Health Report Shows Danger of Naphthalene at Quanta Site

A new state Department of Health report has found that elevated levels of naphthalene coming from the Quanta Superfund site could cause harmful short-term health effects to residents exposed to the fumes. EPA officials said there was no health risk, despite Edgewater residents complaining last year about health impacts from the noxious fumes they endured for nine months. Work at the site was temporarily halted in March 2018 to reduce naphthalene levels.

“EPA’s deliberate misstatements on the fumes should have everyone fuming over their role at the Quanta site. We have said all along there’s no way to dig up the site without health impacts from pollution. This just shows again that EPA is every polluter’s advocate under the Trump administration. Naphthalene was emitted into the air from the site nearly every day for nine months, yet EPA said there was no health risk. The state health report vindicates the people who have suffered. These are the consequences of the EPA siding with Honeywell’s pave and wave approach, capping the site instead of a full cleanup plan,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “From the beginning, we said this would happen without a proper cleanup. We know the damage naphthalene has done, and residents will continue to be at risk.”

Naphthalene was released at the site after Honeywell began digging up contaminated soil in 2017 as part of its cleanup plan. Honeywell wants to prevent coal tar, arsenic and oil byproducts from escaping into the Hudson River by encasing them in concrete. Levels of naphthalene, which can cause cancer, began spiking in June 2017 and continued nearly every workday through March 2018, when work at the site was temporarily halted. The state health report found that at their peak naphthalene levels reached nearly 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter. Half that amount can cause respiratory damage.

“The EPA should require a full cleanup, with proper controls to prevent naphthalene and other chemicals from becoming airborne. Honeywell’s plan doesn’t actually remove the contamination. Instead, it traps the coal tar in the ground and suspends arsenic and other metals before they can get into groundwater. This is the result of the EPA allowing them to cut corners. Instead of going with the most appropriate cleanup, they went with the less effective, cheaper cleanup plan. This has already had health impacts including the elevated levels of naphthalene and will come at a longer-term cost to public health and the environment,” said Tittel.

The state health report found that changes in work site practices after March 2018 have reduced the naphthalene levels. The report said 88 percent of daily averages have remained below the federal “acute screening level” of 60 micrograms per cubic meter. If that continues, no additional short-term health effects from the naphthalene are expected, according to the report. Long-term health effects such as cancer from the exposure levels at the Quanta site were deemed unlikely.

“EPA sided with Honeywell over public health, and did what’s cheapest for Honeywell, not what’s best to protect the public. The Quanta site is one of the most contaminated and toxic sites in the state with tons of volatile organic compounds, arsenic, lead and hydrocarbons. Leaving the toxins under the Hudson River instead of removing them has already led to a problem with vapor intrusion in the surrounding buildings. The site is located in a very densely populated area and because there is so much contamination, the soil and groundwater plans do not go far enough. This area is on fill in the Hudson River where river water and seasonally high water tables can move these contaminants around. That is why there needs to be a real cleanup and not just stabilization,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The report on the health effects of naphthalene exposure should serve as an alarm bell that the site requires a full cleanup plan.”