Ford site's environmental issues not clear

As the executive director of Edison Wetlands Association (EWA), a grassroots nonprofit that has worked on contaminated site cleanups for over 17 years, I am writing to express my concern with the rush to build the Edison's Ford Motor Co. Plant by Hartz Mountain. As this site sits adjacent to the residential Vineyard Avenue community that has long been bookended by large-scale contaminated sites, the Edison Township Council must not advance any redevelopment of this site until its soil and groundwater are fully cleaned up.

In early 2006, EWA sampled the water flowing from under this site, at the behest of the Township Council. We uncovered lead paint sludge and contamination in the water originating from the Ford site, flowing under Route 1 and passing in close proximity to a high-density apartment complex. To this date, the Mill Brook still has not been investigated by Ford or the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection. The township must insist that Ford investigate and clean up the off-site contamination near this residential area before the project can move forward.

EWA also uncovered the scandal in which Jack Morris' Edgewood Properties attempted to reuse PCB-contaminated concrete from the Ford site at up to a dozen residential development projects around the state. The criminal investigation into that fiasco is still ongoing. Yet we urge the township to move very cautiously at this point, as there is no hurry to rush approvals until the site has been cleaned up in a thorough manner that is fully protective of public health in the neighboring community.

NJDEP is now reviewing phase three of the cleanup, which includes remediation and excavation of PCB soil, as well as the investigation into a building contaminated by arsenic. Other issues need to be addressed as well, including the potential contamination of concrete pads discovered under an asphalt parking area. If contamination is found, Ford will then have to put together a plan to clean and remove those pads.

More troubling is that, according to the NJDEP site manager, Ford has not provided any data from their groundwater monitoring wells to NJDEP. As a result, there is no way to know what levels of pollutants contaminate the groundwater under the Ford plant, which may be used for drinking water in the future or could potentially spread underground to neighboring residential yards. Ford needs to fully address these issues prior to any development approvals by the Planning Board, and the board chairman owes it to all the residents of Edison to fully understand contamination issues at the Ford site. These are valid questions made urgent by this site's sordid recent past.

Ultimately, this town center can benefit the community, particularly by maximizing the potential of the open space with passive recreational components such as bike trails bordered by native plantings, in balance with the economic redevelopment. Yet the Edgewood PCBs scandal, which originated at this very site, illustrated exactly why Edison residents will benefit from a thorough remediation and deliberate approval process for the former Ford Motor Co. plant, rather than another poorly planned project in order to please a politically connected developer.

Robert Spiegel

executive director

Edison Wetlands Association

Edison