One day after NJ.com released data that reveals high levels of potentially dangerous heavy metals outside of houses and in public parks near a shuttered dump in Keyport, the area's congressman is calling for action.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., 6th Dist., sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, calling for additional testing in residential areas near the embattled Aeromarine property.
"Recently, external researchers released new results that indicate potential contamination of soil beyond the landfill," Pallone said in the letter to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and Mike Martucci, the agency's regional administrator.
"Now is the time for federal assistance to complete further testing in residential areas to determine the validity of preliminary tests and the safety of the communities in the area of concern," Pallone said.
The EPA acknowledged an email from NJ.com, but it did not immediately offer any comment.
The NJ.com testing was performed by a New York University Medical Center research team led by Judith T. Zelikoff, PhD, a professor of toxicology and environmental health in the environmental medicine division.
It found heavy metals such as arsenic, cobalt and lead in elevated levels in front and back yards, and also near playgrounds and a baseball field.
The research also pointed to a potential "hot spot" where the highest heavy metal concentrations were detected. The six-to-seven block area right outside the gates of Aeromarine overlaps with a high number of cancer cases reported by residents to NJ.com. Nearly 450 cancer cases in Keyport and Union Beach have been reported to the news organization to date.
Many of the metals detected by the NYU team were at higher levels than what the state Department of Environmental Protection deems safe, and they were also at times elevated above state benchmarks for remediation or cleanup.
"When you find contaminants in the soil at high levels, it can lead to dermal exposure, kids playing outside, kicking it up, and inhaling it and by young children with hand-to-mouth behaviors, leading to exposure by ingestion," Zelikoff said. "Once it's in the soil, it can even come into a home on your dog's paws."
"These concentrations around people's homes are potentially very dangerous."
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More study is needed to determine what contaminants may be outside the landfill near homes and how the chemicals may have gotten there. And, more research is needed to determine whether toxins in the area are related to the cancer cases that are troubling residents, researchers said.
In response to Pallone's announcement, the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement that it shares the congressman's desire for answers. It said it was "has been working expeditiously to conduct testing responsive to these concerns."
"The DEP has a longstanding and productive partnership with the EPA in protecting the health of New Jersey's residents and has been working closely with the EPA, Congressman Pallone and Governor Sherrill's Office throughout this investigation," spokesman Lawrence Hajna said. "We look forward to exploring any resources and expertise that the EPA may provide as we work toward the common goal of providing peace of mind to the residents of Keyport."
The governor's office referred questions to DEP.
Pallone first called for "urgent" action after NJ.com published the first report on the troubled landfill and the cancer cases nearby.
"The reports coming from Keyport continue to be concerning enough for my constituents to repeatedly and urgently share their concerns with me. We need more data to provide the Keyport residents I represent the peace of mind they deserve, and that is why the Environmental Protection Agency must conduct additional testing in the residential areas," Pallone said.
Those who have been asking for more testing at homes say they were grateful for Pallone's request.
Sal Liguori, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia and whose son died four years ago of cancer, has called for more research repeatedly, most recently at a July 31 meeting of more than 150 residents his home, right outside the Aeromarine property. Pallone attended and spoke at the meeting.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let's keep together, no finger pointing. Just get the job done together, we beg of you and everybody else around," Liguori said.
Rusty Morris, whose observations about the large number of cancer cases near his parents' home kicked off NJ.com's investigation, is also eager for more testing.
"From the beginning, all we wanted was the truth. To finally know what was going on in the landfill and the surrounding areas," Morris said. "Now with this we are one step closer to the answers the town has been looking to get for over 40 years."
But other residents asked why it's taken so long to get attention on the area.
"Pallone has been in office almost as long as this situation has been going on," said Union Beach resident Alex Craft, who worked on the campaign of a Pallone primary challenger earlier this year.
Craft's criticism of Pallone, who served in the Long Branch City Council and in the state Senate before he was elected to the House in 1988, has been echoed by other residents in recent months because of how long the Aeromarine landfill has been a quiet problem.
It was shut down in 1979 but was never properly capped or cleaned up. DEP cited the landfill for violations over the decades, but its first meaningful fine wasn't issued until 2021. The owner of the site, Bay Ridge Realty, is now fighting more than $1.2 million in DEP fines before an administrative law judge.
"For nearly four decades, (Pallone) has had the means and the platform to initiate some sort of meaningful remediation for our community before countless unknowing families became sick and/or lost their lives," said Craft in a text message to NJ.com.
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.
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