CRISIS Lauds Lack of Information About Benzene in River

Despite being in charge of monitoring the clean-up of the , which is owned by Pfizer and is mostly in Bridgewater, CRISIS is reporting that it was unaware of the high levels of benzene in the Raritan River, possibly coming from that site.

CRISIS is the recipient of Environmental Protection Agency Technical Assistance Grants that are used for monitoring the site.

According to a report from the organization, it was recently reported that the Raritan River was declared "impaired for benzene" at the Queens Bridge station in Bound Brook in 2006. That designation, according to the report, means the amount of benzene in the river exceeded the EPA's standards.

But, CRISIS said, that information was not provided to the organization, even though the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is required to send these reports to the Watershed Management Branch, considered to be the direct contact between the EPA and CRISIS.

"There appear to be only two plausible explanations," the report said. "It was either another classic case of bureaucratic dysfunction, resulting in information not being channeled to parties that should have been notified by it, or a conscious attempt was made to withhold the data from interested stakeholders."

According to the report, the EPA-established maximum level for benzene is five parts per billion—at the Queens Bridge station in 2002, it was measured at 12.6 parts per billion, and 8.5 parts per billion in 2006.

The report said that the Queens Bridge station is downstream from the Cyanamid site, which could be considered as the suspect for contamination, but the DEP has said the department cannot track the source. This assumption, the report said, comes from the fact that benzene levels have been reported in many studies of the site's hazardous waste impoundments.

"The data is indicative of an intermittent source in close upstream proximity to the monitoring point," said CRISIS technical advisor Thomas Germinario in the report. "A reasonable inference is that most, if not all, of the benzene is coming from the seepage along the Cyanamid riverfront, downgradient of Impoundments 1 and 2."

In March 2011, the report said, Pfizer reported that it had discovered contaminated groundwater in the Raritan River, particularly near Impoundments 1 and 2. At that point, the report said, benzene readings were at 20,000 parts per billion, and action was ordered immediately.

"While this event was verified more than four years after the December 2006 impairment designation, it is reasonable to question whether the seepage has been occurring for many years," the report said.

According to CRISIS in the report, it is disappointing that the DEP did not inform them of the issue, although the DEP says the media was aware of the designation—but, CRISIS said, it couldn't find any information on the website about the designation.

"Could it not have been discovered and addressed over a decade ago if the benzene impairment data had been shared instead of buried and ignored?" the report said. "Given that the river is an important source of drinking water [albeit the intakes are upstream of the source], the apparent dereliction here is even more shocking."

Larry Hajna, press officer with the NJDEP, said Wednesday that, in fact, the NJDEP and the EPA have been working together to share information where it is necessary.

"Both of our agencies have worked very closely for years with a technical coordinator for CRISIS and informed the coordinator about concerns with benzene in the river," he said. "That coordinator was kept in the loop as EPA and DEP worked to address the problem."

In addition, Hajna said, there are continuously updated reports on the website about contamination and other changes.

"The DEP issues reports as required by the federal government, known as 303 [d] reports, that list benzene as a contaminant that affects water quality in the river," he said. "These reports are regularly updated and posted online."