Residents fear health effects of black dust Neighbors of mill say material continues to blanket homes, cars BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING staff Sayreville resident Timothy Eppinger holds a bag of dust collected on his property that he and others allege to be coming from a nearby steel plant. Black dust that collects on properties near a Sayreville factory is reported to contain hazardous materials. Timothy Eppinger, who lives on Wilbur Terrace near the Gerdau Ameristeel plant, said a sample he collected was tested at STL Edison, which provides environmental analytical services, and was found to contain hazardous air pollutants including mercury, arsenic, lead, nickel and chromium. He and other residents believe the material that accumulates on their homes and cars is coming from the factory at Crossman Road and Main Street. The plant has been there for over 30 years, but has operated as Gerdau Ameristeel since 2002. It manufactures products including reinforcement bars for handrails and concrete for use on bridges and curbs. The company has not taken responsibility for the dust residents have been finding on their properties in recent months, but has said it will work to address the concerns of the community and the borough Environmental Commission. SCOTT PILLING staff Black material can be seen on this concrete exterior of a home on Wilbur Terrace. The company's environmental manager, Timothy R. Tarantino, could not be reached for comment yesterday, but said at the Feb. 5 Environmental Commission meeting that the company is the largest employer in the borough and was in the process of implementing a weather station and a noise monitoring station in response to residents' concerns. "We try to be a good neighbor," Tarantino said. "Nobody is perfect. If we do get [a complaint], we try to act on it." Eppinger's neighbor, Ann Mazanec, told the Suburban that the dust has affected her quality of life, and that the problem has gotten worse over the past year. "I don't mind the mill being here," Mazanec said, "but not at the expense of my health and my property." Mazanec, who has lived on Wilbur Terrace for 17 years and has a 13-year-old child, showed the Suburban how the dust covers her home, accumulating on the siding and the windows. SCOTT PILLING staff The dust, in this case collected by Wilbur Terrace resident Timothy Eppinger, is the subject of an investigation by the Sayreville Environmental Commission. "I washed the windows and the window sills last week, and it is already back," Mazanec said. "Most of the house is blanketed in this. Normally I would have nice patio furniture out." Mazanec said she scrapped plans to replace her backyard fence with a white vinyl fence, because of the dust she finds on her property on a regular basis. "You can't make any improvements," Mazanec said. "You don't know what is going to be damaged." Melanie Worob, of the grassroots environmental group Edison Wetlands Association, said her group became aware of the issue last fall, and is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is expected to create a dust management plan with the steel mill. "We are trying to work with them, but as of right now, we feel that the state and the borough are sweeping us under the rug," Worob said. "We are trying to get something done." Residents and members of her environmental group should be invited to tour the Ameristeel facility, Worob said, noting that the Environmental Commission is in the process of setting up an independent analysis of what is being done there. "They are not allowing any concerned residents or environmental groups to tour the facility," Worob said. "Since this is affecting the residents, they should be allowed to go." Worob provided the Suburban documents listing 144 DEP violations found at the mill over the past seven years. The company's discharges into the air and water were the subject of the majority of the citations. Eppinger attended Monday's meeting of the Environmental Commission to voice his concerns. Though representatives of the Middlesex County Public Health Department and Gerdau Ameristeel attended the commission's Feb. 5 meeting, they did not attend this week's. Ronald Green, vice chairman of the Environmental Commission, said he visited Eppinger at the house on Feb. 12. "I asked Mr. Eppinger to come here tonight to drop off to the commission a slag sample, so we would be able to take it to a lab and have it analyzed as to its content," Green said. Eppinger gave the commission dust samples and showed them photographs of damage to his property, which is owned by his father. He said he thinks the mill is dumping slag pots on the ground, thereby kicking dust into the air. Eppinger said he has to wash his car with great care, as the dust material will scratch the paint. He added that the dust caused white paint to dissolve. Eppinger, who has lived in the area since before the mill was built, said the problem has gotten progressively worse in the past eight months. Commission members resolved to go to Eppinger's home with professionals from borough engineering firm CME Associates to collect a sample for testing. They will then compare their results to those found at STL Edison, Green said. Two of the commission's members, Caryn Muskus and Chairman Pat Walsh, live in the vicinity of the mill, on Modzelewski Terrace. Both said that they have had similar problems with black dust appearing on their property and noise coming from the steel mill. Walsh said he had to throw away backyard chairs that were out on his property because of the slag dust he found on it. He noted that power washing the dust only creates a solid black color on the surface. "I had my house painted three times in the last seven years," Walsh said. Walsh agreed that the situation with the mill has gotten worse for the neighbors. "It is much noisier now, and the smell is much stronger," he said, describing the smell as sulfur-like. "They are burning stuff that shouldn't be burned," Walsh claimed. "There is no question." Walsh, who said he worked at the mill for about a year, noted that more residents have been coming forward, reporting the presence of dust on their properties and noise that they are hearing during the week and on weekends. "The noise, especially at night, is absolutely ridiculous," he said. Green noted that the mill was fined $1,000 on Jan. 2 for a violation. "It seems like they are getting cited, fined, and then continue doing what they want to do," Green said. Walsh said that while the mill is the borough's largest taxpayer, it has been cited often, and something needs to be done to protect the neighbors. The commission also made note of a large pile of slag material that was found outside the plant and is not covered. "I swear that is the stuff that is blowing on us," Walsh said. Green said the commission asked the mill to cover the slag pile, but the mill said it could not due to the cost. "If this is toxic [material] dropping on people in that area, that needs to be stopped immediately," Green said. Mazanec reiterated that she does not want the mill to have to relocate, or to close down. "I have no problem with the steel mill, I just don't want them dumping anything here where I live," Mazanec said. "That is not right."