EPA Contractors Set To Secure Toxic Drums Found At Howell Site

FARMINGDALE, NJ — A second community meeting Wednesday provided more information to the public about plans to secure hundreds of drums containing chemicals used at a former industrial site in neighboring Howell.

The former Compounders Inc. site at 15 Marl Road in Howell was found to be the sloppily kept home of 200 to 300 drums containing various chemicals and compounds used in making adhesives and glue.

On Feb. 9, a fire there brought the situation to light for Howell officials when firefighters had to put out a chemical blaze in some of the drums. The cause of that fire is currently under investigation by the state Attorney General's office.

Now, residents in Howell and Farmingdale - right on the border of the site - are concerned about the impact not only from the smoke from the fire but from the years the site was in operation, albeit as a permitted use.

There was an initial community meeting March 21. On Wednesday, a meeting was held at the Farmingdale Community Center because the site is right on the border of the borough.

Inaction by owners of the site about conditions there seems to have gone unaccounted for by the state Department of Environmental Protection, residents learned last night. But enforcement action is "imminent," a state representative at the meeting said, adding that she did not want to jeopardize the action with more comment.

But residents are hoping for fast action to remove the drums and clean and monitor the site for air and groundwater quality, speakers said at the meeting.

Howell Deputy Mayor Evelyn O'Donnell, who said she lives two miles from the site and has well water, said the EPA should not only work quickly to deal with the site but it should "be running" to clean it up.

And the federal Environmental Protection Agency now seems to be in a better position to begin the sprint - or the marathon, as may be necessary.

The next steps

Michael Mannino, the onsite coordinator for the project for the EPA, said at the meeting that just on Tuesday the agency acquired a site access agreement to allow it legally to be on the site and take control of the assessment and removal work there. The cleanup will not be left in the hands of the property owner, in other words.

On Wednesday, removal contractors did an initial "site walk" with the contractors, he said.

He said early next week the drums will start to be brought inside, out of the elements, to a warehouse on the site, all in preparation for the ultimate re-containerizing of the drums and their removal. The site is now fenced and has 24/7 manned security, he has said.

Perimeter and off-site air monitoring will be set up as part of this process, he said in a slide presentation. There will also be on-site containment in the form of a berm or a boom in case there should be any accidental release from a container while doing the work, the EPA information said.

"I'm on the site every day. It's the only site I'm assigned to," said Mannino, who lives in Monmouth County.

Monmouth County Commissioner Sue Kiley attended the meeting last night, and she too expressed urgency and support.

As Health and Human Services liaison for the Board of County Commissioners, she said she wants every town "to be healthy and happy." The county "will see this through," she said.

That's the least that residents said they expect.

Lots of questions, no easy answers

For example, the recent tornado that touched down Saturday in parts of the town made some residents feel there is a great urgency to not only get the drums indoors, but completely remove them from the site as soon as possible.

There were also questions about plans for testing air and water quality in the area.

Another slide indicated that the EPA and state DEP will conduct a potable well search in a 500-foot radius of the site. So far one potable drinking water well was located. Its water is being tested for volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, metals and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons, the EPA information said.

The information also indicated there is no immediate threat to the Manasquan River, the source of the Manasquan River Reservoir, four miles downstream.

While state and county health officials are being brought into the assessment of the site, the EPA has "minimal environmental data" to make "health-based determinations" at this time, the EPA information said.

One resident said she has an organic garden, and she is concerned about runoff and surface water impacts from the site - not only the groundwater.

Another woman said she met a person who worked at the site as a teenager who might have some historical information about the site. Mannino asked that speaker to provide the contact so he could follow up.

Howell Councilman Fred Gasior said that he, as a former state trooper, would like accountability for how the site was run and monitored since it opened in the late 1970s. The industrial operation went on until 2019 and then the stock of the company - the business - was sold in 2021, but not the property.

"I'm looking to point a finger," he said.

Another resident with a degree in environmental policy said her child seems to have a more persistent cough and she has noticed kids have had rashes since the fire. Her doctor told her "allergy season was early."

She asked that schools be kept fully in the loop of communication, too.

She also asked what chemicals are being monitored for air quality and was told by Mannino that there is a five-gas monitor of the type used at refineries and he said no VOC, or volatile organic chemicals, have been detected.

Howell has set up a website dedicated to updates on the project.

The site at https://www.twp.howell.nj.us/610/15-Marl-Road includes recent activities, emergency alerting, evacuation routes and additional information about the site. Video of meetings is available too.

To read more Patch news about the 15 Marl Road cleanup site, you can refer to the following stories:

• New Howell Website Is Dedicated To Marl Road Chemical Cleanup
• Howell Chemical Cleanup: Call For A Second Community Meeting
• Worried Residents Seek Answers About Howell Chemical Cleanup
• Farmingdale 'In The Loop' For Howell Chemical Cleanup: Mayor
• Chemical Drum Cleanup In Howell Prompts Meeting, Evacuation Map
• Hundreds Of Abandoned Drums With Chemicals Found At Howell Business