Mayor of Milford, NJ is determined to clean up old paper mill
Jim Gallos, the mayor of Milford, NJ, has been fighting to have the old Milford paper mill cleaned of asbestos and other toxic substances and redeveloped for productive use. The EPA recognized in a recent report that the mill creates an environmental threat to neighbors as well as trespassers who go onto the unsecured property. The EPA has proposed that the property be designated a Superfund site, and the agency is seeking public comments on the plan until November 4th.
The EPA report’s list of toxic substances found at the site was even more extensive that Mayor Gallos had feared, but the mayor expressed confidence that the property would not be cleaned up. Councilman Don Pursell noted that the owners had kept the extent of contamination on the property secret for years.
The presence at the site of vandals and other trespassers, including children, has created additional danger by disturbing asbestos-containing materials inside and outside the paper mill’s buildings. When asbestos-containing products are disturbed, they release fibers that can be inhaled and damage the lungs, eventually causing serious illnesses like lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an aggressive, asbestos-related cancer that attacks the lining around the lungs, heart or abdomen. There is concern that wind could carry airborne asbestos fibers into the residential areas surrounding the mill or that trespassers could take the fibers home on their clothing, exposing others.
In addition to asbestos, EPA inspectors have found PCBs, arsenic, copper, zinc, toluene, tetrachloroethene, benzopyrene, vinyl chloride, acetone, trichloroethane and dichloroethane in the soil. High levels of PCBs have been found both in the soil and in the nearby creek that empties into the Delaware River. The creek is a recreational fishing area, and the floodplain at its base is used for hiking and river access.
For the full story, go to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
