The endless saga of the old Sier-Bath gear factory in North Bergen continued last week when local residents who live near the since-razed property complaied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection about the strong smell of heating oil coming from the site, after construction crews had removed a concrete cap.
According to local activist Rocco Arciola, the residents contacted the DEP several days after the odor hit. DEP representative Murdo Morrison visited the site last Friday and confirmed the odor, which forced the DEP to order further soil sample testing to be conducted at the site.
The owner of the property, North Bergen One, Inc., had sent a construction crew to the site to remove the concrete cap slabs that acted as the gear factory’s floor. When the foundations were being removed, Arciola and other neighbors recognized the smell of heating oil.
"The oil smell was usually confined to the general area around 90th Street, but now it’s throughout the entire area," Arciola said. "It began once they removed the concrete cap. And it’s really pretty bad. When it rains, it will cause more odors. The dampness causes the smell to rise."
Arciola said the North Bergen police responded to a call regarding the foul odor.
However, township officials said they were unaware of any problems at the site.
"This is the first I’ve heard of anything about it," Township Administrator Joseph Auriemma said.
"All the people who live there had to do was contact us, and we would have got the ball rolling," said Mayor Nicholas Sacco. "I know that the DEP is the highest authority involved, and if they’re aware of it, then they will take care of it. In the meantime, we have contacted the owner’s attorney [Dennis Oury] and our health officer [Richard Censullo] to have them investigate it further. But the residents should have contacted us as soon as they noticed something."
Arciola said he has been in constant contact with DEP representatives, who assured him that the property’s current owners are responsible for the necessary cleanup. Since August, the construction crews have been working to fill some of the holes at the site. The state DEP issued violations to the owners, requiring backfilling of what had already been excavated.
However, Arciola became concerned about the concrete caps’ removal before the backfilling was completed and the odor emanated.
Arciola also said there are still problems with the protective fencing surrounding the property, as the fence is falling down in some spots and could lead to easy access for curious children.
The current owners of the property have put it up for sale, listed at $3.5 million, with DeRuggiero Realty.
A plan to put an 11-story apartment complex at the site was turned down by the North Bergen Planning Board after Superior Court Judge Jose Fuentes ruled that the township could not alter the existing ordinance that calls for only one- and two-family homes to be built in the area.
Final rulings about the safety of the site and the cause of the heating oil odor are expected from the state DEP sometime next week.