Twp. puts Revlon redevelopment on hold
New info about pollution and land sales delays redevelopment plans
BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer
Redevelopment plans for the 62-acre property on Route 27 and Talmadge Road in Edison known as the Revlon site have hit a snag as revelations about the extent of the site's industrial contamination have come to light.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN The owners of the Revlon tract are reportedly in the process of selling their land, causing Edison Township to delay its redevelopment plans.

The property, owned by development firm Starwood-Heller LLC, had already been the subject of a contentious set of hearings in which the owners fought the redevelopment designation every step of the way. The owners had testified that they had their own plans for the property and didn't appreciate the township's intimations that the land was being underutilized.

While the firm's experts had testified that the environmental cleanup was being performed to the satisfaction of state environmental regulators, township officials have said that the contamination is worse than previously expected.

"The environmental conditions [at the Revlon site] were much worse than anyone anticipated," said Edison Mayor Jun Choi during an Aug. 20 interview with Greater Media Newspapers.

Above: A Conrail worker unlocks the gate for entry into the tract. Right: Recent reports have revealed that the contamination at the Revlon property is worse than previously anticipated. The owners, in cooperation with state regulators, are in the process of cleaning up the site's pollution.

Compounding this discovery, the mayor said, is the fact that the current landowners may end up selling the property. When these two factors are taken together, the best thing for the township to do is pull back to a wait-and-see mode before going ahead with redevelopment plans, Choi said.

"We [will] wait until a new landowner is ready to begin discussions," the mayor said.

He noted, though, that given how ambiguous the future appears to be, it is not known just how long this will delay redevelopment plans.

The mayor emphasized that regardless of what happens with the contamination or the new owners, there will be a full public vetting of any redevelopment plans for the site. KarenHershey, a spokesperson with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said there is an ongoing cleanup process taking place at the Revlon site aimed at removing volatile organic compounds — chemical substances containing hydrocarbons that evaporate readily into the atmosphere from the groundwater and soil. This cleanup, she said, is being done with the cooperation and supervision of the DEP.

During Starwood-Heller's testimony before the Planning Board on June 18, the firm's environmental consultant said there had once been significant soil contamination on the site, but that as of the date of his testimony, these issues had been satisfied to DEP regulations.

The consultant said the state regulatory body had sent the firm letters of no further action stating that the work had been done to satisfaction.

Hershey said the firm is exploring new methods for expediting the cleanup. One method is to use chemical oxidation, a relatively new technique that pumps chemicals called oxidants into the ground to bond with harmful pollutants and render them harmless.

Hershey said the DEP will make a decision soon on whether or not to allow the use of this method.

Hershey stressed that the soil and groundwater contamination is isolated to the site itself and that there is no danger of the contamination running off the property and posing a threat to surrounding areas.

The site currently houses a trio of office buildings and a warehouse. While Starwood Heller has plans to eventually demolish these buildings, people continue to work in one of the office buildings.

Hershey said that some indoor air sampling in the buildings is being conducted by Starwood-Heller to determine if there is any vapor intrusion — the process by which chemicals in soil or groundwater migrate to indoor air above a contaminated site — taking place.

In a letter sent from the DEP to Starwood Heller dated Sept. 19, 2007, it was stated that indoor air sampling revealed levels of the pollutants tetrachloroethene and methylene chloride beyond accepted levels.

In addition, elevated levels of the chemicals acetone and isopropanol were found in the monitoring wells.

Information about the contamination could become a factor in whatever future redevelopment plans come about.

During the June 18 meeting, ongoing issues with contamination were seen as proof by the township's redevelopment attorney that the Revlon tract is a site in need of redevelopment, while Starwood-Heller's testimony that the cleanup was progressing well and that the soil remediation had already been completed was offered as proof that the site was not in need of redevelopment.

Calls to the offices of Starwood-Heller were not returned as of press time.