By Sophia Gonzalez
Staff Writer
Published March 19, 2008

A deficiency notice over an environmentally hazardous site sounded alarm among residents who fear the site poses potential health risks.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection warned the borough in a letter received Feb. 14 that it has a 30-day window to correct 13 deficiencies found at the Deluxe Cleaners site.

Deficiencies from the October report include unfinished soil delineation, vapor intrusion studies and the submittal of a remediation investigation work plan.

But residents, spooked by the state agency jargon, confronted local officials at a March 11 meeting.

"What’s the hazard?" they demanded to know.

Several local officials linked the NJDEP notice to nothing more than typical, administrative paper pushing.

Mayor John Hogan said, "As far as we’ve heard from our environmental engineer, we haven’t found any immediate health risks at that site."

He explained that "anything short of full compliance with NJDEP cleaning standards is termed as a deficiency."

NJDEP spokesman Larry Hajna confirmed that the notice is a common communication tool used in the remediation process.

If the borough fails to meet the extended May 15 deadline, said Hajna, the state agency will send a notice of violation before it faces any possibility of fines.

All that remains of the former dry cleaners is an abandoned house at 149-151 Livingston St. The borough acquired the property in 1998 and with it site cleanup, after traces of trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene were found in the soil.

Effects from TCE and perc range from mild headaches to severe damage of the central nervous system and immune system, depending on the degree of exposure.

Past reports from Paul Kenny of Remington and Vernick indicated that there are no health hazards to neighboring residents or business employees.

Republican Council members used the notice to again delay the payment of bills to the ousted environmental engineer. The delay prompted a lawsuit from Remington just weeks after it was fired for violating a contract agreement.

Local officials estimated that there are certain items only Remington can fix before a successful handoff to the new environmental engineer, Arcadis BBL.

The mayor said that "everything should be cleared up" by the May extension.

A meeting with the NJDEP case manager is slated for next week, Councilman Roy Sokoloski said.

"There’s a lot of paperwork going back and forth right now, but the case manager in the state will advise us on how we have to proceed," he said.