Farmingdale outdoor art installation pays homage to dinosaurs, and is a chance for kids - and grownups - to learn dino facts.

Posted Tue, Sep 26, 2023 at 5:57 pm ET|

FARMINGDALE, NJ — Dinosaurs are coming to the woods of Farmingdale on an interactive trail, hosted by the Farmingdale Recreation Commission.

The Dinosaur Trail will be this weekend, Saturday, Sept. 30, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 1, also from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The trail's opening was delayed after last weekend's storm.

Realistic paintings on 8-foot-high plywood will feature a variety of dinosaur types - such as T-Rex - that will populate the woods behind the Community Center on Asbury Avenue, courtesy of artist Dave Castaldo, a borough resident.

"The goal of the trail is to bring excitement, wonder and education to the children in the area with some fun basic history," said Erika Bamonte, a member of the Recreation Commission.

She said the idea and execution of the Dinosaur Trail was designed by local photographer Kella MacPhee.

Find out what's happening in Howellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The dinosaurs were created by artist and art teacher at South Brunswick High School Castaldo, who also is Bamonte's husband.

One fun aspect of the trail is that MacPhee will set up interactive elements. She had children in town record interesting facts about each type of dinosaur, Bamonte said.

That way, when kids push the button for the explanation, they will hear kids voices do the narration - or maybe even their own.

Bamonte said the idea to bring a dinosaur trail to the borough was also inspired, in part, after large dinosaur sculptures created on a trail in Allaire State Park were destroyed in an act of vandalism last year.

"We realized that there is a dino-loving crowd who would appreciate an event like this," she said.

Last October, large dinosaur sculptures made from branches and limbs were found destroyed at the Wall park. On the Portraits of the Jersey Shore Facebook site, many mourned the loss of those fantastic - and famous - figures created by artist Robin Ruggiero.

The Farmingdale exhibit will bring some of that spirit of whimsy and creativity to the borough that has a walkable, charming downtown.

Bamonte said people can make a nice day trip, visiting shops in town and having a "bite" to eat.

And while admission is free, Bamonte said donations are greatly appreciated to help continue to fund even more free community events the Recreation Commission has planned.

She said the commission works as a team to create fun, free events that bring the whole town - and visitors - together.

There has been another Fairy Trail and Medieval festival, but coming soon will be some popular trails, such as the Halloween and the Holiday Trails.

The Recreation Commission keeps busy all year round, and different members spearhead different events, Bamonte said.

"But we all pitch in," she said. "if someone needs something, we're there!"

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Farmingdale residents got an update on an Environmental Protection Agency cleanup schedule for chemical-containing drums in Howell.

|Updated Wed, Apr 5, 2023 at 9:43 pm ET

FARMINGDALE, NJ — A second community meeting Wednesday provided more information to the public about plans to secure hundreds of drums containing chemicals used at a former industrial site in neighboring Howell.

The former Compounders Inc. site at 15 Marl Road in Howell was found to be the sloppily kept home of 200 to 300 drums containing various chemicals and compounds used in making adhesives and glue.

On Feb. 9, a fire there brought the situation to light for Howell officials when firefighters had to put out a chemical blaze in some of the drums. The cause of that fire is currently under investigation by the state Attorney General's office.

Now, residents in Howell and Farmingdale - right on the border of the site - are concerned about the impact not only from the smoke from the fire but from the years the site was in operation, albeit as a permitted use.

There was an initial community meeting March 21. On Wednesday, a meeting was held at the Farmingdale Community Center because the site is right on the border of the borough.

Find out what's happening in Howellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Inaction by owners of the site about conditions there seems to have gone unaccounted for by the state Department of Environmental Protection, residents learned last night. But enforcement action is "imminent," a state representative at the meeting said, adding that she did not want to jeopardize the action with more comment.

But residents are hoping for fast action to remove the drums and clean and monitor the site for air and groundwater quality, speakers said at the meeting.

Howell Deputy Mayor Evelyn O'Donnell, who said she lives two miles from the site and has well water, said the EPA should not only work quickly to deal with the site but it should "be running" to clean it up.

And the federal Environmental Protection Agency now seems to be in a better position to begin the sprint - or the marathon, as may be necessary.

The next steps

Michael Mannino, the onsite coordinator for the project for the EPA, said at the meeting that just on Tuesday the agency acquired a site access agreement to allow it legally to be on the site and take control of the assessment and removal work there. The cleanup will not be left in the hands of the property owner, in other words.

On Wednesday, removal contractors did an initial "site walk" with the contractors, he said.

He said early next week the drums will start to be brought inside, out of the elements, to a warehouse on the site, all in preparation for the ultimate re-containerizing of the drums and their removal. The site is now fenced and has 24/7 manned security, he has said.

