2015 / Q3 News Briefs

More than 875,000 tons of chromium-impacted soil and debris have been dug up and hauled away since the cleanup on Garfield Avenue began in July 2010.
Blood results confirm exposure prevention remains effective spacer

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 15, 2015 – The sixth round of blood samples collected from residents living near the Garfield Avenue chromium cleanup sites confirms the multiple and overlapping exposure prevention measures are working. No detectable levels of chromium were found in blood samples.

Blood samples were collected from community volunteers from June 10 through June 22, 2015 in the latest installment of an independent study administered by the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) at Rutgers University. The project is designed to determine whether community exposure to hexavalent chromium changes during and after the cleanup on Garfield Avenue.

Laboratory results from all six rounds show there have been no changes in chromium levels that could be attributed to the digging up and hauling away of more than 875,000 tons of chromium-impacted soil and debris since the cleanup began in July 2010. Fewer than 25,000 tons remain and cleanup of the main Garfield Avenue group of sites is scheduled for completion early next year.

"At the beginning of the cleanup in 2010, we promised the community that every effort would be made to protect residents from chromium exposure as a result of excavation activity," said Mike McCabe, the independent, court-appointed site administrator. "That promise has been kept and confirmed, once again, by the latest blood sampling results."

Among the protective measures is a dust-suppression plan designed to prevent excavated materials, including hexavalent chromium, from becoming airborne. McCabe said air-monitoring results also confirm extensive exposure prevention efforts are working. Hexavalent chromium levels measured in airborne dust at the perimeter of the site are well within safety levels established by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Click here to see latest results.

McCabe said the voluntary blood sampling program is being conducted in response to community concerns about exposure during the cleanup. Under program guidelines, the samples are collected by EOHSI and then analyzed by an independent laboratory.

The first round of sampling was conducted in June 2010 before cleanup activities began at the Garfield Avenue Site the next month. A final round of sampling will be conducted after the main sites cleanup is completed next year.

No additional residents can be enrolled in the blood sampling program because blood samples taken before the cleanup work began are required for comparison against samples collected during and after the cleanup.