A settlement of their lawsuit against General Electric is on the table, and their former homes may be demolished within four months, but the artists who used to live at 722 Grand St. before they found out their custom-designed homes were contaminated don’t really want to talk about the ordeal much anymore.
“It was a nightmare from a long time ago,” said former resident Y. Zak Friedman from his Brooklyn home two weeks ago. “Basically, we have started to get on with our lives.”
In mythology, Mercury is the messenger of the gods and, among other things, reigns over health and medicine. But the news that mercury was found underneath the floorboards at 722 Grand St. in 1995 was not one of health, but of contamination and broken dreams.
A partnership of artists called the Grand Street Artists had bought the former tool and dye factory on Grand Street in 1993, intending to carve out custom-designed apartments/artists’ lofts. They did so, and in grand style: the apartments contained spiral staircases, spacious rooms and Manhattan views. In today’s market, they might fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars, but each artist paid approximately $60,000 for his or her share. They moved in, set up shop, and started families.
They did not know that the General Electric and Cooper-Hewitt companies had made mercury vapor lamps in the building in the 1950s and might have left pools of the silvery, toxic metal under the floorboards. When inhaled over a period of time, mercury vapors can cause neurological problems.
As renovations of the apartments took place, the families and contractors began to find more mercury. They notified the Hoboken Health Department in November of 1995.
On a cold winter’s night, the Heath Department declared the premises unfit for human habitation and ordered the residents to vacate by Jan. 9, 1996.
They were forced to do so in the wake of the Blizzard of ’96, which dumped more than 14 inches of snow on the area. The residents were allowed to take only two plastic bags of belongings. Cold and confused, they were without a home and did not know whom to blame.
Suit filed
In August of 1996, the artists filed a lawsuit against General Electric, as well as the prior owners of the tool and dye factory, John and David Pascale, whom they said should have told them about the use of the building to make vapor lamps.
Former resident Zak Friedman said that the Grand Street Artists recently fired their original attorney and hired Joe Lagrotteria of the firm St. John & Wayne in Newark. While not wanting to comment on the specifics, Friedman said that there is a settlement offer on the table and final decisions are awaiting approval.
Also pending is demolition of the building. In 1997, the federal Environmental Protection Agency named 722 Grand St. a Superfund site, qualifying it for millions of dollars in cleanup funds (see sidebar). The EPA ordered GE to clean up the site, at a cost of $4 million.
Area residents hope that the conclusion will come about in the near future. In the plans originally approved by the EPA, the demolition of the building was supposed to occur in the winter of 2000, but because of the legal challenges, that date has since been pushed back. According to a spokesman from the GE-hired firm that is overseeing the site cleanup, demolition is scheduled for this spring, but no date has been set.
The artists five years later
Since the artists were forced out of their homes, they have gone their separate ways. Nora Jacobson, a filmmaker, writer, producer and cinematographer who now lives in Norwich, Vt., has founded Off the Grid Productions and has just completed a feature film, “Letters to My Mother’s Early Lovers,” which has been shown at some of the country’s most prestigious film festivals. In an interesting irony, Jacobson’s 1992 award-winning documentary “Delivered Vacant” concerned the forcing of long-time Hoboken residents out of their homes due to gentrification.
Meredith Lippman, was one of the founders of the Hoboken Artists Studio Tour, is now an art instructor the Old Church Cultural Center in Demarest, N.J., where she also lives.
Tova Beck Friedman, who now lives in Brooklyn, has opened a midtown Manhattan gallery that exhibits her sculptures, which portray classical myths with modern themes. Her work has been featured at William Patterson College and the Bergen Museum of Art and Science in Paramus.
Zak Friedman, who now lives in Brooklyn, said he has not visited Hoboken in several years and does not plan to return.
None of the artists contacted in recent weeks said they had lingering health problems from the mercury. But they also have not received much compensation for their lost homes. The EPA did help with some of the moving costs and put the artists up in hotel following their expulsion, but they have not recovered their property value or been awarded any damages.
Several residents were hesitant to comment on the legal case. Steve Keogh and Serena Bocchino would only say the case is still in litigation and that all questions should be forwarded to their attorney. Curtis Crystal said that he did not want to discuss what happened, and Michael Solter and Corinne Mulrenen did not return calls.
