Ciba-Geigy Proposal Blasted On Lack Of Toms River Input, Transparency

TOMS RIVER, NJ — J. Mark Mutter, the former Toms River township clerk, says he found a resolution tucked away in a drawer in town hall, approving a pipeline from the Ciba-Geigy property out to the Atlantic Ocean.

The resolution dated back decades, Mutter said. But there were no notes with it, nothing to indicate discussion had been held, potential problems considered, facts weighed. Just a resolution, signed in secret. Mutter said he asked L. Manuel Hirshblond about the resolution and the apparent lack of records about how it came to be.

"You don't understand," Mutter quoted Hirshblond as saying. "Toms River Chemical ran the town."

Mutter shared that memory Wednesday night, the Toms River township historian giving an accounting of how the Ciba-Geigy site became a Superfund site, so contaminated from thousands of 55-gallon drums of chemical waste that the cleanup is expected to take another 30 years as a bare minimum.

But Mutter's words served to underscore the bigger issue, one reiterated throughout three hours of comments at a forum at Toms River High School North: that a lack of transparency that led to the contamination continues to victimize the Toms River community nearly 40 years after the contamination first came to light.

The forum was organized by Save Barnegat Bay to collect public comments on a proposed Natural Resources Damage settlement announced at the beginning of December by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The proposed settlement with BASF, the current owner of the property, would preserve 1,000 acres as open space, with recreational facilities and a nature center to be built on the grounds. Another 250 acres would remain under BASF control for potential development.

DEP Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty and two other DEP staff members were in attendance and listened to the entire three hours of commentary.

The DEP announcement on Dec. 5 caught Toms River officials by surprise, because they were not included in the discussions. It also has sparked anger in the community for multiple reasons, starting with the timing of the announcement, and encompassing DEP's handling of the comment opportunity.

Among the specific complaints:

• That DEP released the proposed settlement during the busy holiday season, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when most people would be too busy to provide comment;
• That DEP initially limited the public comment period to 30 days, instead of its usual 60 days;
• That DEP has not published an update in the New Jersey Register (the legal record of plans for regulatory action by the state government) after it said it would extend comment to Feb. 3;
• That DEP has refused to release the damage assessment that forms the basis for the settlement with BASF;
• That DEP is considering the proposed settlement before the 5-year update from the EPA on the conditions of the cleanup at the Superfund site.

Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill said the township has a number of objections to the settlement, starting with the fact that township officials were not included in the discussions.

Hill said the proposed settlement will simply enrich BASF further at the expense of Toms River.

BASF, which purchased the property fully aware that it was a Superfund site, fought for and won a property tax appeal that cost Toms River $17.3 million, based on the company's argument that the property was worthless, Hill said.

In addition, the solar field that BASF hosts on 120 acres pays the company about $500,000 per year for the lease agreement, Hill said. Toms River inquired about receiving some of the power produced by the field but Hill said the town was told all of the power was sold.

Conservatively, it is worth about $20 million to BASF, Hill said.

If the remaining 250 acres is developed, BASF will benefit financially from the development while Toms River bears the burden of what development could bring with it.

He reiterated what he said in comments on the proposal right after DEP released it, saying the additional 250 acres should be deeded to Toms River for preservation as open space along with the 1,000 acres that are to be set aside, and that BASF should set up a compensation fund for Toms River families, who continue to suffer the aftereffects from the contamination at the site.

"It's a case of David vs. Goliath," Hill said. "It's time for DEP to side with David."

For many of the speakers, the impact of the Ciba-Geigy contamination has been a battle they have been fighting for much of their lives.

Some, such as Peter Hibbard, president of Ocean County Citizens for Clean Water, spoke of the memories of growing up with the chemical waste; the site first started hosting chemical production in 1952.

Hibbard said one of the problems with the proposed settlement is a problem with the site in general: there are areas of the site that were never checked for contamination, areas where if they are disturbed for construction, could release more contaminants.

"Think Love Canal," he said, referring to a famous toxic chemical site that led to dozens of cases of cancer after homes were built over the contamination.

"How did we get this far?" asked Christine Girtain, the New Jersey Teacher of the Year who leads the authentic science program at Toms River North. She said the history of the site needs to be at the forefront because the younger generations are not aware of what happened.

"The students need to know the history of the site, they need to know the names of who died," she said. The site could become a boon to science education, providing a look at the whole process of remediation, she said.

Girtain urged the DEP officials to listen closely to what residents say.

"We are all here because we want to have a voice," she said.

Several people who spoke relayed memories of growing up in the midst of the contamination and having no idea it was there, but suffering the aftereffects in the form of illnesses and family members' deaths.

Wayne Dinsmore, a veteran who was stationed at U.S. Navy Lakehurst decades before the joint base was created, settled in Toms River when his service was over, and lived near the site. His wife got pregnant, but when their child was born he did not survive, dying within hours of being born because his lungs weren't developed. His wife died of cancer 11 years later, he said.

"Everyone had well water," he said.

Two women spoke of seeing the barrels on the property through the fence at West Dover Elementary School, and of losing multiple family members to cancer. Another spoke of her uncle, who worked for Ciba-Geigy and who died of kidney cancer and lung cancer. When she was a child, they could tell what color the dye was by the color of his sweat, she said.

Another man spoke of learning to avoid the plume coming out of the pipeline off Ortley Beach, because when they surfed in its path, they got sick.

Still others warned about BASF's pursuit of its goals with no regard for the community. One man said BASF pushed for the Allamuchy State Park to be included in an area to allow the company to build its headquarters there, tearing up pristine forest.

A decade later they abandoned the site, the man said. "Now Mount Olive is looking to bulldoze it."

Beatriz Marquez, who lived in Budd Lake when BASF built its headquarters but who recently moved to Toms River, said the town will be left to deal with the consequences if the proposed settlement is allowed to proceed.

"There, it was about taxes," she said. "Here it's illness and death."

Katie Marra, a Toms River North senior and a student in Girtain's class, said she had no idea about the Superfund site history, and neither do the majority of students.

"We can't let this be forgotten. We can't let it happen again," she said.

"This is an environmental crime scene," one man said, "because this company has not been held accountable. It's time to hold them accountable."

Note: This article has been updated to correct the name of the school that borders the Ciba property to West Dover Elementary School. Patch regrets the error.

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