Toms River Fined $338K Over Asbestos Handling At Clifton Park Site

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Township is facing $338,000 in fines levied by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration over its handling of asbestos at the Clifton Avenue site.

OSHA issued 17 violations against the township's Department of Public Works in connection with an inspection by the New Jersey Department of Health in connection with an inspection dated Oct. 27, according to the federal agency's online database.

The potential fines add to the costs of remediation work at the site that already has cost the township more than $200,000, according to bills paid at the Township Council meetings.

OSHA violations

The violations include six labeled "willful," 10 labeled "serious" and one labeled "other." The willful and serious violations all reference various asbestos handling regulations, according to the notices.

Willful violations are defined as those where the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement or acted with plain indifference to employee safety, and serious violation are defined as ones where the workplace hazard carries a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm, and the employer knew — or should have known — of the danger, according to OSHA.

It is not clear how long it will take for Toms River's contesting of the violations to be decided. A fact sheet on the OSHA website says the agency will work with an employer on a good-faith reduction of fines on serious violations but says "No good faith adjustment will be made for alleged willful violations."

The revelation of the OSHA violations comes as work has begun on removing a large mound of asbestos-contaminated soil at the site.

An excavator was loading soil into the plastic-lined beds of two dump trucks at the property on Monday morning, at least the third day that soil removal was being performed at the site by AWT Environmental Services.

Workers were dressed in protective gear and sprinklers were spraying the mound of dirt as the excavator loaded bucketfuls into the trucks.

Once the trucks were filled, plastic hanging over the sides of the trucks was moved over the top to cover the dirt for transport to a facility licensed to accept asbestos-contaminated soil.

It was not immediately known where the soil was being trucked.

The excavator was on site Thursday evening when a Patch reporter stopped by the site to check on the status of the project, so soil removal has been underway for at least three days.

Asbestos contamination denied

Toms River officials have repeatedly denied the existence of asbestos at the 4.3-acre property at the corner of Clifton Avenue and Batchelor Street, going so far to publish stories quoting Councilman Craig Coleman disparaging reports about asbestos at the site. It also quoted Councilman Harry Aber and Councilwoman Lynn O'Toole as saying there is no sign of asbestos contamination.

That is in spite of the Asbestos Abatement Work Plan produced by Pennoni Associates, the company hired by Toms River to handle the remediation at the site, which was shut down on Oct. 22 by the state Department of Health and Department of Labor. The report (read it here) states that friable and non-friable asbestos-containing material was "scattered throughout the site within the soil."

It's not clear if Aber or O'Toole have read the Pennoni report. Coleman was shown the report on a computer after the July 8 council meeting but declined to take a look at it.

Toms River closed on the $1.95 million purchase of the property in December 2023, with the intent of it becoming a township park.

Mayor Daniel Rodrick had announced plans for the park, including a state-of-the-art playground, days before Toms River employees began demolition of the homes at 554 Clifton Ave. and 525 Batchelor St. on Oct. 14.

The Clifton Avenue home was built in 1910 and had asbestos shingles on it, according to the property's Zillow description, and videos shared with Patch (a second video is here) showed clouds of debris as the home was being demolished. That led to phone calls from residents to state and local authorities raising concerns about asbestos.

State agencies halted the work, with warnings about asbestos at the site were posted days later and the site was fenced off to keep people off the property. It has remained fenced off since then.

Toms River officials have not released estimates on the costs of remediation at the site.

Remediation costs

Township engineer John Mele in February said the township was estimating it would be less than $100,000, however bills approved by the Township Council between November and July 8 show the township has spent more than that already.

Pennoni Associates has been paid $42,769.36 so far, including $21,769.36 approved at the July 8 council meeting.

They were paid $10,174.80 in May, and $7325.20 in January, along with $3,500 for "awareness training" in March.

Guardian Contracting, which has been assisting at the site since the October shutdown, has been paid $56,734 so far, including $22,639 in March and $33,735 in June for "554 Clifton emergency work" according to the bill lists.

Toms River paid National Construction Rentals $4131.72 for a renewal of the fencing at the Clifton Avenue site in June. There were no listings of previous payments to the company in bill lists from Nov. 1 through July 8.

The biggest cost so far has been to AWT Environmental Services. The company bid $94,300 for the base cost of the project, with an estimate of 200 tons of soil to be removed.

So far, AWT Environmental Services has been paid $100,000 in two bills that were in the July 8 bill list. One was for $87,550 defined as "Clifton Batchelor remediation," and a separate bill dated April 15 for $12,450 for the removal of an oil tank on the property.

Those bills predate the trucking of the soil off the site. It's unclear how many tons of soil are in the mound that is being removed.

Previous reporting:

• 200 Tons Of Soil, Plus Asbestos-Contaminated Debris At Toms River Park Site Being Removed
• Work Halted Over Asbestos Concerns At Toms River's Planned Park Site
• Asbestos Warnings Posted, Tarps In Place At Park Site In Toms River
• Soil Removal Planned At Toms River Park Site; No Asbestos Found, Engineer Says
• Toms River Planning $1.95M Land Purchase Of Clifton Avenue