http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1104935215221550.xml
Vow to sue
to prevent disturbing dioxin site under bay, Kill Van Kull
Wednesday,
January 05, 2005
By The
Associated Press
Several environmental
groups charged yesterday that plans to dredge
Any dredging near the
Diamond Alkali Superfund site - which includes
The dioxin is left over
from Agent Orange produced at a nearby plant during the Vietnam War, the groups
said.
The groups said they have
filed a notice of intent to sue the Army Corps of Engineers and the Port
Authority of New York and
"It's like dropping
depth charges into one of the biggest toxic waste dumps on the East Coast with
no thought at all about the consequences," said NRDC attorney Brad Sewell.
"This has the
potential to be a win-win situation. Hazardous material must eventually be
removed from the bay anyhow. But without safeguards they are going to wind up
spreading toxic contamination into important recreational and commercial
waterways."
Army Corps of Engineers
spokesman Peter Shugert said the agency received a notice of intent to sue and
was reviewing it. Shugert said the Corps has been involved in major navigation
programs since the late 1980s, adheres to "the most stringent testing
standards" and uses advanced technology.
"We have and continue
to perform extensive testing on all our dredged material to ensure
environmental compliance," Shugert said.
Port Authority officials
declined to comment.
The multibillion-dollar
dredging project is to deepen the shipping channels around
The harbor region is
essentially an estuary with a natural depth of 18 feet to 19 feet, and the Port
Authority and federal government have already spent $1.2 billion since 1997 on
a series of dredging projects deepening channels to up to 45 feet.
From 1951 to 1969, the
Diamond Alkali Company owned and operated a pesticides manufacturing plant in
According to the
environmental groups,
The state Department of
Environmental Protection has banned crabbing in and around