal agencies with the question, Does lead found in soil (of the Fifth District Park) pose a risk to the public health? Somia Aluwalia of DHSS told the crowd that they are surveying the residents to see if they had ever been exposed to the toxins by accidentally swallowing soil. "If exposed, what illness may the resident have, how long has the resident lived in the area, and how many times has the resident frequented the park?" said Aluwalia. "Then we will evaluate the findings." Carol Hrushka, who lives on Lehigh Avenue, expressed concerns about the contamination from the General Dynamics property, during 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. Township officials have said that without proof, they couldn't say that the contamination from the General Dynamics site led to any of the residents' illnesses. Residents were worried about the groundwater contamination, but Kozic assured them that there was little to be concerned about in terms of groundwater contamination, since the water was 10 to 12 feet underground. Kozic added that even though the groundwater contamination would be on the General Dynamics site until it is re-mediated, the contaminated groundwater would not affect the drinking water. Residents were informed that the process of 15 to 20 trucks picking up the soil on the General Dynamics property and trucks bringing "clean" soil onto the property would take a 10-day period. "The process will be less intrusive as possible," said McCormac. "The owners of General Dynamics have been good neighbors." A resident asked township officials what would be done to prevent contamination to the park from happening again when the park is reopened and the General Dynamics site is still being excavated and remediated? Kozic assured the residents that protective measures would be put in place when excavation is done on the General Dynamics site, and the measures would prevent runoff into the park. "Also, there is slim chance of re-contamination, because 99 percent of the General Dynamics site is paved," he said. In 2004, General Dynamics was one of 10 companies that had natural resource damage lawsuits filed against them by the state Department of Environmental Protection. 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 lawsuit 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. Kozic said he was aware of the lawsuit but did not know the status. McCormac said the township Planning Board would hold a hearing Dec. 12 at town hall to decide if the 27.54-acre property in Avenel should be a redevelopment area. Updates will be provided to Avenel residents on the Woodbridge Township Web site at www.twp.woodbridge.nj.us.