No PCBs found on properties near Ford
More tests planned before redevelopment begins
BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

Areas immediately surrounding the former Ford plant tested for potential contaminants have received a clean bill of health from the state.

The state Department of Environmental Protection announced last week that tests for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at 19 residential properties in Edison next to the former Route 1 auto assembly plant and Thomas H. Paterniti Park on Vineyard Road yielded non-detectable results.

"No PCBs were detected," said DEP spokeswoman Karen Hershey. "We are pleased with the progress of the cleanup and with the work that all the government agencies are doing, including state, local and county entities. It's been a cooperative effort."

No additional offsite residential testing by the DEP for PCBs was planned at this time, she said.

Many residents spoke directly to Ford and DEP representatives in March at a special meeting at the Pines Manor. They were concerned about how shipments of crushed concrete tainted with PCBs and other contaminants had been able to leave the plant, bound for other construction projects in Middlesex, Mercer and Ocean counties. Some were worried that their properties had also been contaminated with the potentially cancer-causing substances.

Al Bennett's Peach Court property was one of the 19 tested following the March 16 information session. While he said he was happy to hear test results came back negative, he still wanted to know what the plan was to remove what was left on site.

"They're still over there with the plastic cover over certain dirt piles they haven't processed yet," he said. "Until they process all that, then do another soil sample, that's when I'm going to be happy."

Bennett paused as he counted dirt piles easily seen from his kitchen window. "There's one, there's two ... there's about six or seven piles covered in plastic they haven't processed yet," he said. "I'd like to know what the plan is and when that is. I haven't heard about when they plan on processing the last amounts of dirt there."

Bennett noted several wind gauges, which he said Ford representatives had told him had been "strategically placed" to make sure possible contaminants did not enter residential properties.

"They told me if they start processing and that tells them there's some contaminants blowing that way, they'd stop," he said.

An estimated 93,000 tons of possibly contaminated materials remain on the site, which still need to be removed, said David Wheeler, director of operations for the Edison Wetlands Association.

"We will be having our environmental consultant expert review all the tests and results," he said. "We're encouraged by the results, but there's still a long way to go."

Jon Holt, a Ford representative, said the company just received DEP approval last week on the disposal of the concrete piles. The removal is expected to resume this week, he said.

The remaining materials were slated to be used as landfill cover, rather than just being dumped, "because the material has such low levels of PCBs," Holt said.

"It can be used by the landfills, on the municipal waste," he said. "So this material will be used for that purpose."

Holt said dust control, a concern of many residents, would also be addressed through ramped-up cleaning efforts and increased air monitoring.

"As we move forward, there's a plan in there for dust control," he said. "We'll be cleaning the trucks before they leave so there will be nothing tracked on the roads. We want to remove the materials as quickly and as safely as possible."

Despite the negative results from the DEP tests, more tests were still expected to be conducted before redevelopment of the site begins, said Mayor Jun Choi. Secaucus-based developer Hartz Mountain purchased the site last year.

"We are interested in continuing with the testing process to insure, before we begin the redevelopment plans for the Ford site, that this site meets the highest environmental standards possible," Choi said. "We're very relieved none of the Ford contaminants, which were minimal, carried themselves over to residential areas."

Peach Court resident Vernet Dorsaint hopes the negative test results won't actually result in other negative consequences in the future.

"People said the air was clean at the Twin Towers [after 9/11]," he said. "Now, people are getting sick. Let's hope whatever they're saying here is true. I don't want us to end up being sick five, 10 years down the road."