OT: Mercury at daycare prompts bill to allow prosecution

[Guest guest]

The retested children had " clean " results-- meaning the hg was

already sequestered in brain and organs I guess.

Mercury at day care prompts bill to allow prosecutions

By Jan Hefler http://tinyurl.com/6hsmyh

Inquirer Staff Writer

More than two years after state officials shut down a day-care center

operating inside a former thermometer factory, a state senator

yesterday introduced a bill to allow prosecution of anyone who

intentionally or recklessly causes others to be exposed to health-

threatening pollutants.

Sen. Fred H. Madden Jr. (D., Gloucester) said the attorney general

told him the investigation into who is responsible in the lin

Township case has not - to this point - yielded evidence to " support

a conviction under existing statutes. "

In July 2006, the state Department of Environmental Protection

ordered Kiddie Kollege closed after an inspector noticed the day care

had opened inside the former Accutherm factory, which was never

cleaned up.

More than 60 children were tested for exposure to mercury, which can

cause neurological and kidney problems. Scientists later reported the

building contained mercury vapors that were 27 times the acceptable

limit.

Though many children initially had elevated mercury levels in their

urine, the children were retested and in several months had clean

results.

Health officials concluded the exposure was not likely to cause long-

term harm.

Hearings were held, and during the uproar the state attorney

general's office announced it would investigate to see whether anyone

was responsible for the children's exposure. Some parents had filed

lawsuits against Jim Sullivan Inc., the lin Township real estate

broker who acquired the building through a tax foreclosure and then

rented it to day-care operators. The parents also named the day care,

Accutherm; the DEP; and the township.

Jim Sullivan Jr., a principal, has said he was not aware the building

was not cleaned up when the title was transferred. He blames the DEP

and the township for failing to properly notify him the building was

contaminated.

The DEP and the town dispute his statements. The DEP had ordered

Accutherm owner Philip Giuliano to remove the pollutants, but he had

declared bankruptcy and moved to Virginia.

A state grand jury heard testimony in August 2006, but the attorney

general will not comment on the outcome or the status of the probe.

Aseltine, spokesman for the attorney general, would only

say: " The current provisions in the criminal code are not adequate to

address situations such as Kiddie Kollege. We requested legislation

be introduced to make it easier to prosecute individuals who

knowingly or recklessly expose others to toxic pollutants. "

Under Madden's bill, anyone who causes toxic exposure would face up

to 10 years in prison and up to $150,000 in prison if convicted.

Pollutants are defined as substances that cause " death, disease,

behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological

malfunctions, including malfunctions in reproduction. " It excludes

prosecution when a person is exposed to a " minimal amount of toxic

pollutant " which carries no medical harm.

In June, a similar bill was introduced in the state Assembly by

Moriarty and Love. That bill is in committee.