ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 179
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED DECEMBER 11, 1997
By Assemblymen ROONEY, GARCIA and Romano
An Assembly Resolution memorializing the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to take expeditious action to fully compensate occupants in a mercury contaminated building located in Hoboken, New Jersey for the loss of their residence and other related costs.
Whereas, The property located at 722-732 Grand Street, Hoboken, New Jersey is a former industrial building that was converted into residential dwelling units in the early 1990's; and
Whereas, This property was owned by the Cooper-Hewitt Electric Company (1910 to 1919); the General Electric Vapor Lamp Company (1919 to 1939); the General Electric Company (1939 to 1948); the Cooper-Hewitt Electric Company (or different company then the aforementioned company with the same name; 1948 to 1955, but tenants to 1965); and the Quality Tool and Die Company (1955 to 1988); and
Whereas, Cooper-Hewitt and General Electric manufactured mercury-containing switches, mercury vapor lamps, and other lighting materials and products at the site from 1910 to approximately 1965; and
Whereas, As a result of the manufacture of vapor lamps at the site and the methods employed in their manufacture, a significant amount of mercury was released into the building which seeped into the floors, ceilings, and walls of the building; and
Whereas, The General Electric Company, despite knowing as early as 1985 and definitely by 1989 that mercury had been discharged into an adjacent building on 8th Street, a building that was part of its mercury vapor lamp business on Grand Street, did not notify the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) about the mercury contamination of the 8th Street building or the potential mercury contamination of the Grand Street property; and
Whereas, In 1990, David Pascale, the owner of the Grand Street property and Quality Tool and Die Company, filed an application with the NJDEP for the cessation of operations at the Grand Street site, pursuant to the provisions of the "Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act" (ECRA); and
Whereas, The ECRA application failed to mention the fact that mercury lamps were manufactured on the site, and based on this representation, and despite the facts that the NJDEP reviewed the documents submitted, inspected the building involved, and knew or should have known about the adjacent mercury contaminated building on 8th Street, the NJDEP approved the ECRA application and issued a negative declaration (since revoked) for the site; and
Whereas, Based upon the NJDEP approval and upon the silence of former owners such as General Electric, David Pascale marketed the building for residential use and sold it to the Grand Street Artists Partnership in 1993; and
Whereas, The unsuspecting and unsophisticated partners who acquired the Grand Street property and who moved their 17 families into the property were unaware of the dangerous condition of the property, the extent of the mercury contamination of the building and the health threat the substance posed, and they did not find out about these conditions and risks until they either acquired or were in the process of acquiring their residential units; and
Whereas, After mercury was discovered on the site, a number of residents, including children, were found to have mercury concentrations in their bodies that posed significant health risks, and it was learned that the mercury contamination in the building was pervasive, consisting of large pools of free product beneath floor boards and in ceilings, and that the vapors had seeped into and potentially contaminated everything that was in the building; and
Whereas, Mercury and the vapors it emits have significant health effects including tremors in the fingers, eyelids, lips, hands and arms, depression, irritability, exaggerated response to stimuli, excessive shyness, insomnia, emotional instability, and death; and
Whereas, The situation was so severe at the Grand Street building that upon notice to the Hoboken Health Department, the DEP, and the USEPA a determination that the building posed "an imminent public health threat" was made and the EPA has begun the process to have the building and the site placed on the National Priorities List under the "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980" (Superfund); and
Whereas, The USEPA has proposed that the building be torn down and properly disposed of and that the residents of the building be compensated for their loss of property as well as for temporary and permanent relocation costs and other costs incidental to the inconvenience they have suffered; and
Whereas, Despite the clear legal prohibitions against the discharge of hazardous substances such as mercury, and the statutory and common law imposition of strict, joint and several liability for such discharges on both the federal and State level, the General Electric Company has denied liability and has had the audacity to consider legal action against the residents of the building, the victims in this case, claiming they should be responsible for the damages incurred as a result of General Electric's illegal, immoral, and dangerous activities; and
Whereas, The legal action filed by the General Electric Company is all the more appalling given the environmental history of that company in discharging PCBs into the Hudson River and in polluting the land and groundwater at numerous sites in New Jersey and throughout the nation; and
Whereas, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection shares some moral if not legal responsibility for the situation the residents of the Grand Street property find themselves in because the NJDEP negligently allowed the conversion of this building into residential units, a governmental action relied upon by the residents to their obvious detriment; and
Whereas, It is in the best interests of the State and of all concerned that the residents of the Grand Street building be compensated for the financial harm done to them, and that they be permanently relocated to other dwellings, and not have to further concern themselves with the liability and remediation of the Grand Street property; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are memorialized to expeditiously take actions, including, as necessary, the expenditure of Superfund and New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund monies in order to fully compensate the residents of 722 - 732 Grand Street for the loss of their residence, for the temporary relocation costs, moving and related expenses, replacement housing costs, and other similar costs that they may incur.
2. A duly authenticated copy of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested to by the Clerk thereof, shall be transmitted to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
STATEMENT
This resolution memorializes the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to take expeditious action to fully compensate residents of 722 - 732 Grand Street, Hoboken, New Jersey, for the economic harm they have incurred because the building at that location was declared an imminent public health threat due to the presence of mercury throughout the building. The residents were innocent landowners who acquired a converted industrial building as residences.
The mercury had been discharged at the site by the Cooper-Hewitt Electric Company and the General Electric Company. The residents also relied upon the fraudulently obtained and negligently issued environmental approval by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Memorializes the USEPA and the NJDEP to take expeditious action to compensate residents of a mercury contaminated building in Hoboken, New Jersey.