article: landlord must pay for day-care cleanup (was former thermometer manufac)

August 29, 2006

Note -- the CDC acutally " found " elevated levels in thier blood. ...

Landlord must pay for day-care cleanup

Voluntary agreement is no longer enough, a DEP official said. " We

don't want to be revisiting this property again. "

By Sam Wood

Philadelhpia Inquirer Staff Writer

The landlord of a mercury-contaminated day care in Gloucester County

has been directed by the state Department of Environmental

Protection to pay $500,000 for a state-directed cleanup.

The landlord, Jim Sullivan Inc., previously entered into a voluntary

agreement with the DEP to clean the site, a former thermometer

factory in linville that was polluted with mercury.

But yesterday, a DEP spokesman said a voluntary agreement was no

longer good enough.

" It's now a priority, " said T. Corcory, an assistant director

for the department. " Sullivan has been working to clean up the

property, but he could have walked away at any time. We don't want

to be revisiting this property again in five or 10 years. This

guarantees it will get done. "

The directive, dated Aug. 17, also is addressed to Accutherm Inc.,

the bankrupt thermometer manufacturer, and Navillus Group L.L.C.,

which bought the tax liens on the property and turned it over for $1

to linville real estate company Jim Sullivan Inc.

The DEP directive was first reported in the Gloucester County Times.

It was made available to The Inquirer yesterday.

Kiddie Kollege Day Care and Pre School operated for two years inside

the squat cinder-block building located directly across from the

offices of Jim Sullivan Inc.

The DEP closed the day care July 28 after tests showed " extremely

high " levels of mercury vapors existed in the building, possibly

affecting about 90 children.

About 20 children who attended Kiddie Kollege and one staff member

were found to have elevated levels of mercury in their blood,

according to tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention in Atlanta.

The state Attorney General's Office is conducting a criminal

investigation into how the building was allowed to open as a day

care.

The Aug. 17 directive is not the first to be issued to owners of the

site. A similar order was issued on April 7, 1995, to the owner of

Accutherm Inc., Philip J. Giuliano of burg, Va. It, too, was

signed by Corcory.

No action was ever taken, Corcory said, because Accutherm had gone

bankrupt and " it didn't appear that anyone was going to be in the

building. "

The directive to Sullivan was issued the same day a comparable

directive was sent to the landlord of a Dover Township day care.

Ultimate Scholar in Toms River was forced to close Aug. 10 after

high levels of tetrachloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical also

known as PCE, were discovered in a children's play area.

The linville property and the Toms River location were both on

the DEP's list of known contaminated sites when the day-care centers

first opened their doors to young children. There is no state or

federal law that prohibits a day care or school from setting up shop

on a known contaminated site.

The directive calls for Jim Sullivan Inc. to enter into a contract,

called an administrative consent order, with the DEP. But according

to the DEP, on Aug. 15 Sullivan rejected the order even though it

allowed him to provide a " preemptive " plan.

A preemptive plan would allow Sullivan to provide its own

environmental consultant and its own contractors to complete the

cleanup.

" The administrative consent order only binds them to do the work, "

Corcory said. " The DEP would only oversee the operation. "

Sullivan's owner, Jim Sullivan Jr. of linville, and his

attorney, Hluchian, were not available for comment yesterday.

Environmentalists, however, were outraged that cleanup of the

mercury-tainted site could remain under Sullivan's control.

" We cannot trust Jim Sullivan and his people. He has proven himself

untrustworthy, " said Bill Wolfe, a former DEP staffer for 13 years

who now heads an environmental-watchdog group.

" He has an economic stake in minimizing the cleanup costs, " said

Wolfe, the director of Public Employees for Environmental

Responsibility. " The state's interest is making sure it gets done

right. "

In addition, Wolfe said, $500,000 is hardly enough for a cleanup.

Other environmentalists had additional reservations.

" It's totally inappropriate for the DEP to enter into any agreement

with Sullivan before the criminal investigation is over, " said Jeff

Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

Tittel also said it was " highly unlikely " that Sullivan did not know

the building housed a former thermometer plant and therefore the

cleanup should be handled differently. A thorough cleanup will

involve demolishing the building and carting off tons of rubble and

surrounding soil.

