=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #65
—February 22, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
==========
The Back issues and Index are available
here.
The official RACHEL archive is here.
It’s updated constantly.
To subscribe, send E-mail to rachel-weekly-
request@world.std.com
with the single word SUBSCRIBE in the message. It’s free.
===Previous issue==========================================Next issue===
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TRY TO FORCE CAREFUL CHEMICAL USE
Connecticut is putting indirect pressure on users of hazardous
materials, to make them be more careful. Connecticut’s
Industrial Transfer Law requires any business selling property to
notify the buyer and the state Environmental Protection
Department (EPD) in Hartford about any wastes that are, or were,
stored on-site, or, if the site is contaminated, to clean up the
site on a EPD-approved schedule. Failure to notify the seller or
the EPD about on-site wastes, or providing false information
about contamination at the site, makes the seller liable for
cleanup costs and for a penalty of up to $100,000. The
Connecticut law covers all sellers who generate, transport or
dispose of over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of hazardous materials
per month. The Connecticut law was passed in 1985 and was
amended, effective October 1, 1987, to apply to any sites where
hazardous materials have been used at any time since April 30,
1967.
New Jersey has an even more comprehensive property transfer law
called ECRA (Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act) which says
industrial property cannot be sold until it has been inspected
and certified clean by the NJ Department of Environmental
Protection. Failure to comply with ECRA invalidates a sale. The
ECRA law is unpopular among industrialists in NJ because the
state has not been able to inspect properties in a timely
fashion, thus causing many delays in property transfers. The law
is being amended, some fear gutted, now in the state legislature.
Ocean County, New Jersey, has passed a local version of ECRA to
cover residential property. As a result of groundwater
contamination by Ciba-Geigy and other polluters in Ocean County,
the county government now requires any residential property to
have its water supply tested before it can be sold.
For further information on the Connecticut law, contact Jack
Gelting, Connecticut Environmental Protection Department, 165
Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106; phone (203) 566-5473. For a
copy of NJ’s ECRA law, contact the Secretary of State, 125 West
State St., Trenton, NJ 08625; phone (609) 984-1900. The Ocean
County law is available from County Clerk, Ocean County
Administration Building, CN 2191, Toms River, NJ 08754; phone
(201) 244-2121; ask for the law requiring water testing prior to
sale of residential properties.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: regulation; ct; nj; remedial action; ecra;