New evidence allowed in brazen Jersey Shore polluter case. Site considered one of worst in U.S.
NJ.com
It’s not the final victory Jersey Shore advocates are looking for, but it’s a big step in that direction.
Nonprofit Save Barnegat Bay and Toms River officials have long challenged a proposed $500,000 settlement between the state of New Jersey and BASF, which took over Ciba-Geigy and is blamed for decades of pollution at its former 1,255-acre chemical manufacturing site.
A court order issued Tuesday will allow new evidence to be considered in the challenge, according to documents provided this week to NJ Advance Media.
The additional items will provide a better understanding of groundwater and other toxic impacts polluters brought to the region’s land and water, Save Barnegat Bay said.
In its ruling, the panel of judges said “certain evidence not presented during the administrative proceedings may be material to the issues on this appeal.”
https://www.nj.com/ocean/2025/02/new-evidence-allowed-in-brazen-jersey-shore-polluter-case-site-considered-one-of-worst-in-us.html
I live about 3 miles from the Superfund site and am glad that Save Barnegat Bay will have a chance to introduce additional evidence. The $500,000 settlement is woefully inadequate and an insult to the community
According to an AP article, beginning in the 1950s Ciba-Geigy — which had been the town's largest employer — flushed chemicals into the Toms River and the Atlantic Ocean, and buried 47,000 drums of toxic waste in the ground. This created a plume of polluted water that has spread beyond the site into residential neighborhoods and is still being cleaned up.
More than 80 children in Toms River were diagnosed with cancer from 1979 to 1995. The state Health Department study did not explicitly blame the increase on Ciba-Geigy’s dumping, but the company and two others paid $13.2 million to 69 families whose children were diagnosed with cancer.
More info from a 2014 interview in Democracy Now:
https://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/23/toms_river_how_a_small_town
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