TOMS RIVER – As a nonprofit group prepares to fight a court battle regarding environmental damages, they looked back on what caused this problem.
For decades, a company known locally as Ciba-Geigy dumped unknown tonnage of toxic waste in the river and groundwater, actions that some say has resulted in a local cancer cluster – although no direct link can be proven.
Ed Vienckowski, board chair of Save Barnegat Bay, called the Ciba land an “environmental crime scene” during the group’s recent meeting which took place at the Lavallette First Aid Squad building.
Some people back then knew something was wrong about what Ciba was doing, but many were unaware. Some intentionally looked the other way.
The former Ciba-Geigy property is out of sight, but not out of mind for local residents. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
But they couldn’t ignore it any longer when, in 1984, a Ciba drain pipe burst near the intersection of Vaughn and Bay avenues.
Health concerns rose overnight, especially when it was learned that Ciba’s outflow pipe dumped chemicals off 2nd Avenue in Ortley Beach.
During the meeting, a short documentary was screened called “From Sea To Shining Sea.” It followed the Greenpeace workers who came out in 1984. It was approved for screening by Tom Fagan, director of the board of Clean Ocean Action.
Jon Hinck, who would later become a state lawmaker in Maine, led the charge. “It’s come down to direct action as a last resort,” he said to the camera.
In a surreal moment of the video, Hinck calls the plant to inform them that divers are about to clog up the pipe and that the factory should halt production or else there could be expensive damages.
The video showed underwater footage of the pipe. They also interviewed beachgoers, like a group of surfers who described the globs of chemicals that come out of the pipe, and get churned up after nor’easters. This kind of information is important to Save Barnegat Bay, whose lawsuit hopes to quantify the harmful effects of the pollution. Another effect mentioned in the film is that sea clams have died out in the area.
There’s a brief comment from then-mayor, the late Roden Lightbody, who said that the town has to trust the DEP. “We have no control.”
There’s an interview with local attorney Daniel Carluccio (who would later become Ocean County Prosecutor) and his wife Judy who started Ocean County Citizens for Clean Water in response to Ciba’s dumping. Carluccio would defend the Greenpeace activists pro bono after they got arrested.
“It’s our job to take care of it because the DEP is not ready to do it,” Judy Carluccio said.
Marco Kaltofen, a chemist, is also interviewed in the documentary. He is now the President of Boston Chemical Data Corp., which provides research on the impact of petroleum and nuclear hazards. He said that whenever factories create material that can’t be disposed of, it imposes a cost. The locals are impacted by the waste. Everyone has to pay taxes for oversight and cleaning it up. The companies don’t pay for the problems they cause.
The video ends with a note that in 1985, Ciba received another five-year permit to discharge waste into the ocean without any requirement to provide samples.
Attorney Joseph Maraziti gives an update on the litigation. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
Ciba stopped operations in 1990.
After the video, Seaside Park Mayor John A. Peterson, Jr. said that he represented one of the Greenpeace divers as an attorney. He used the argument that their actions were protected by free speech. They were not trying to hurt property or the factory workers.
Lavallette Mayor Walter LaCicero was a police officer at the time of the protests. He said he had to patrol the area because some residents were unhappy with the protests. There are now plaques on the boardwalk celebrating some of the people involved.
Michelle Donato, an attorney for Save Barnegat Bay, jumped off of what LaCicero said. “Wally was right. There were some people who didn’t like it because it was bad for business,” she said.
If a company damages the environment, they have a responsibility to fix it, she said. “The company is externalizing the cost to the residents. We want BASF – the largest chemical company in the world – to pay for the damages.”
Donato’s mother was the one who contacted Greenpeace for help and had them stay in her home during the operation.
She said then-Assemblyman John Bennett III wrote a bill to get the pipeline removed.
In 1984, some people formed a human chain from town to town across the beach, showing solidarity and invoking a symbolic wall to protect the ocean.
One of the people in that human chain was Phil Skowron, who spoke at the meeting. He recalled being told by the Freeholders – the five-person group that runs the county, now referred to as Commissioners – that there was “no fecal coliform” bacteria in the pipe break. Of course, there wouldn’t be, it wasn’t a sewage pipe. It was a chemical outfall, but it showed how the county leaders didn’t care.
“We had nobody interested in whatever the facts were,” he said. “Toms River was a company town.”
There was a Toms River Country Club run by Ciba. Politicians were given memberships, he said. They were in Ciba’s pocket.
“There are no sound moral qualities in a corporation,” he said.
Therefore, it fell to the people to get help. The first meeting, held at Toms River High School North, had 1,500 attendees.
“We were six people on stage literally afraid for our lives because Ciba had half the people there,” he said.
While researching, one member found a single sheet of paper about Ciba which talked about the mutagenic and teratogenic properties of the chemicals.
“2nd Avenue was the lab where they would find out what it would do,” he said.
Attorney Michelle Donato addresses members of Save Barnegat Bay. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
When Ciba got raided, employees were caught shredding paperwork, he noted.
“You have to stand up for yourselves,” he said. “You have to make corporations do what you think is right. You have to find organizations that will protect you.”
Current Lawsuit
Ciba’s current owner, BASF, settled with the State Department of Environmental Protection about what to do with the property. BASF will preserve 1,000 acres of the site, while being allowed to develop or sell the remaining 255 acres, which is zoned industrial.
Of the 1,000 acres to be preserved, about 375 acres will see ecological restoration projects, such as freshwater wetlands, restoration of riparian areas, flood plain and wetland enhancements, creation of upland grasslands, pollinator habitat, and an environmental education center. There will be a 130-acre solar farm generating 27 megawatts.
Residents who say they are still feeling the impact of Ciba, said this is not enough. Add to this the facts that Ciba and BASF are different companies on paper but are historically the same; and that BASF won $17 million from Toms River in a recent tax appeal.
Save Barnegat Bay is trying to hold BASF accountable for its past transgressions.
Longtime advocate Phil Skowron, left, and Seaside Park Mayor John A. Peterson Jr. speak about fighting Ciba Geigy. (Photo by Chris Lundy)
Michelle Donato said that the DEP is “suffering from deliberate amnesia.”
In researching the project, Save Barnegat Bay went to the DEP to scan records. They were the first ones to check out the records since Dan Fagin, who wrote the book “Toms River: A Story Of Science And Salvation.” This chronicle of Ciba and its impact was published in 2013. This proves that the DEP didn’t even look at the records before approving the deal.
Joseph Maraziti, who is representing Save Barnegat Bay in the suit, said that the suit is to compensate people for the pain and suffering the company caused. They are going before the appellate division in September.
The post Ciba’s Sins: Then And Now appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
