Speak Out On Ciba-Geigy Proposal At Meeting, Toms River Council Urges

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Save Barnegat Bay is hosting a "Community Speak Out" on the proposed Ciba-Geigy settlement, and the Toms River Township Council is urging township residents to attend and be heard on the matter.

To facilitate that attendance, the township council has moved up the start time of its Jan. 25 meeting, to 4 p.m., Council President Matthew Lotano announced.

The Community Speak Out sponsored by Save Barnegat Bay is set for 6 p.m. on Jan. 25 in the auditorium at Toms River High School North on Old Freehold Road.

The state Department of Environmental Protection announced a settlement with BASF, the current owner of the Ciba-Geigy Superfund site, on Dec. 5. The Natural Resources Damages settlement would preserve 1,000 acres of the about 1,250-acre site for open space and leave the remaining 250 acres available for development.

Toms River officials and civic leaders were excluded from the negotiations, Toms River Mayor Maurice "Mo" Hill has said. Hill spoke out against the settlement days after the NJDEP announced it was seeking public comment on the proposal.

Hill and township officials have said the proposed settlement fails to compensate the victims of the cancer cluster caused by the pollution generated at the site, and does not adequately compensate the community for the environmental and economic damage caused over many decades.

Save Barnegat Bay will be recording the event and will be submitting the video and a transcript of the event to NJDEP as part of its comment on the settlement.

Read more about the NJDEP's proposed settlement:

• Ciba-Geigy Site Settlement Would Preserve 1,000 Acres As Open Space
• Ciba-Geigy Settlement Can't Overlook Cancer Cluster: Toms River Mayor
• Have Ciba-Geigy Plan Comments? You Can Email Them

Read more about the Ciba-Geigy site's history:

• Reflections On 'Chemical Town'
• Book Explores Toms River's Toxic History With Industrial Pollution
• Ciba-Geigy Corp. Proposes Multimillion-Dollar Settlement