CHILDHOOD CANCER IN TOMS RIVER

In 1971 the Union Carbide Corporation hired a truck driver to haul drums of chemical waste away from its plant in Bound Brook, NJ. Instead of taking all of the drums to a landfill as he was supposed to do, the driver disposed of over 5,000 drums at the Reich Farm, which was located only about one mile north of the Parkway well field, a large public water supply for the residents of Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey.

The chemical wastes spilled from the drums and seeped through the sandy soils at Reich Farm, down to the water table. Pumping from the Parkway well field pulled the contaminated ground water to the south.

About three years later, local officials found dozens of private wells to the south of Reich Farm were contaminated with chemicals. The wells were condemned but the homes were hooked up to the public water supply which came from the Parkway well field.

Although Ocean County officials were concerned that contamination from Reich Farm would ultimately flow into the Parkway well field, after 1974, regular testing of the Parkway Well field ceased and did not resume until the mid-1980's.

In 1986, TCE, an industrial solvent dumped at Reich Farm, was found in Parkway well field water. A treatment system was installed, but it only aerated the water to eliminate the TCE. Again, a request for carbon filters was denied. The water continued to be tested, but federal and state law only required testing labs to look for a relatively short list of chemicals - - less than 100 - - even though thousands were dumped at Reich Farm.

Finally, in 1996, in response to community concern about the high rate of childhood cancer in Toms River, state authorities conducted a broader, more thorough series of test for chemical contamination in the water. These tests showed that the Parkway Well field was contaminated with many semi-volatile chemicals which were not cleaned out by the aeration treatment. The well field was immediately shut down and carbon filters were placed on the contaminated wells. SEE Reich Farm Public Health Assessment.; United Water Resources Public Health Assessment)

Most of the chemicals were the waste of plastics production from Union Carbide’s Bound Brook Plant. Many of them are not target analytes on the priority pollutant lists of the regulatory agancies. Accordingly, they were classified as Tentatively Identified Compounds (TICs). The identification of these chemicals themselves became the subject of a complex, intensive process. [SEE REPORT OF TIC COMMITTEE]Most of these plastics wastes had never been tested for their potential to cause cancer. The most prominent TIC, known as the SAN (styrene acrylonitrile) trimer, is currently the planned subject of a 5 to 7 year rat carcinogenicity study by the NIEHS.

THE ROLE OF CIBA GEIGY

The Parkway Well Field was not the only contaminated public water supply in Toms River. Since 1951 Ciba Geigy operated a large chemical and dye manufacturing facility near the Toms River itself. Until the mid-1960's Ciba Geigy directly discharged chemical waste into the river. In 1966 Ciba constructed an ocean outfall pipeline for this discharge but ground water and soils contaminated by Ciba’s chemicals continued to pollute the river. In the 1960's, contaminated river water was found to be infiltrating into the public water supply at the Holly Street well field. These contaminated wells continued to be used until 1981. The water was treated only to remove the bad taste and smell. Other Holly Street wells continued to be used up to this day. It was only in 1996 that the plume of ground water contamination coming from Ciba Geigy finally was brought under control by a massive pump and treat system.

Ciba made thousands of different chemicals, many of which are hard to detect in water. The testing of Holly Street wells only looked for less than 100 chemicals. The full extent of contamination of these waters by Ciba is still not known.

CHILDHOOD CANCER IN TOMS RIVER

Studies have already shown that childhood cancer in Tom’s River is significantly higher than normal and that the highest rates of cancer are among children under 5. This has become known as the Toms River Childhood Cancer Cluster. SEE CANCER INCIDENCE PUBLIC HEALTH CONSULTATION.
The government agencies are currently doing a major study on the exceptionally high rates of leukemia, brain cancer and neuroblastoma among Toms River children. The study is looking at whether drinking water from the Parkway and Holly Street Well field, and/or other factors, are associated with these cancers. The results of the study are expected by the end of 2001.

COMPENSATION FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER VICTIMS

In 1997 the families of children with cancer formed an organization called Toxic Environments That Affect Children’s Health (“TEACH”). They retained counsel to represent them in their claims for compensation, and asked them to do so, if possible, without resorting to litigation. The famiilies have suffered irreparable damage due to cancer, and recognize that no financial restitution can make them whole, but compensation can make an important difference in their lives.

The attorneys case for the residents approached the companies involved with the contaminated water issues, Union Carbide, Ciba Geigy and United Water Company, about discussing compensation without filing a lawsuit and going to court. The companies agreed to a process which would try to deal with these issues without litigation.

The companies and residents agreed to a confidential process , which would allow them to engage in a prolonged, intensive and frank exchange of facts and scientific opinions. The exchange consisted of about 13 in person meetings, involving presentations by scientists representing a variety of disciplines, including toxicology, epidemiology, pediatric medicine, hydrogeology, and hydraulic engineering. Present throughout the presentations were Eric Green, a nationally renowned mediator, and Doug Allen, his technical advisor. Following the presentations, the parties engaged in several full days of mediation before reaching an agreement in principle.

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An agreement has been reached to settle a class action lawsuit by New Jersey consumers against Rent-A-Center, Inc., for $109 million. This class action settlement will fully reimburse those customers who entered into contracts with Rent-A-Center during the period April 23, 1999 through March 16, 2007 for the amounts that they paid Rent-A-Center in excess of that permitted under the New Jersey law as resolved by the New Jersey Supreme Court in this case. Approximately 100,000 Rent-A-Center customers will each receive, on average, almost $800.00, although individual amounts may vary considerably.

Please call 1-866-963-9974 if you believe you are a class member. It is absolutely critical that you give us your current address and phone numbers.

Mark Cuker of Williams Cuker Berezofsky, along with Seth Lesser of the Locks Law Firm and Bill Riback are counsel for the Plaintiff’s Settlement Class of New Jersey consumers.