. < 4 Herald & Lantern 5 December '84

Freeholders Warned Of Encephalitis Danger

By JOHN DONOHUE COURT HOUSE - "South Jersey has the greatest virus activity in the nation" with regard to mosquito-carrying encephalitis, the County Board, of Freeholders was told last week. "We had a great deal of encephalitis this past year,'* said Dr. Wayne CrQ nc n f Mncnnifn

VET HONORED — Thomas Daniel of Whitesboro has been chosen member of the month by Peterson-Little Post 386, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Cape May.** An Army veteran of World War II. he is a retired member of the Coast Guard. He and his wife. Nova, have three children.

Research & Control at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. "It was one of the biggest years we've had in a long time You may not have heard about it. We tend to downplay our contact with the media when there's a health emergency," Crans said. "We had 27 horse deaths That's one of the greatest number we've had since they came up with the -(equine) vaccine in the 1960s." he added. ALTHOUGH there were no horse deaths in Cape May County, there was one human case in. Ocean City and another in Dividing Creek just across the county border near the Delaware River, in Cumberland County. Both involved children. Crans described them as "two human cases which snuck by us." Crans said that laboratory tests show the coastal marsh plain areas

Kellener Jr. Out of Boot CAPE MAY — Navy Fireman Recruit William T. Kelleher, Jr., son of I Grayce S. Kelleher of 1269 < Lafayette St., has com- 1 pleted recruit training .at i Navy Recruit Training t Command, Recruit Train- C ing Center, Great Lakes, IL. € During Kelleher's eight- A week training cycle, he c studied general military E subjects designed to prepare him for further 7 academic and on-the-job training in one of the Navy's 85 basic fields. A 1984 graduate of Lower Cape May Regional High School, he joined the NSvy 's in April, 1984. fT

Safety Talk At Archway WILDWOOD - A prot gram on electrical safety in the home will be presented by C.R. Carlson, coordinator of general services for Atlantic Electric, at the Archway Medical Day Care Center, Sandman Towers, 3700 New Jersey Ave., 10 a.m. Dec. 21. ACS Raffles 'Playhouse' 1 RIO GRANDE - A CabPatch Playhouse, donated by Rio Grande Building Materials, is being raffled for the benefit of the county unit American Society. Tickets may be purchased at Ric Grande Building M^rtStTTO-Delsea Dr the society office, 15 ( Dr. 1 For information call ( 729-2700 or 886-1154. ) I AVALON BRIDGE RESULTS 1 Nov. 30 1 Nancy Brohst 7270 d 2nd, Emma Fraim 5360 ♦ 3rd. Jack Meyer 5080 . n

IYULING IT UP — Chris Srnllv and hi. U/it., .. Don, Ward

r„ L , , SC"1I> a"d «, Id wood Crest family drive the WildwMd Fire f ? during the Middle Township Christmas Parade in Court House on The family took third place honors home to the firemen F^t Xe went ^ SouUi Jersey Chrtslian Academy. Erma: Stone Harbor firefighters captured second

DEADLY CARRIER — The salt marsh mosquito along Jersey shorelines is said to be the most dangerous carrier of encephalitis. It is indentified by a white stripe down its back.

AAUW Holds Peace Meet COURT HOUSE - The county chapter of the American Association of University Women met in the county library recently to discuss peace and national security in the world today. Two films we r/e presented: If You Love This Planet, and Beyond War A New Way of Thinking. after a brief introduction on peace and national security by AAUW member Charolette Abercrombie. Five small discussion groups addressed the outcome and possibility of nuclear war , the process of changing views, and suggestions for future action. Varallo New Second Lt. OCEAN CITY - Charles V. Varallo Jr., son of Charles V. Varallo Sr. of Bay Ave., and Jacqueline M. Varallo of Linwood, was commissioned an Army second lieutenant graduating from the Candidate School, Fort Benning, Ga. He received an associate in 1983 from Atlantic Community College, Landing.

have the highest number of mosquitoes which carry the encephalitis virus. The disease causes brain swelling. The two human cases ^ which occurred this past summer in shore areas involved a six-year-old Massachusetts girl who contracted the disease Aug. 11 in Ocean City, and a five-year-old Dividing Creek boy stricken on' Sept. 13. \ CRANS SAID as far as he knew, both children were still alive. "But I really don't know," he added. "The boy lived in a salt marsh area. Children are the ones we see most often i affected, as well as people ; over 60. It strikes the very young and it strikes the old. If we let our guard down too much, it's going to sneak up on us. We know how to control it with mos- - quito control, but we don't have the ammunition. "There is a human vaccine," he said, "but it's illegal to use it. I've had the vaccine, and medical staffs of hospitals have had it, but it's not available to the general public because it's experimental." Until such a human vaccine is made available to the public, Crans told the freeholders that "responsible mosquito control" i would have to suffice. Crans said afterwards i that he has been involved in mosquito research in Cape May County for the past 20 years, but that this was the first time he had been invited to address the freeholders on the subject. | "WE FEEL there is a potential for many more I (human cases) in the future," Crans added, saying that his office isolated the virus in 107 mosquitoes this past year, most of them taken from Cape May County. "We feel encephalitis is a very serious disease," he said. It either kills people outright— it kills 50 percent—or leaves them with