" It will cost millions if they do it right and don't play games, "

Tittel said. " Under the law, the DEP has the power to take over the

site, clean it up, and sue Sullivan for triple damages. That's what

DEP should do here. "

August 29, 2006

Great. Does he have to pay for " clean up " (chelation) of the kids, too?

S S

Note -- the CDC acutally " found " elevated levels in thier blood.

....

Landlord must pay for day-care cleanup

Voluntary agreement is no longer enough, a DEP official said. " We

don't want to be revisiting this property again. "

By Sam Wood

Philadelhpia Inquirer Staff Writer

The landlord of a mercury-contaminated day care in Gloucester County

has been directed by the state Department of Environmental

Protection to pay $500,000 for a state-directed cleanup.

The landlord, Jim Sullivan Inc., previously entered into a voluntary

agreement with the DEP to clean the site, a former thermometer

factory in linville that was polluted with mercury.

But yesterday, a DEP spokesman said a voluntary agreement was no

longer good enough.

" It's now a priority, " said T. Corcory, an assistant director

for the department. " Sullivan has been working to clean up the

property, but he could have walked away at any time. We don't want

to be revisiting this property again in five or 10 years. This

guarantees it will get done. "

The directive, dated Aug. 17, also is addressed to Accutherm Inc.,

the bankrupt thermometer manufacturer, and Navillus Group L.L.C.,

which bought the tax liens on the property and turned it over for $1

to linville real estate company Jim Sullivan Inc.

The DEP directive was first reported in the Gloucester County Times.

It was made available to The Inquirer yesterday.

Kiddie Kollege Day Care and Pre School operated for two years inside

the squat cinder-block building located directly across from the

offices of Jim Sullivan Inc.

The DEP closed the day care July 28 after tests showed " extremely

high " levels of mercury vapors existed in the building, possibly

affecting about 90 children.

About 20 children who attended Kiddie Kollege and one staff member

were found to have elevated levels of mercury in their blood,

according to tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention in Atlanta.

The state Attorney General's Office is conducting a criminal

investigation into how the building was allowed to open as a day

care.

The Aug. 17 directive is not the first to be issued to owners of the

site. A similar order was issued on April 7, 1995, to the owner of

Accutherm Inc., Philip J. Giuliano of burg, Va. It, too, was

signed by Corcory.

No action was ever taken, Corcory said, because Accutherm had gone

bankrupt and " it didn't appear that anyone was going to be in the

building. "

The directive to Sullivan was issued the same day a comparable

directive was sent to the landlord of a Dover Township day care.

Ultimate Scholar in Toms River was forced to close Aug. 10 after

high levels of tetrachloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical also

known as PCE, were discovered in a children's play area.

The linville property and the Toms River location were both on

the DEP's list of known contaminated sites when the day-care centers

first opened their doors to young children. There is no state or

federal law that prohibits a day care or school from setting up shop

on a known contaminated site.

The directive calls for Jim Sullivan Inc. to enter into a contract,

called an administrative consent order, with the DEP. But according

to the DEP, on Aug. 15 Sullivan rejected the order even though it

allowed him to provide a " preemptive " plan.

A preemptive plan would allow Sullivan to provide its own

environmental consultant and its own contractors to complete the

cleanup.

" The administrative consent order only binds them to do the work, "

Corcory said. " The DEP would only oversee the operation. "

Sullivan's owner, Jim Sullivan Jr. of linville, and his

attorney, Hluchian, were not available for comment yesterday.

Environmentalists, however, were outraged that cleanup of the

mercury-tainted site could remain under Sullivan's control.

" We cannot trust Jim Sullivan and his people. He has proven himself

untrustworthy, " said Bill Wolfe, a former DEP staffer for 13 years

who now heads an environmental-watchdog group.

" He has an economic stake in minimizing the cleanup costs, " said

Wolfe, the director of Public Employees for Environmental

Responsibility. " The state's interest is making sure it gets done

right. "

In addition, Wolfe said, $500,000 is hardly enough for a cleanup.

Other environmentalists had additional reservations.

