Watchdog group preparing suit over river contamination Edison Wetlands Assoc. says charges to be leveled within next two months BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer The Edison Wetlands Association (EWA), frustrated by what they say is a lack of real action to clean up carcinogens in the Raritan River, plans to file suit against chemical companies Basell Polyolefins and Akzo Chemical, based in Holland, in the next one to two months. According to Robert Spiegel, executive director of the EWA, the environmental watchdog organization has been making all the necessary preparations for a lawsuit and plans to file within the next 30 to 60 days. The group claims that it discovered toxic chemicals and cancer-causing agents in the Raritan River in April of this year, which the EWA alleges are linked to Basell and Akzo. According to Spiegel, since the chemicals were discovered, the firms have not done anything to ameliorate conditions in the river. "We have asbestos [and] chemical discharges into the river, into the Edison boat basin. Statutorily we have to give them 90 days before we can file our lawsuit. The 90 days have passed, and we are now preparing our lawsuit and looking to go to court," said Spiegel. The suit specifically demands that Basell and Akzo stop discharging chemicals into the river, to dig up and remove the toxic sludge that has been found, and to seal the garbage. In April, testing by the EWA on an oily material found at the site allegedly revealed the presence of benzene and 4- chloroaniline, cancer-causing agents, in the water of the Raritan River near the Edison Boat Basin, where residents have been known to fish and boat. The EWA alleges that the substance tested also includes high levels of metals, cyanides and petroleum hydrocarbons in quantities higher than those allowed by law. Spiegel also alleges that the waste contained asbestos. According to the EWA's preliminary report, Spiegel said, the levels of benzene found in the river near the facility and the boat basin were 69 parts per billion, compared with the allotted amount of .15 parts per billion for surface water. In the case of the chloroaniline, EWA found 58 parts per billion for a chemical that does not have any surface water standard. According to the state Department of Health and Senior Service, exposure to chloroaniline can severely irritate the skin and eyes, causing blisters. High levels of exposure can cause headaches, fatigue, dizziness and a blue color to the skin and lips. Very high levels can cause breathlessness, collapse and death. Since then, according to Spiegel, there has been little movement on the parts of Akzo, which originally owned the site, or Basell, its current owners. He also faulted the state Department of Environmental Protection for its own lack of activity in getting the firms to act, and also for signing off on what Spiegel believes was an incomplete cleanup on the site some years ago. "The DEP has failed so miserably at this site, and the owners of this site have not done anything, so we're left with no alternative but to move forward and go to court. So, within the next 30 to 60 days, we will be ready to file in court," said Spiegel. Mark Mendleson, a spokesman for Basell, said that he had not been made aware of the EWA's plans to pursue litigation and concluded that he would need time to pursue the relevant information before coming forward with a statement.