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The
epidemiological study is the final report of the public health response
initiated in 1996 to investigate elevated levels of certain childhood
cancers in the township. Earlier reports included a childhood cancer
incidence health consultation based on an updated compilation of
all township children diagnosed with a reportable cancer from 1979
to 1995; public health assessments of Reich Farm and the Ciba-Geigy
Superfund sites and the Dover Township Municipal Landfill; and a
health consultation on Dover Township's public water supply quality.
The total project cost in federal and state funds is estimated at
$10 million.
The
childhood cancer incidence health consultation examined the
number of cancers arising in children under 20 years of age from
1979 through 1995 for Dover Township, the Toms River section of
the township, and Ocean County. Increased childhood cancer incidence
was found in Dover Township for all cancers combined, and for acute
lymphocytic leukemia in females, and in Toms River for all cancers
combined, and for brain and central nervous system cancers and acute
lymphocytic leukemia, particularly in female children under the
age of five. The consultation reported 90 children in the township
were diagnosed with cancer where statistically only 67 cases were
expected.
Evaluation
of childhood cancer incidence over time showed periods when the
cancer rates were higher than the rates statewide. Dover Township
had higher rates for all cancers combined during the mid-1980s to
the early 1990s. Toms River had a distinct peak for all cancers
combined in the late 1980s. However, the number of cases in any
given year was too small to make any definitive statements on trends.
The
Reich Farm public health assessment documented contamination
beginning in 1971, when over 4,500 drums of chemical waste were
illegally dumped at the site. This led to contaminants entering
the Cohansey aquifer, which supplies water to much of the area.
In testing of both private and community wells between 1974 and
1996, several volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds were
found. The assessment concluded that the site was a public health
hazard in the past because area residents, depending on their water
source, were previously exposed to site-related contamination for
varying periods of time. As a result of actions taken to reduce
exposure, the site is considered to pose no apparent public health
hazard at present.
The
Dover Township Municipal Landfill public health assessment
documented that in 1987, nine private wells on roads adjacent to
the landfill were found to be contaminated with volatile organic
compounds and/or lead. The contaminants found were similar to those
found in monitoring wells on the landfill itself. It also documented
investigations of private well contamination in the township's Silverton
section, beginning in June 1981. At that time, when residents complained
of chemical odors and tastes in private well water, but the source
of volatile organic compounds found during testing of the water
has not been established. The affected private wells near the landfill
and in Silverton are no longer in use. The assessment concluded
that the landfill was also a public health hazard because of past
exposures to groundwater contaminants in nearby private wells but
does not represent a public health hazard at present since the exposure
has been interrupted.
The
Ciba-Geigy public health assessment traced the history of
the site back to 1952, when the Toms River Chemical Company began
the production of dyes, resins and other chemicals. It detailed
the disposal of wastes on-site and discharge of treated wastewater
into the Toms River and later through a 10-mile-long pipeline into
the Atlantic Ocean. In the mid-1960s, the Holly Street well field,
which was a major source for the community water supply, was found
to be contaminated. Those wells were later taken out of service
and sealed.
The
Ciba-Geigy assessment concluded the site was a public health hazard
in the past, in part because a potentially large number of people
were exposed to site-related contaminants in their drinking water
in the mid-1960s. The site is considered to pose no apparent public
health hazard at present because of a number of actions that have
been taken to protect the community. Contaminated wells that served
the public water supply have been closed and affected private wells
that had been used for irrigation have been sealed. The plant phased
out manufacturing in the early 1990s and ceased operations by 1996.
Contaminated groundwater around the site is being pumped out, treated
and returned to the aquifer.
The
public health consultation on Dover Township's public water supply
quality summarized all the results of public drinking water
testing conducted since the beginning of the Dover Township childhood
cancer investigation in 1996. In most respects, the Dover Township's
public water supply appears typical of groundwater-based community
water supplies in southern New Jersey. However, water testing results
released in 1996 showed that a previously unidentified contaminant
-- styrene-acrylonitrile trimer -- was found in samples from certain
water system supply wells in the Parkway well field. The trimer,
a by-product of plastics manufacturing, is linked to the Reich Farm
Superfund site. The USEPA is overseeing research into the potential
toxicity of the trimer. Meanwhile, treatment systems have been installed
to remove chemicals in water from the affected wells.
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More
information on this investigation can be found at the New Jersey
Department of Health and Senior Services' website at www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/hhazweb/dovertwp.htm.
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