Chunks Of Lead Slag On Keyport Beach Will Be Removed Starting Monday

KEYPORT, NJ — For the past 10 days, a beach in Keyport has been awash in chunks of iron ore slag, which tested positive for lead.

This is the beach on Walnut Street in Keyport, said New York/New Jersey Baykeeper Greg Remaud. It's the former Aeromarine industrial site, and they used to manufacture airplanes there.

Remaud said he suspects the slag was dumped, possibly as long as 50 years ago, and only in the past two weeks was exposed by shifting sands and tides.

On mid-day Friday, Congressman Frank Pallone held an emergency press conference from Bayfront Beach in Keyport to announce a plan to remove the slag chunks. Starting Monday, July 29, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection will start removing the chunks.

"In fairness, this is the fastest we've ever seen an action happen," said Renaud. "As an environmentalist, I want them out there tomorrow. But in agency time, this is lightning speed. What they will start doing Monday or Tuesday is scrapping the beach to take off anything that's visible. They will test it, see how far it extends into the bay and where it came from. This is really an excellent first step."

People first started reporting seeing the slag chunks July 17.

"Pictures don’t do it justice," one local resident posted to Facebook. "The shore is covered as far as you can see and people are unknowingly wading, swimming and fishing in the water near the contaminants (lead slag). The slag is all polished smooth and people (children included) are picking up and admiring the unusual (hazardous) stones."

Both Baykeeper and the state of New Jersey say they still do not know where it's coming from. Last week, Pallone said there is a possibility the slag chunks may be breaking off the Raritan Bay Slag Superfund site in Laurence Harbor, which he called "deeply concerning."

However, on Friday the Congressman corrected himself and said there is no indication that the materials came from the Superfund site, which is several miles north in Raritan Bay.

Baykeeper did a field test of one of the slag chunks, and it came back at 200 parts per million of lead. That meets the Residential Direct Contact Standard for lead, and does not actually classify as hazardous.

"The DEP said this is not an acute public health risk, but it's too early to tell," said Renaud. "But still, lead is not good when it's in the water and people are eating the crabs or fish that have been ingesting it. We believe if it has lead, it poses a public health risk for anyone out there swimming, fishing or crabbing."

NY/NJ Baykeeper said the town of Keyport had still not posted any signs on its beaches warning people not to touch the slag chunks.

"Our hope is that beach will be blocked off to the public starting next week," said Baykeeper. "That's what we'd like to see."

So far, the slag appears contained to that one area of beach, said NJ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette.

“The material has only been observed in the discrete area of Bayshore, and, currently, there is no information suggesting that the material is spread more widely geographically,” said LaTourette Friday.