VOTING IS AN IMPORTANT RIGHT FOR AMERICANS

Dallas-hanover Area Showdown Will Be Key For Division Ii Race

By JIM KERSTETTER; Times Leader Hazleton Bureau
 Sunday, November 01, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A/14A QUICK WORDS: C&amp;D SUPERFUND 





FOSTER TWP. -- An attorney working for the township upped the ante Thursday
night in the continuing squabble over the former C&amp;D Recycling Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Philadelphia-based attorney Robert Sugarman said in a telephone interview
that he has evidence AT&amp;T sent selenium and arsenic to the site, backing
charges that nearby residents have been endangered by high levels of arsenic
and selenium in the soil and in their groundwater wells. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The C&amp;D facility, closed since the early 1980s, is on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list and is considered one of the
worst 1,300 contaminated sites in the country. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 AT&amp;T is considered a responsible party for cleanup of the site because C&amp;D
processed and recycled cabling from an AT&amp;T subsidiary, AT&amp;T Nassau Metals. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But just how much contamination is on the site and in nearby soil and
groundwater is a matter of contention. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Township officials and local residents have maintained the EPA grossly
underestimates the extent of contamination on- and off-site. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sugarman, who is also representing 10 C&amp;D neighbors in a lawsuit against
AT&amp;T, charged that AT&amp;T sent selenium rectifiers -- used as gauges in the
phone company's central offices -- and gallium arsenic chips from the Bell
labs in Murray Hill, N.J. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A retired toxicologist who worked at the Bell labs testified that he saw
the gallium arsenic chips being made, Sugarman said. The selenium rectifiers
were used to monitor air quality at AT&amp;T's central offices, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said he has proof -- shipping orders and other written material -- to
confirm his allegations that arsenic and selenium were sent to the site. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lead and copper sent to the C&amp;D facility also contained arsenic and
selenium, Sugarman charged. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "AT&amp;T has neither admitted nor denied it was sent there," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 AT&amp;T spokeswoman Nancy Smith said she was unable to contact the phone
company's environmental engineers Friday to discuss Sugarman's charges but
said she will look into it this week. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About a month ago, the EPA announced it wanted AT&amp;T to dispose of the
contaminated material off site unless the phone company can prove the safety
and feasibility of disposing on site within the next 180 days. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dr. Elaine Panitz of Princeton University, who was hired to by the township
to conduct environmental tests, advised 10 neighbors of the Superfund site
that they should evacuate their homes because of arsenic and selenium
contamination. No neighbors have left. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The two elements are considered carcinogens and can cause reproductive
damage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Panitz's advisory was based on the first in a battery of tests done on the
neighbors and their properties. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sugarman said the tests will make a strong case for drastic action on the
part of the EPA but acknowledged that it will be difficult to get the agency
to accept his data. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Under Superfund law, the party considered responsible for the cleanup
performs testing on the site with EPA supervision. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The party which complained about the contamination -- in this case local
residents and the township -- does not normally take part in testing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The township is considering a lawsuit to force the EPA to accept the data
gathered by Sugarman and the township and to base decisions on the C&amp;D cleanup
in part on that data.

C&d Contamination Neighbors' Lawyer Says He Can Pin Poison On At&t Attorney Says Firm Sent Arsenic, Selenium To Superfund Site