Click here for updates on this story
KEYPORT, New Jersey (WCBS) — Residents in Keyport, New Jersey, have been saying for months they fear a cancer cluster in their community that sits near a former landfill and aircraft hub.
On Monday, the state Department of Environmental Protection started the process of collecting samples in the area.
While the DEP says a 2010 study found contaminants above ground, including benzene, arsenic and lead, Commissioner Ed Potosnak said recent tests indicate no drinking water contamination, and that so far there is no cancer cluster designation.
“Today, we have not found a pathway to human exposure,” Potosnak said.
Potosnak said the DEP continues to search for answers through groundwater and soil gas samples and is expanding testing to a former auto sales property, where some contaminants have been found.
“We’re testing eight homes and businesses in the surrounding area to see what they call vapor intrusion, if there are vapors underground that could make their way up into those places where people work or live,” Potosnak said.
The DEP said once the testing begins, results won’t be expected for at least another couple of weeks.
Keyport residents report many cancer cases
Salvatore Liguori said he recently found out he has chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, a blood and bone marrow cancer.
“You immediately start to think how short my life is going to get cut,” Liguori said.
Back in 2022, the news of his son Anthony’s stage-four cancer diagnosis was even more heartbreaking. Anthony died five months after his diagnosis.
“He was definitely something special out of the five kids that we have. He was the oldest. He was an entertainer, ever since he was little,” Liguori said.
The home the Liguoris have rented since 2013 sits along the Raritan Bay and on a former landfill that’s part of the former Aeromarine industrial site in Keyport.
“Now that my stepdaughter had auto immune and I got cancer, I am convinced it’s the vapors coming out of this basement,” Liguori said.
Residents began documenting cancer cases months ago. With Liguori leading the charge, claims diagnoses have grown from 40 to more than 400.
Liguori said he is conducting his own testing.
“We have to test vapor intrusions in basements and soils,” he said.
CBS News New York has reached out to the current and former owners of the property but have not heard back.
A representative of the prospective buyers of the land in question, Pacer Partners, said they are fully cooperating with the New Jersey DEP and Keyport’s environmental consultant.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.