General Electric had contended that some of the artists might have known about the mercury before they bought their individual condominiums. The artists have denied that they knew of the problem.
Despite the possibility of a settlement, one artist was not sure the end was in sight. “This is going to drag on forever,” said former resident Barbara Henry from her New York City office.
Neighbors of the building are hoping that the demolition comes quickly.
“I’ll be glad when they tear it down,” said Grand Street resident Sara Orris, who has lived in Hoboken for five years. “I’ve known about this building for a long time and no one wants to live near a Superfund site. I think everyone will he happy when it’s destroyed safely.”
Citing mercury case, GE calls Superfund law ‘unconstitutional’
Confronting hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs for hazardous chemical spills, General Electric, based in Connecticut, has asked a federal court to declare the Superfund toxic waste cleanup law unconstitutional.
According to a spokesman for GE, the Superfund law gives Environmental Protection Agency regulators “uncontrolled authority” to order “intrusive” cleanup remedies “of unlimited scope.”
GE’s suit cites the mercury-contaminated building in Hoboken, as well as a cleanup at another former factory in Milford, N.H.
Superfund, or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), was passed by Congress in 1980 in response to growing public concern about the health and environmental risks posed by hazardous waste sites. The program has cleaned up hazardous wastes sites throughout the county. General Electric filed the suit in federal court this past November.
EPA spokesman David Cohen responded to the suit two weeks ago by saying that its timing is “exceedingly curious,” seeing that GE also is faced with a possible billion dollar cleanup of the Hudson River.
The Superfund law created a trust fund, financed mainly by a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries, and has established two types of responses to the cleanup of hazardous substances that may endanger public health. The Superfund calls for the short term “removal” actions in emergencies and long term “remedial” actions to permanently reduce the dangers from seriously contaminated waste sites that require extensive cleanups, but do not pose immediate threats.
For a site to be place on a Superfund list, the state or local government must first refer it to the EPA. The EPA then investigates ownership documents, looks for proof of hazardous waste activity and takes air, water, soil and groundwater samples for testing.
The EPA then evaluates the test results using a formula that measures the risk to the general public. If the testing results are over 20.5 points on a hundred-point scale, the site is considered for a Superfund site. The Grand Street site in Hoboken scored 28.5.
History of 722 Grand St.
1910 – Cooper Hewitt Electric Co. moves into the General Electric Co.-owned building at 722 Grand St. and manufactures mercury vapor lamps and other products containing mercury.
1919 – GE buys interest in Copper Hewitt and by 1940 acquires all of its business, becoming the sole occupant of the building.
1948 – GE sells the factory to some employees, who assume the old Cooper Hewitt name. John J. Pascale Sr., a former employee of the old Cooper Hewitt, rents part of the factory for his Quality Tool and Die Co.
1955 – Cooper Hewitt sells the building to Pascale but continues to make vapor lamps on the site until moving operations to Kentucky in 1964.
1979 – Pascale transfers the title of the property to his son David P. Pascale.
1990 – The younger Pascale notifies the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of the cessation of operations and files and application with the state to have the factory converted to residential space.
1992 – Grand Street Artists Partnership begins negations with Pascale to buy the property.
February 1993 – NJDEP officials approve Pascale’s application.
August 1993 – The building is sold to the artists, who do major renovations on the property through 1995.
1994-1995 – Residents discover traces of mercury in the building.
November 1995 – Residents contact the Hoboken Health Department seeking assistance.
January 1996 – Hoboken Health department orders residents to vacate the premises.
September 1997 – EPA places 720-722 Grand St. on the National Priorities list, making it possible for money from the Superfund Trust Fund to be used for all cost related to the site.
April, 1998 – EPA issues a Unilateral Administrative Order for Remedial Design and Removal which calls for the GE and John Pascale Sr. to provide site security and building maintenance. The order also calls for GE to clean up the site, which includes the demolition of the building and proper disposal of the resulting debris, excavation and disposal of contaminated soil. Costs of these measures are roughly $4 million.
November 2000 – GE files suit against the EPA declaring that the Superfund law is unconstitutional.
Spring, 2001– Scheduled date for demolition of the 720-722 Grand St.