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Air to be sampled since wipes are 'inconclusive'
Environmental group criticizes handling of 'black dust' samples
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
Atoxicology expert last week sought to allay the concerns of Sayreville residents who live near a steel mill and have continued to find "black dust" material accumulating on their properties.
Neighbors of the Gerdau Ameristeel mill have been raising concerns throughout the year at borough meetings and information sessions hosted by the steel mill at its plant on North Crossman Road. The steel mill held another session last week to discuss the results of tests funded by the mill and conducted by independent, stateapproved laboratories.
Though the steel mill has not accepted responsibility for the dust, Gerdau Ameristeel spokesman Steven Ross said it is making on-site improvements, including the implementation of noise- and air-monitoring equipment.
"Steps are being taken to reduce the amount of dust leaving the site," Ross said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection recently fined the mill $437,400 for violations related to depositing industrial slag on freshwater wetlands areas, exceeding allowable opacity concentrations during parts of 2006 and 2007, and failing to monitor nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compound emissions in the first quarter of this year. The mill is appealing one of those violations, according to Ross.
"More than 90 percent of the fines were the result of calibration errors with the monitoring equipment," Ross told residents at the Nov. 8 session. "Monitoring was being done continually."
Dr. Charles E. Gilbert, a toxicologist and epidemiologist hired by the steel mill to evaluate the results of "wipe tests" taken at nearby residential properties in August, said his preliminary evaluation indicates that the test results are inconclusive. However, he said, "the housing surface values" of the various metals that were found on the wipe samples are at acceptable levels.
One of the residents in attendance asked Gilbert about the health effects of the black dust that she and her neighbors find on their property.
"We want to know if the steel mill is poisoning us," she said.
Gilbert responded that the results were inconclusive, but that wipe sampling alone cannot answer that question.
"The wipes will never do that," he said.
Edison Wetlands Association, a nonprofit environmental organization, had Chapin Engineering review Gilbert's preliminary report, as well as statements made by the steel mill in letters to the public. Richard W. Chapin wrote in his review that the steel mill did not provide information that is considered to be standard operating procedure in environmental management. He said the results should state where the samples were collected, how they were collected, and the protocols used for analysis.
"Until such information is provided, the wipe sample data must be considered of no value," Chapin concluded.
Gilbert said surface wipes are used under defined conditions in order to evaluate human exposure to chemicals. He added that the small surface areas of the residents' windowsills lower the value of the data, making it less representative of the environmental conditions in the neighborhood.
There are also no standards or reference ranges for acceptable levels of metals found in wipe samplings, Gilbert said.
"There are no appropriate assessment numbers for what was done here," he said.
Gilbert also mentioned the possibility of substrate or unrelated contamination, which contributes to the data being inconclusive.
" … The materials contained in the surfaces sampled can contribute to the metal levels in the wipe and will reduce the ability to isolate and identify metal dusts located only on the surface," Gilbert wrote in his preliminary review.
The same resident who asked about health effects took issue with Gilbert's assertion that materials in residents' vinyl siding or in the paint on their homes may tamper with the test results. She said the metals found in the wipe samples are primarily from the black dust, not the materials that make up the surface that the sample was taken from.
Chapin, who sat in the audience with EWA members, residents and reporters, said the problems with substrate contamination are well known and should have been considered before the wipe sampling was done.
Gilbert said the mill did not hire him until after the two independent laboratories conducted the tests. He added that, despite Chapin's contentions, the concerns with substrate contamination of wipe sampling are not well known.
Chapin's method of using a magnet to collect samples of the dust is "highly unscientific," since it only collects ferrous metals like iron, Gilbert said.
"I'm not thrilled with it," Gilbert said. "I would not use them for sampling or risk assessment."
Chapin, in his review of Gilbert's preliminary evaluation, wrote that iron is a key factor in determining whether the steel mill is responsible for the black dust on residents' property, since he thinks there is no other potential source of an air pollutant with such a significant amount of iron in it.
"In the Wilbur Terrace dust sample we had analyzed, the dust contains 24 percent, by weight, iron, making iron the 'marker' compound that ties the dust to the G.A. [Gerdau Ameristeel] facility," Chapin said.
Ross noted that the steel mill is not the only industrial site in Sayreville. He added that the mill is determining what its relative contribution is in comparison to other industrial sites in the area.
"We are not pointing fingers at others," Ross said. "We are focusing on what our contribution is."
Gilbert said the data does not indicate an obvious pattern that would link the steel mill to the materials found in the wipe samples.
"The best way to do it now is through air sampling," Gilbert said.
Paul A. Eisen, the principal scientist of Roux Associates Inc., hired by the steel mill, was at the information session to answer questions about the mill's air monitoring program. Dust in the air will be collected at three monitoring stations in the vicinity surrounding the mill, he said, and the findings will then be analyzed.
"This is a way to get at the answers," Eisen said. "Six months ago [the mill] proposed to do it on a voluntary basis, but it takes time to set up."
EWA Executive Director Robert Spiegel suggested that the steel mill conduct tests of soil samples, taken where rainwater runs off the roofs of homes, since he said that is where the black dust tends to accumulate.
But Gilbert said that testing soil samples around the homes would have the same problems with contamination as the wipe sample tests.
"You will get whatever metals are on the side of the house," Gilbert said. "It won't answer the question you want to answer."
Mayor Kennedy O'Brien told Greater Media Newspapers that he was disappointed, because he expected conclusive results sooner.
"We have to address the needs of the residents in the immediate area of the steel mill who have been affected by these particles," O'Brien said.
"The Environmental Commission has performed a Herculean task," O'Brien added. "This is a very complex problem, and they have worked extraordinarily hard for the residents. They have my full faith and confidence. I think we are very fortunate to have this body of volunteers keeping this in the forefront and not letting this slip through the cracks."
Residents who observe black dust or smell strong odors can call the Middlesex County Air Pollution Control Program at (732) 745-8480 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. After-hours and weekend complaints can be made to the Middlesex County Sheriff's Department at (732) 745-3271 or to the state Department of Environmental Protection at (609) 584-4100 or (877) 927-6337.
The steel mill established a community action line at (866) 543-1835, which residents can call at anytime to report complaints..
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