Source: http://www.nj.com, July 17, 2015
By: Don E. Woods
In the early 1900s, Kil-Tone Company produced London Purple and Paris Green — exotic names for arsenic-based pesticides used to kill mosquitos and other pests — at a facility on Chestnut Avenue.
Although production of these pesticides ceased in the late 1930s, it left behind a legacy of lead and arsenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency (EPA). The contaminants can be found in soil at nearby residential properties — leading to the EPA planning to do remediation work.
Sampling is also done to check and see if contaminants have reached the Taklin Brach, Parvin Branch, groundwater and other water.
The public is invited to a public information meeting at Vineland City Hall on July 23 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The meeting will be attended by officials at the EPA, state Department of Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and city health officials.
Vineland has been in communication with the EPA remediation efforts, according to health director Dale Jones.
“They’re investigating the site and they’re doing a thorough job,” Jones said.
The former Kil-Tone site is now the location of Urban Sign and Crane Inc. on the 500 block of Chestnut Avenue.
The EPA did soil samples of surrounding properties in August 2014 and again in January and February 2015, founding elevated levels of arsenic and lead. Further sampling is planned to determine if other properties are affected.
Remediation plans include placing three inches of clean soil and grass seeds on the affected properties until a permanent solution can be found.
Residents in the affected area are advised to wash their hand and face before eating, wash vegetables grown in contaminated soils, limit children’s activity in the soil, clean the house weekly of dust and leave shoes in doorways to reduce soil entering the house.