Keyport residents push for EPA superfund cleanup at feared cancer cluster site
The DEP is still testing in Union Beach, the next town over.
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The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has said there is no pathway for carcinogens to Keyport neighborhoods, despite hundreds of reported cancer cases near an old landfill and industrial site.
Residents say the testing hasn’t been thorough enough - and they’re bringing the fight to the federal government.
The NJ DEP didn’t test Sal Liguori’s rented home on Walnut Street, right next to the old Aeromarine industrial site and landfill. He commissioned his own testing - and the results were what he feared.
“Levels where I needed to get out of the house," Liguori said. "The advice to me was, 'You need to get out of the house now.' It was hard to take that call.”
Liguori has led the Keyport Unity local action team since the feared cancer cluster was first discovered six months ago. With his move and leukemia diagnosis, he’s taking a step back. But the fight isn’t over.
“There are things to see here, and everything is not fine," said Alex Craft, of Keyport Unity group. "So, we need our community to understand that so they can advocate for themselves and we can advocate for each other.”
The DEP is still testing in Union Beach, the next town over. Craft says there are decades of evidence.
“We cited over 1,000 different documents that come from the NJ DEP itself, their licensed LSRPs, news articles that were written about this all the way back in the ‘60s," Craft said.
Keyport Unity went to the EPA’s office in Manhattan Thursday to submit a request for a federal environmental review. They want the site declared a superfund and fully remediated - not just capped and built over. It takes more time and money, but their experts think this site qualifies.
“When the person who started the program - which was based on the Spill Fund Act - is telling us that this site more than qualifies, and then elected officials and appointees are turning around and telling us that it doesn’t, doesn’t really make sense to us," Craft said.
The DEP told News 12 it is reviewing the group’s request to use the Spill Act for cleanup. Meanwhile, the property owner, BayRidge Realty, has been in court facing more than $1.2 million in environmental fines.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Independent expert suggests possible link between Keyport contamination and cancer cases
NJDEP: No evidence links Keyport cancer cases to former Aeromarine landfill site
Keyport residents seek answers as officials investigate possible cancer cluster
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