permanent brain damage. It is a paralyzing disease. "The virus is most abundant in the eight southern counties (of New Jersey)," said Crans. "There's an unbelievable amount of virus out there. South Jersey has the greatest virus activity in the nation. There's just as much virus out there as there was in 1959 when 33 people contracted it. Maybe they'll develop a vaccine for people as they have for ho»es. "We've never h^ ,a human case in North Jersey," he said. "The human cases tend to be

concentrated in the coastal areas. We tend to attribute that to salt marsh mosquitos. They're very efficient carriers." As a result of vaccination, there have been only seven horse deaths in Cape May County since 1959, Dr. Crans said. Of the 27 horse deaths this year, five occurred in Williamstown, five in Alloways, two in Mays Landing, one in Egg Harbor, three in Cumberland County, and two in Woodstown. In Vineland, a flock of raised pheasants was also infected, Crans said.

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MOVIN" ALONG — Hard work and good weather have put the Stone Harbor-Middle Township Great Channel (96th Street) Bridge reconstruction 35 percent complete (compared to the 55 percent it should be), according to Bob Hovick of the state Department of Transportation. He said structural work "definitely" will be completed by the April 19 deadline, but the $750,000 electrical-mechanical component of the job is still "in doubt" because the original supplier of the system that powers the motors t at raise the bridge leafs opted out and a new one has only now been found.

RIFS Now; Fight Later

(From Page 1) the Williams site." Tasher explained "We wanted to conduct the RIFS - get the site secured as soon as possible." Wheaton considers it "particularly inappropriate" that Theodore Williams, tenant on the 5.6-acre tract who pleaded guilty to dumping toxic chemicals on it, has been permitted to stay there since the contamination was uncovered nearly six years ago, Tasher said, "particularly in | light" of a new complaint that Williams may have polluted the property since his , prosecution. Speaking of the Wheaton suit, Tasher ad- i ded: "The bottom line was, Wheaton didn't want the government to conduct the study • that will take up to two years to complete \ We want to do it, we can complete it within two-three months," the lawver . argued. J ' 2f "* c°™ty as a defendant j m the suit because it's responsible for local public health. Williams and 11 relatives live on the contaminated tract ; the county • -SSSV" lts 'aw a®>inst them and , MidtUe Township that the two Williams' families should be removed from the property at municipal, not county, expense County Solictor Albert t&h Ed ' comment on both suits. County Health Office Lakhs J. Laammana did not return calls nV£enL£°r dld EPA ,awyer Robert Ogg DEP spokesman George Klenk referred i, LKn^t°'tS!"0rne-V' 8055 1*™. Who C did not return phone calls either. e WILLIAMS AND FRANK BLOCK of v Williamstown, a former Sea Isle City p swSai^t P'ead!d guilt>' <° dumping n 200-300 drums at the Swainton site m i 1978-79. Williams also admitted p^cluiing them, allowing their deadly contents to d

seap into the soil and eventually contaminate the local groundwater. Both men agreed to cooperate with the state's investigation of the pollution. Williams had implicated Block and Block apparently linked the chemicals to a Wheaton subsidiary. "... In April 1984, the state came to Wheaton Industries and said (it was) a * potentially responsible party," Tasher recalled. "Wheaton's response was 'provide us with material that shows us we're responsible at the site.' "To this date," he added, "they Part of Wheaton's suit seeks release of any state information that shows company in the contamination. "We don't admit that we're in anyway responsible but, nevertheless, let's- fight about that later," Tasher continued, summarizing Wheaton's argument on that issue. Wheaton can conduct the RIFS completely without prejudice" to its contention that it is not liable for the contamination, he said. only you dont see in the (Williams' case) files is Wheaton Industries' name," the lawyer maintained. You see a lot of other names." He declined comment on companies or individuals that might be linked to the chemicals spilled on Seigtown Road. So did .ven Madonna, head of the state EnProsecution Task Force that P^ted Williams and Block. He refer red questions to Larry Stanley, an assistant attorney general, who could not be " 'he Herali-Laote.r"