• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Fair Lawn Homes Not Polluted By Bus Depot Vapors, State Says

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 21:00 CST

By ERIC HSU, STAFF WRITER

FAIR LAWN Environmental regulators have found no dangerous vapors inside homes near a school bus depot once contaminated by leaking gas storage tanks.

Indoor air samples taken in the last year from three homes near the bus depot on Bergen Avenue showed no elevated levels of the gas additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, said Fred Mumford, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Dave Gurgel, the president of the engineering firm leading the cleanup, said that tests at one home initially showed high levels of perchloroethylene, a dry-cleaning solvent, but that follow-up tests in February showed no significant levels.

"In general I was very pleased with the tests, and the [MTBE] plume size shrunk by an amazing amount," Gurgel said Tuesday.

Environmental regulators are accustomed to monitoring pollution in soil and groundwater, but have also recently focused attention on "vapor intrusion" into homes. Officials recently ordered venting systems installed in three homes in a different neighborhood on Plaza Road because of perchloroethylene contamination from a nearby dry-cleaning business.

MTBE was discovered at the bus depot in 1998 when two underground storage tanks used for refueling buses were removed. The soil at the site was cleaned up in 2002 and 2003, but regulators have been concerned about contamination in the groundwater in a plume extending about 250 feet to the northwest of the depot.

Ingestion or breathing of MTBE can cause nausea, nose and throat irritation and nervous-system effects, health experts say.

State officials cited the district in November 2004 for failing to determine the severity of potential groundwater and vapor pollution in the area around the depot, including homes on Fourth Street.

But state officials said there have been no signs of excessive MTBE pollution in the surrounding area and that the district is in compliance with cleanup rules. Plans are still being reviewed to address lingering groundwater pollution at the site of the gas tanks, Mumford said. There may also still be MTBE and other contamination at a chemical factory owned by the Clariant Corp. on Third Street.

The progress in the bus depot cleanup comes as school officials are contemplating other changes at the site, which serves as the main storage and refueling station for about 55 buses and vans.

School board members have been discussing moving the refueling and storage operations to the borough's public works depot on Saddle River Road, said board member John Mancinelli.

Officials say the move could help the district save money, free up administrative space in the bus depot offices, and cut down on traffic and noise for neighbors near the existing bus depot.

"The board thinks about the impact of schools on the neighborhood they're in. If the depot wasn't there, maybe the River Road area would be more attractive," Mancinelli said.

***

E-mail: hsu@northjersey.com

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

More News in this Category