Perimeter and off-site air monitoring will be set up as part of this process, he said in a slide presentation. There will also be on-site containment in the form of a berm or a boom in case there should be any accidental release from a container while doing the work, the EPA information said.

"I'm on the site every day. It's the only site I'm assigned to," said Mannino, who lives in Monmouth County.

Monmouth County Commissioner Sue Kiley attended the meeting last night, and she too expressed urgency and support.

As Health and Human Services liaison for the Board of County Commissioners, she said she wants every town "to be healthy and happy." The county "will see this through," she said.

That's the least that residents said they expect.

Lots of questions, no easy answers

For example, the recent tornado that touched down Saturday in parts of the town made some residents feel there is a great urgency to not only get the drums indoors, but completely remove them from the site as soon as possible.

There were also questions about plans for testing air and water quality in the area.

Another slide indicated that the EPA and state DEP will conduct a potable well search in a 500-foot radius of the site. So far one potable drinking water well was located. Its water is being tested for volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, metals and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons, the EPA information said.

The information also indicated there is no immediate threat to the Manasquan River, the source of the Manasquan River Reservoir, four miles downstream.

While state and county health officials are being brought into the assessment of the site, the EPA has "minimal environmental data" to make "health-based determinations" at this time, the EPA information said.

One resident said she has an organic garden, and she is concerned about runoff and surface water impacts from the site - not only the groundwater.

Another woman said she met a person who worked at the site as a teenager who might have some historical information about the site. Mannino asked that speaker to provide the contact so he could follow up.

Howell Councilman Fred Gasior said that he, as a former state trooper, would like accountability for how the site was run and monitored since it opened in the late 1970s. The industrial operation went on until 2019 and then the stock of the company - the business - was sold in 2021, but not the property.

"I'm looking to point a finger," he said.

Another resident with a degree in environmental policy said her child seems to have a more persistent cough and she has noticed kids have had rashes since the fire. Her doctor told her "allergy season was early."

She asked that schools be kept fully in the loop of communication, too.

She also asked what chemicals are being monitored for air quality and was told by Mannino that there is a five-gas monitor of the type used at refineries and he said no VOC, or volatile organic chemicals, have been detected.

Howell has set up a website dedicated to updates on the project.

The site at https://www.twp.howell.nj.us/610/15-Marl-Road includes recent activities, emergency alerting, evacuation routes and additional information about the site. Video of meetings is available too.

To read more Patch news about the 15 Marl Road cleanup site, you can refer to the following stories:

A township website will provide information - and alerts - about the cleanup of toxic waste at a former Howell manufacturing facility.

|Updated Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 3:57 pm ET

HOWELL, NJ — The township has set up a new website dedicated to information on a Marl Road chemical cleanup so residents can get updates about the project and sign up for alerts.

Howell and Farmingdale residents expressed concern at a recent community meeting about the cleanup at the former Compounders Inc. site, and dissatisfaction with information and communication was a common theme of comments.

The new website was promised as a way to provide more accessible information.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been onsite at 15 Marl Road since Feb. 15 to re-containerize 200 to 300 drums containing waste from an adhesives and asphalt manufacturing operation. It will remove the drums for disposal. The state will then oversee the ultimate cleanup of the site. The conditions there were uncovered when Howell firefighters responded to a drum fire at the site on Feb. 9.

But right now, residents are concerned about the impact of the drums on groundwater and air quality, and many expressed the need for more direct contact, especially about any evacuation plans.

Find out what's happening in Howellwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Howell Township website https://www.twp.howell.nj.us/610/15-Marl-Road includes recent activities, emergency alerting, evacuation routes and additional information about the site.

“We wanted to create a single source where people could find the most up-to-date information about 15 Marl Road," said Township Manager Joseph Clark.

"Our goal is to get information from the authorities in charge of the site out to the public as quickly as possible.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection stepped in soon after the fire, the township said at a recent Township Council meeting, taking the lead on the project.

Clark said the township will also include a link to the state DEP DataMiner function on the site "so that people can access historical documents relating to the site."

There is a link now listed to the DataMiner site on the township website, and by doing an "Advanced Search" visitors can narrow down results. You can see the site ID number and name there to help in the search.

He said that by "creating a single source of information for our residents, we hope that it will allow them to be fully informed."

Another important aspect of the new website is its spot to sign up for emergency alerts. You can click here to sign up for the alerts - and anyone can sign up. You do not have to be a Howell resident.

According to the site, people can enter multiple phone numbers, text numbers, or email addresses to receive emergency messages from township officials.

People can also add one or more street addresses to an account, which can be used for any location-based messages.

Compounders Inc. used to make adhesives and asphalt products, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's background on the site. The company operated for several decades, but stopped operation in 2019. The stock was sold in 2021, but not the property.

Residents who spoke at the separate community meeting Tuesday said they are worried about their health and about any future emergency that might take place at the site. And they want the materials at the site to be identified as quickly as possible and have the area tested for any spread of contamination.

