A pipe installed as part of a vapor mitigation system at the Marion Courts condo complex in April. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is expanding testing to determine if vapor contamination from a former dry cleaning business is wider than the Marion Street condo complex where it is already being remediated.
Marion Courts (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
Earlier this year, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection installed a mitigation system at Red Bank’s Marion Street condominium complex, where elevated levels of chemical vapors were detected inside homes.
The nine-unit Marion Courts complex, recognizable for its unique architecture, sits on the site of a former dry-cleaning business near the corner of Harrison Avenue. Residents remain in their homes as the remediation work continues.
The system was put in place after tests from April and July 2024 detected the vapors, and a DEP spokesperson said sampling over a wider area could take place in November.
That appears to have occurred.
The DEP recently sent letter to homeowners on Harrison Avenue, alerting them that tests will be done there as well.
In response to questions from redbankgreen a DEP spokesman sent an email reply reading:
The DEP’s Bureau of Environmental Measurement & Site Assessment (BEMSA) is conducting additional vapor intrusion sampling within several homes along Harrison Avenue, which is in proximity to the nine-unit condominium complex at Marion Street and Harrison Avenue where vapor mitigation systems were installed in the spring after tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) were found above indoor air remediation standards in multiple condominium units. These compounds were commonly used by the dry-cleaning industry. This sampling process is generally conducted in a phased approach by assessing homes within 100 feet of a sample location which exhibited levels of a contaminant(s) at concentrations exceeding a particular standard.
For further information, visit the DataMiner public database and use Program Interest number 1050680. To search a property by Program Interest number, click Search By Site on the DataMiner home page and then click the ID tab on the next page. To find this specific case, choose Site Remediation at the Program menu, enter the Program Interest number in the ID field, click Program Interest and then Submit.
Information about vapor mitigation, possible impacts to water and air quality, as well as potential health effects, may be found at www.nj.gov/dep/srp/guidance/vaporintrusion/indoor_air.htm
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
