School
builders sued over Trenton toxins
City wants contaminated fill dirt
removed
Wednesday, October 19, 2005 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL
• Star-Ledger Staff
Trenton school officials yesterday filed
a lawsuit demanding that the New Jersey Schools Construction
Corp. tear down a partially built school that already has
cost the state about $10 million, charging it was erected on
ground contaminated with carcinogenic pollutants.
The suit names as defendants the SCC and
the project's two major contractors, Hill International and
Turner Construction. It is the latest development in a
costly and controversial effort to build an elementary
school for 800 youngsters on Trenton's north
side.
Work on the $28 million Jefferson/Martin
Luther King Elementary School project was suspended in May
after state officials learned that fill dirt used to build a
foundation for the new school was contaminated with
potentially carcinogenic asphalt shavings.
In August, after learning from another
consultant that contaminated dust and water from the
construction site might be endangering nearby residents, the
Trenton Board of Education shut down an adjacent elementary
school and moved the students into a vacant parochial school
building in neighboring Hamilton.
Last week, the school board emptied one
wing of another nearby school building after a consultant
detected evidence of contamination that had been washed into
that school by recent heavy rains.
"The SCC, Hill and Turner are
responsible, either directly or indirectly, for the
discharges of hazardous substances at the Jefferson-MLK
site," the suit claims, "and for the severe and unnecessary
exacerbation of any existing environmental and health and
safety hazards at the site."
In the suit, Trenton officials also claim
the SCC suppressed earlier consultants' studies that
suggested the school site was contaminated, and that Turner,
the school's builder, violated terms of its contract
requiring the use of clean fill material.
The suit, filed in state Superior Court
in Mercer County, seeks an order requiring the state to tear
down the steel framework of the school that already has been
erected, and to remove and replace the contaminated soil on
the property.
It also asks the judge to order health
screening for students and residents who might have been
affected by the contaminated site, and seeks reimbursement
for the cost of relocating students from the adjacent
school. To date the SCC has spent about $9.8 million on the
suspended school project, agency records show.
Kevin McElroy, spokesman for the SCC,
declined comment on the pending lawsuit, as did a Hill
International representative.
Tom Reilly, vice president and general
manager of Turner's New Jersey office, issued a statement in
which he said the firm is "disappointed the situation would
come to this."
"Turner has been proactive from the
beginning and always worked toward a solution," said Reilly.
"We continue to be hopeful that all parties will come to a
solution."
Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may
be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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