Officials are investigating a report that lead material was found in the water and on the shore of the Raritan Bay in Keyport, not far from the Raritan Bay Slag Superfund site in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge.
The Environmental Protection Agency was made aware of the situation by Greg Remaud, NY/NJ Baykeeper CEO. EPA officials are in direct contact with him to learn more about the report and are investigating the matter, EPA spokesman Stephen McBay said.
Remaud said for months the NY/NJ Baykeeper has been keeping tabs on the site off Walnut Street in the northeastern corner of Keyport near the border with Union Beach.
"The site is adjacent to the Aeromarine site, which contains an improperly capped landfill that has spewed contaminants into the Chingarora Creek and Raritan Bay for decades," Remaud said, adding the site is owned by Bay Ridge Realty Corp. of Brooklyn.
During a visit in late June, Remaud said, he saw "thousands of chunks of material that looks just like the lead slag at the Superfund site in Laurence Harbor."
"It raised an alarm," he said.
Remaud said the lead was found on the beach and in the water, which is about three to four miles by water from the Superfund site in Laurence Harbor.
Remaud sent the material to EMSL Analytical Inc. for testing and received the results Tuesday evening.
"It confirmed our fear that there is lead on that beach and in the water," he said. "We frequently see people crabbing, fishing and wading nearby. Lead is a very hazardous neurotoxin. If ingested in very small amounts, children can have developmental problems in their brain and bodies and it's very harmful to women who are pregnant. It's about public safety first and foremost. We want to keep people away from it."
It still needs to be determined how far any contamination may extend, where it came from and what is going to be done to remedy the situation, Remaud said.
“The possibility that hazardous lead material may be breaking off from the Raritan Bay Slag Superfund site in Old Bridge and spreading all the way to Keyport is deeply concerning," U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said in a statement Wednesday. "The EPA must immediately determine if this contamination is originating from the Slag site. If confirmed, the agency needs to address this issue immediately to prevent further spread."
Pallone later said that he spoke with EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia, who said the EPA is expediting the investigation.
The EPA is prioritizing is determining whether the material originated from the Superfund site, he said.
Pallone said he has been working closely with the EPA on the site's remediation. A contract for the Seawall Sector cleanup is expected to be signed this year.
The Raritan Bay Slag site was placed on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List in 2009.
The site is adjacent to Old Bridge’s planned beachfront community center.
A portion of the Laurence Harbor beachfront has been closed for years because of lead contamination. The seawall and the jetty were constructed in the 1970s with slag, an industrial byproduct containing lead, manufactured at the Perth Amboy factory of National Lead, now NL Industries.
Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com
Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Most Popular
Comments / 0