Edison group to ask court for help stopping toxic flow into Raritan River

Eidison group to ask court for help stopping toxic flow into Raritan River
by Diane C. Walsh/The Star-Ledger Thursday July 17, 2008, 5:30 AM


The Edison Wetlands Association is going to federal court today, seeking an injunction against Akzo Nobel Chemical and Basell USA to stop them from allegedly allowing toxic chemicals to seep into the Raritan River just 100 yards upstream from the Edison boat basin and a fishing spot.

The environmental group filed suit against the chemical companies in January. But Bob Spiegel, executive director of the Edison Wetlands Association, said the group decided to seek an injunction because it was frustrated that the pollution was continuing.
Hazardous levels of benzene, arsenic and asbestos were found in the river, according to Spiegel.

Spiegel said the toxins are seeping from a 97-acre site on Meadow Road, which had once been a landfill. Stauffer Chemical Co. was the property owner in 1985 when the state Department of Environmental Protection initially drafted a clean-up plan for the area. Akzo later bought the plant and since 2006 it has been owned by Basell, according to the lawsuit.