Paving material dangers must be corrected
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY Township officials closed the McKnight Baseball Complex on Reading Boulevard after concerns were raised at the Sept. 21 Township Committee meeting about potentially hazardous millings or chunks of recycled asphalt that were laid unsealed on driving surfaces at the complex’s parking lots.
Township officials said they took the action as a precaution, noting that the millings do not pose a severe health risk. Officials said a sealant will be laid over the millings to alleviate the problem by this weekend.
In a letter posted on the township’s Web site, Mayor Louise Wilson said, "Throughout the day on (Sept. 22), township staff and officials looked into the matter carefully. We consulted the law, environmental protection regulations and guidance documents. We discussed the situation at some length with legal counsel, our health officer, township administrator and public works superintendent."
The mayor added that after gathering information, "Township officials decided to close the McKnight Baseball Complex until a sealant can be applied over the asphalt and millings in the parking lot. We will make every effort to get the sealant applied within one week."
Mayor Wilson said the millings do "not represent a public health emergency. For the sake of comparison … (the health officer) compared the possible exposure to harmful particulates as being similar to playing baseball next to truck traffic on Route 206."
According to a notice on the township Web site, the state prohibits the use of certain-sized unsealed recycled asphalt millings, which contain substances known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and fine particulates, on driving surfaces. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists these substances as targeted pollutants. For that reason, the state Department of Environmental Protection does not permit the use of loose asphalt millings on driving surfaces.
Long-term exposure, the notice said, may increase the lifetime risk of cancer or breathing ailments.
Township Administrator Donato Nieman said state regulations require that millings of a certain size be sealed. It is questionable, Mr. Nieman said, whether the millings at the complex are of the size that need to be sealed, but because concerns were raised, the township is going to do the sealing.
"We’re being overly cautious and conservative because the regulations say if it’s above a certain size we don’t have to do it," Mr. Nieman said, "but we’re going to do it because it’s the right thing to do. We spent (Sept. 22) looking into it. Our goal is to get it done by the weekend, weather permitting."
The millings were brought in previously to cover the baseball complex’s parking lots. Several years ago, Mr. Nieman said, there was a problem with dust in the parking lots of the fields. Township baseball officials asked the township staff to look into solving the problem.
"It is a common practice all over New Jersey to use millings," Mr. Nieman said. "The millings were put down and they were not sealed. Now they are going to be sealed."
As a result of the issue, a few baseball games that were scheduled for last Sunday had to be canceled, though they are going to be rescheduled.
Keith Gillespie, president of Montgomery Baseball, said of the issue, "I think it’s great the committee reacted so quickly. They heard about it (Sept. 21) and they contacted me on (Sept. 22). That’s government working fast."

