Experts continue to say no pathway from contaminated Keyport landfill amid cancer cluster fears
Residents have reported hundreds of cancer cases in humans and animals, highly concentrated near the site.
More Stories
Keyport residents heard the results of another round of environmental testing Thursday, which again found no link between contamination at a former landfill and human consumption.
“In general, we’re not seeing any gross contamination from the operations historically," said Lawra Dodge, president of Excel Environmental Resources.
Residents have reported hundreds of cancer cases in humans and animals, highly concentrated near the site. The adjacent landfill has been known to be leaching chemicals into groundwater for years.
The Borough of Keyport hired Excel to test the industrial site. Pacer Partners, a prospective buyer, is testing the landfill while DEP is testing surface water and nearby neighborhoods.
Dodge said the metals and chemicals found in groundwater at the old industrial site are sporadic and do not show a concentrated discharge. She added this groundwater flows toward the landfill as designed, not toward neighborhoods.
“There’s a lot of different drinking water systems in New Jersey that have PFAS," Dodge said. "Yours does not.”
DEP surface water testing is a key piece in figuring out next steps. Those results are expected in September. Pacer Partners has said it would not build residential if it went ahead with a purchase.
“We are not pursuing a data center under any circumstance," said Justin Protasiewicz, managing partner at SESI Consulting Engineers. "Our objectives are to develop the site for commercial use.”
Others - like Rep. Frank Pallone - prefer full remediation.
“I always prefer anything that is toxic being carted away as opposed to just capped," said Pallone.
DEP has fined the property owner $1.2 million since 2021, which remains unpaid.
All these tests seem to agree about the presence of heavy metals and "forever chemicals" on the site, some at levels exceeding environmental standards. What remains unclear is any pathway to human exposure. That appears to be the central focus of the DEP’s neighborhood sampling scheduled for next week.
