Members and supporters of the Edison Wetlands Association, a local environmental group, held a public demonstration in front of the Basell USA chemical plant on Meadow Road to protest the seepage of toxic chemicals into the nearby Raritan River.
Bob Spiegel, of the Edison Wetlands Association, addresses the crowd at a protest in front of the Basell USA chemical plant on Nov. 12. The Nov. 12 rally, which drew about 20 people, was the first in a series that EWA Executive Director Robert Spiegel said would take place every two weeks until the river’s banks are cleaned up and the chemical seepage is stopped.
“We wanted to make sure we have a more public presence here, so that the companies know that we are going to be out here every two weeks until they clean this up, because this is a disaster, this is an environmental disaster area out here, and for them to leave it one day is, in my opinion, borders on criminal,” said Spiegel.
The site in question has become the subject of a federal lawsuit between the EWA and the plant’s current and former owners, Basell USA and Akzo Nobel, respectively. The environmental group contends that toxic chemicals from the plant, situated near the Raritan River, have been improperly contained and are con- taminating the ground and water, resulting in widespread damage to plant and animal life as well as creating a public health hazard.
According to analyses done by the firm Chapin Engineering, retained by the EWA to conduct the sampling, the groundwater and soil contain benzene, classified as a carcinogen by the federal government; 4-chloroaniline, which the state Department of Health and Senior Services says can cause skin blistering and is also classified as a carcinogen; arsenic, another carcinogen, capable of causing nausea and vomiting; and lead, known to be hazardous to the central nervous system. A variety of other unsafe chemicals were also reportedly discovered through testing.
At an attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction before U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg, which was ultimately denied, representatives of the defendants said that the extent of the environmental damage had been overstated and that, furthermore, the firms involved are already in the process of working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in cleanup efforts, and so the defendants questioned why legal action was needed.
EWA attorney Judith Weinstock said that both sides in the lawsuit are preparing for another hearing in December to go over the technical details of the case, such as the results of soil and water samplings and the veracity of reports issued by the plaintiffs and the defendants.
After that, another hearing will be scheduled to go over the issues behind the suit itself.
After demonstrating for about half an hour, Spiegel took a small group of people down to the riverbank in question, but not before instructing them to suit up in appropriate protective gear. This included a white disposal bodysuit, thick boots and rubber gloves.
“Don’t. Touch. Anything,” Spiegel emphasized as he led the group down to the Raritan River.
The thick, sticky mud grabbed onto boots as the group walked the banks of the river at low tide. Beginning the trek from the boat basin entrance, it took about two minutes of walking before a faint chemical odor could be detected in the air. It weakened or intensified depending on which way the wind was blowing.
Spiegel, accompanied by engineer Richard Chapin, began digging into the soil to take some samples. What was in their shovels was a thick, black blob that Spiegel believes was tar mixed with oil and other substances, congealing the silt into something else. Where they dug, liquid with a thin sheen began rushing in to fill the hole. The smell, faint before, intensified greatly as this happened.
An observer compared the smell to a mixture of burning hair and gasoline.
“This is an area they said is clean,” said Spiegel.
Chapin said that to properly clean up the site, the soil and the chemicals that he said were in there would need to be removed entirely and replaced with clean material. To stop the seepage, he said, the company would have to change its disposal methods, which he said currently consists of a series of deep wells on the site itself.
Weinstock said the technical hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17 in Newark.
Contact Chris Gaetano at sentnorth@gmnews.
com.