BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
KEYPORT – Is there a giant leaking oil tanker under your house? A new committee aims to find out.
The Brownsfield Steering Committee, on hiatus since its inception over a year ago, is now becoming active again, with hopes of securing up to $5 million in available funding.
Mayor Robert Bergen recently chose resident Lynn Kosobucki to act as chairwoman of the 29-member citizens group. Originally formed last May under the guidance of Kenneth Kloo and Ian Curts of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the committee will oversee state-funded investigations to help interested residents learn if there is any environmental contamination on their property.
Kosobucki, a lawyer by trade, explained that residents who are not interested in the free service have nothing to worry about. The investigations are voluntary and will only involve properties that are both eligible and likely candidates.
By using criteria provided by the state DEP as a guide, a tentative list of eligible private properties has already been compiled, Kosobucki said. Published last year, the list includes 12 private properties that may have been exposed to contaminants. Kosobucki said the full list of criteria can be easily found on the DEP’s Web site in case residents are interested in researching the matter.
Keyport received the grant because there are “a lot of potentially contaminated properties,” in the borough, Kosobucki said.
“If a land was used as a gas station, it would be considered potentially contaminated,” Kosobucki said, naming an example of the type of criteria provided by the DEP.
“Also, farmland can have pesticide pollution that you don’t really know about,” she added,
There are many other “historical uses” that the DEP considers likely candidates for contamination, like former paint and chemical factories, even those where there is no definitive proof of a hazardous spill.
“Just the fact that it was a factory makes it possible to be contaminated,” Kosobucki said.
Marinas are also considered a historical use, she explained, because of the possibility of old gasoline leaks and/or gasoline pumps on site. The former Aeromarine Plane & Motor Co. site, consisting of 60 acres of largely underutilized land along the waterfront, was used for decades as a garbage dump by the borough. This property, owned by a private developer interested in building multifamily housing, is listed as a possible candidate for contamination.
Kosobucki said the investigations will be helpful for those who are interested in buying and/or selling a home. During the contract of sale of a house, she explained, it is sometimes agreed upon that the seller must pay for the cleanup of any underground contamination. But sometimes it is unknown if there are any contaminants. This service would make it possible to find out without having to pay for an investigation.
As a homeowner, “I’d rather know,” Kosobucki said. “And as a resident of Keyport, I’d rather know what contamination exists in the borough anyway.”