DEP Visits Tanner's Pit

A representative from the state DEP visited Tanner's Pit  yesterday, at the request of the Township Committee.

Township officials sent a letter requesting state officials look into the property, an area that previously contained a landfill and a recycling factory. The township wrote the letter after requests from some residents in town to look into the property.

Several residents appeared at the Committee meeting last night and expressed concern about numerous violations at the pit, including Denise Pilovsky. Pilovsky has extensively researched the facility in recent months, because she is concerned there might be problems with the soil, and questioned a possible connection to a rare liver disease shared by her two daughters, who are 21 and 17 years old.

The Tanner's Pit property has a history of violations for operating a Solid Waste Facility without a permit. From October of 1994 to July of 1998, Tanner’s Pit was penalized for failure to comply with groundwater sampling and reporting requirements contained within the New Jersey Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit issued to allow the discharge of leachate to groundwater, according to the report.

Pilovsky stated concern about the adjoining properties, and asked for tests of the groundwater. She said she met with the DEP representative on site and has expressed her concerns to him as well.

Township officials said they expect a report in the coming weeks, and
Cirulli said he plans on leaning on the DEP, and the county health department for groundwater tests on that property as well as the adjacent properties.

Pilovsky also asked about Tanner's Pit's possible effects on property located within the Stone Hill development. Township Attorney Jerry Dasti said that areas like Tanner's Pit, and the currently up-for-bid Shoreline Sand and Gravel property, have to be cleaned up before building can take place on the site, and if violations our found, it is likely that surrounding areas would be part of that cleanup effort.

"In many of these these types of occassions, the owner is required to cap it, and to build offsite monitoring wells," Dasti said. "It is our hope we can get the DEP to work with the owner to clean it up."