Although the cleanup is in Howell, the site is right on the border of Farmingdale, the last parcel of land in Howell before Farmingdale. The township developed an evacuation plan for Farmingdale, but residents said at the March 21 meeting they felt the plan needed to be more complete and address the needs of children in schools or daycare in the area.

You can now see the evacuation plan on the township Marl Road website.

The EPA is developing a workplan for the site and will share that with the public as soon as it is approved.

But the priority right now, according to Michael Mannino, onsite coordinator for the EPA, is to:

The site is now fenced and has 24/7 manned security, he said.

Mannino said the drums will be "re-containerized" for removal and a berm will be constructed to prevent any runoff. He also said that electronic equipment is picking up no airborne chemicals during the cleanup.

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HOWELL — Residents have been notified that they might need to evacuate as a result of an illegal chemical dump discovered after a fire at a former chemical manufacturing site in February.

After firefighters smelled a chemical odor during a fire at the former Compounders site on Marl Road on Feb. 9 on the Farmingdale border, the Monmouth County Department of Health was called in to investigate.

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Their initial examination of the property found "large quantities" of 55-gallon drums and smaller containers around the property. They also discovered materials spilled on the ground, open drums and solid waste.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Emergency Response found 200-300 drums and containers on the property, many of which are bulging, rusting, denting, or leaking.

The discovery led the township's Office of Emergency Management to establish evacuation routes from the site for residents within a one-mile radius in both Howell and Farmingdale in case of an emergency despite the "very low" risk of the release of any potentially hazardous material.

"After all drums are removed from the property, an investigation will be ongoing with the state NJDEP and EPA to determine what, if any, impacts have occurred to groundwater, soil or surface water," OEM said in their letter last month.

In a letter to residents dated April 17, OEM said air monitors have been placed at two locations outside the property. The EPA has started to sample the chemicals in order to identify them plus sort and arrange the containers, They say this reduces the risk of fire or a need for evacuation.

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OEM Director Victor Cook said that as a precaution for any emergency residents should prepare a "go bag" if they have to evacuate.

Part of the EPA's investigation is to determine any potential impact to groundwater, soil or surface water. The EPA's updates have not addressed the issue.

According to New Jersey American Water's 2021 Water Quality Report for the Coastal North system, the drinking water supply for Howell, Farmingdale and neighboring Lakewood comes from 14 wells and one surface water supply, the Manasquan River/Reservoir.

The well water is drawn from aquifers beneath the surface including the Englishtown aquifer, Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, Mount Laurel-Wenonah aquifer, Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, upper Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, and Vincentown aquifer.

Compounds manufactured a number of chemical compounds, including glues, adhesives, and asphalt materials, according to the EPA. The facility closed in 2019 and was sold in 2021 as part of a stock sale.

dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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Mystery barrels leaking in a New Jersey community could take months to contain and remove as environmental crews continue sorting through the hundreds of drums at an abandoned site.

A team from the Environmental Protection Agency has been on hand since last month, making their way through more than 400 rusting drums that have, for decades, contained chemicals used to make adhesives and asphalt.

In recent years, the hundreds of drums and more than 1,000 smaller containers containing potentially hazardous materials have deteriorated, leading to a potentially dangerous outcome for neighbors. Last month, schools and homeowners in Monmouth County were told to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

Many of the drums at the former Farmingdale industrial plant, which borders Howell, were found to be leaking, rusting and bulging. The plant has long been shut down, but the barrels stuck around.

A spokesperson for the EPA said "significant progress" has been made in securing the drums, but none of the chemicals have been removed from the site. The disposal process will take some time as teams continue identifying what is inside the barrels and determine the best course of removal.

One nearby resident told NBC New York that she remembers decades ago when her children were coming home from school around lunchtime, and they saw the lids exploding, up in the air.

That kind of thing is still entirely possible at the site, because no one knows for sure what chemicals are still present.

Earlier in 2023, the new owner was burning some barrels in an old incinerator on the property, when the fumes and particulate pollution drifted into nearby neighborhoods, alarming first responders who rushed to put the fire out.

When Eric Daly, the on-scene coordinator for the EPA, was asked about those exploding lids 40 years ago, he said "You’re basically proving the reason we’re taking our time with this."

With some 4,000 students going to school within the one-mile hot zone that reaches into Howell, residents are urged to have a go-pack for an evacuation that could be called at any time if the chemicals catch on fire.

"Everybody should have an evacuation plan or get-out-of-here plan just in case," said Howell-Farmingdale OEM Director Victor Cook.

That being said, the EPA does feel it has the situation under as much control as it can without knowing what’s on the site. The agency hopes everything can be hauled away by the end of summer or shortly thereafter. Then it will have to deal with whatever pollution it finds in the soil and possibly in the groundwater.