" It's totally inappropriate for the DEP to enter into any agreement

with Sullivan before the criminal investigation is over, " said Jeff

Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

Tittel also said it was " highly unlikely " that Sullivan did not know

the building housed a former thermometer plant and therefore the

cleanup should be handled differently. A thorough cleanup will

involve demolishing the building and carting off tons of rubble and

surrounding soil.

" It will cost millions if they do it right and don't play games, "

Tittel said. " Under the law, the DEP has the power to take over the

site, clean it up, and sue Sullivan for triple damages. That's what

DEP should do here. "

</div>

</body>

<head>

<!--

#ygrp-mlmsg {font-size:13px; font-family:

arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;*font-size:small;*font:x-small;}

#ygrp-mlmsg table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;}

#ygrp-mlmsg select, input, textarea {font:99% arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;}

#ygrp-mlmsg pre, code {font:115% monospace;*font-size:100%;}

#ygrp-mlmsg * {line-height:1.22em;}

#ygrp-text{

font-family: Georgia;

}

#ygrp-text p{

margin: 0 0 1em 0;

}

#ygrp-tpmsgs{

font-family: Arial;

clear: both;

}

#ygrp-vitnav{

padding-top: 10px;

font-family: Verdana;

font-size: 77%;

margin: 0;

}

#ygrp-vitnav a{

padding: 0 1px;

}

#ygrp-actbar{

clear: both;

margin: 25px 0;

white-space:nowrap;

color: #666;

text-align: right;

}

#ygrp-actbar .left{

float: left;

white-space:nowrap;

}

..bld{font-weight:bold;}

#ygrp-grft{

font-family: Verdana;

font-size: 77%;

padding: 15px 0;

}

#ygrp-ft{

font-family: verdana;

font-size: 77%;

border-top: 1px solid #666;

padding: 5px 0;

}

#ygrp-mlmsg #logo{

padding-bottom: 10px;

}

#ygrp-vital{

background-color: #e0ecee;

margin-bottom: 20px;

padding: 2px 0 8px 8px;

}

#ygrp-vital #vithd{

font-size: 77%;

font-family: Verdana;

font-weight: bold;

color: #333;

text-transform: uppercase;

}

#ygrp-vital ul{

padding: 0;

margin: 2px 0;

}

#ygrp-vital ul li{

list-style-type: none;

clear: both;

border: 1px solid #e0ecee;

}

#ygrp-vital ul li .ct{

font-weight: bold;

color: #ff7900;

float: right;

width: 2em;

text-align:right;

padding-right: .5em;

}

#ygrp-vital ul li .cat{

font-weight: bold;

}

#ygrp-vital a {

text-decoration: none;

}

#ygrp-vital a:hover{

text-decoration: underline;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #hd{

color: #999;

font-size: 77%;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #ov{

padding: 6px 13px;

background-color: #e0ecee;

margin-bottom: 20px;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #ov ul{

padding: 0 0 0 8px;

margin: 0;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #ov li{

list-style-type: square;

padding: 6px 0;

font-size: 77%;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #ov li a{

text-decoration: none;

font-size: 130%;

}

#ygrp-sponsor #nc {

background-color: #eee;

margin-bottom: 20px;

padding: 0 8px;

}

#ygrp-sponsor .ad{

padding: 8px 0;

}

#ygrp-sponsor .ad #hd1{

font-family: Arial;

font-weight: bold;

color: #628c2a;

font-size: 100%;

line-height: 122%;

}

#ygrp-sponsor .ad a{

text-decoration: none;

}

#ygrp-sponsor .ad a:hover{

text-decoration: underline;

}

#ygrp-sponsor .ad p{

margin: 0;

}

o {font-size: 0; }

..MsoNormal {

margin: 0 0 0 0;

}

#ygrp-text tt{

font-size: 120%;

}

blockquote{margin: 0 0 0 4px;}

..replbq {margin:4}

-->

</style>

</head>

</html>

_______________________________________________

Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com

The most personalized portal on the Web!

Sign In

article: landlord must pay for day-care cleanup (was former thermometer manufac)

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

Guest guest

Join the conversation

Activity