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Recycling plant vows to cooperate with residents
August 8th, 2007
by: ALLISON STEELE AND SULEMAN DIN
Star-Ledger
Samples being collected in Sayreville pollution probe
As technicians yesterday began collecting samples of the gritty residue that coats the cars and yards near Sayreville’s Gerdau Ameristeel plant, representatives from the company pledged to work with nearby residents until their concerns are resolved.
“We want to make this right,” Mark Quiring, the plant manager, said last night during a meeting of the Sayreville Environmental Commission. “We will come here as much as you want, but our intent is to solve this problem.”
Samples of the metallic dust that floats down from the scrap-metal recycling plant were scraped from the windowsills of nine borough homes yesterday, said Pat Walsh, chairman of the commission, and samples from another six will be gathered tomorrow. In two to three weeks, residents will know whether the dust is harmful.
Residents of Sayreville’s Horseshoe Road section have long complained about emissions from the plant. Samples tested in June by the Edison Wetlands Association were found to have elevated levels of lead, mercury and arsenic, and in recent months the commission pushed the company and borough officials to test the dust.
Yesterday morning, one team of technicians gathered samples to test for Gerdau Ameristeel. A second team collected dust to test for the borough.
The teams began on Wilbur Terrace, each doing sampling in spots on homes agreed upon by the technicians, a Gerdau Ameristeel manager, and members of the borough’s Environmental Commission.
The technicians performed “superficial wipe sampling,” said Ray Morales, environmental manager with Gerdau Ameristeel.
The technicians selected dusty areas on the homes’ outer windowsills. They then wiped them with gauze pads soaked in deionized water, which scientists use in experiments for accurate testing. They then sealed the pads in jars.
The technicians took three samples. Morales explained that was because of the different tests being done on the dust. One was to check for 13 “primary pollutant” metals, such as arsenic, chromium and lead. Another was for mercury, and the third was for hexvalent chromium, a cancer-causing compound used in stainless steel production.
The work was done by two companies, Randolph-based Integrated Analytical Laboratories, and Edison-based Test America.
Last night, Quiring said that in addition to reaching out to community members and local officials, Gerdau Ameristeel has installed a system to monitor the direction and speed of the wind near the stacks. An air monitoring system to track the particles emitted by the plant will also be operating by the end of November, he said.
Several of the two dozen residents at last night’s meeting expressed frustration that it has taken so long for testing to begin on the emissions. Ernie Read, who lives on Wilbur Terrace, said he needs to use scouring pads to rid his swimming pool of the black gunk that rains down into it.
“When is something going to get done?” Read asked. “It’s past the point that it’s annoying. Now it’s damage.”
Walsh urged residents to be patient. When the results of the testing are in, he said, the borough will decide how next to proceed.
“We want to make sure this is safe first,” Walsh said. “Then we will deal with the other issues as we go along.”
The good news, commission member Ken Olchaskey said yesterday, is that residents are getting results at last.
“This certainly is progress,” he said. “It’s another step to identify the problem and find a solution.”
