Two weeks ago, the Trenton Times (NJ) reported:

HOPEWELL BOROUGH — As state officials scramble to determine if contamination from Hamilton's former Mercer Rubber plant caused cancer in hundreds of residents, another case of contaminated groundwater has quietly simmered in nearby Hopewell Borough.

Residents of Somerset and La fayette streets in this placid borough have been living with the knowledge that groundwater run ning under their homes has been contaminated with Trichloroe thene (TCE) from the former Rockwell Industries plant on Hamilton Avenue.

According to state Department of Environmental Protection officials, TCE levels as high as 400,000 parts per billion were found in the groundwater near the former plant. The state cleanup standard for TCE in drinking water is 1 part per billion.

[...]

As many as 18 homes have either been tested or will be tested, said John Persico of Blasland Bouck and Lee, a private Cranbury environmental consulting firm. So far, vapor removal systems have been installed in three homes and the company has purchased two homes on Somerset Street, rather than attempt to remediate them. Those lots, at 19 and 21 Somerset St., will be the site of a filtration plant designed to clean the groundwater.

Levels of TCE in the vapor ranged from about 8 micrograms per cubic meter to 50. The state standard for a safe amount of TCE in the air is 3 micrograms per cubic meter.

Read the full story here.

In a follow-up story just last week, the paper also reported on the impact the contamination has had on the sale of homes within the contaminated area:

Brenda Goeke thought she had found the house of her dreams: a two-bedroom bungalow on a quiet street in desirable Hopewell Borough. Little did she know that her Somerset Street home was sitting on millions of gallons of polluted groundwater that could take decades to clean up.

Now Goeke, along with neighbors of the former Rockwell Industries plant that polluted the land, want the company to buy out their homes because they charge that the contamination has turned their slice of bucolic Mercer County into a worthless investment that no one will want to buy — at least not for years to come.

"The bottom line is, the reason I can't sell my house is the contamination," said Goeke, whose home will sit next door to the soon-to-be built toxic groundwater filtration plant. She said she has been trying to sell her home at 29 Somerset St. for nearly six months. "It's worthless on the market. How could it not be with all that has gone on."

[...]

Now several of the remaining homeowners along Somerset Street are demanding that Rockwell also purchase their homes because the contamination will likely scare away buyers for years to come. In order to clean up their homes from the vapor intrusion, Rockwell has installed ventilation systems to remove the gas, and the company plans to pump out millions of gallons of groundwater to clean out the chemical. That process could take as long as 50 years, neighbors say they have been told.

"Pay us money for the house and give us some money for our inconvenience and we will be gone," said Somerset Street resident Harry Agin, who has lived on the road for more than 20 years. "I'll sell it to them at the assessed value and I won't even bicker with them. This is crazy."

Karen Merlini, who bought her Somerset Street house four years ago, said she had no idea the contamination existed when she purchased and will lose everything if she can't sell her property.

Read (the second) full article here.

Thanks to CPEO for both tips.