2014: Marlo Montanaro photography. Interior of the steam plant. Asbury Park, NJ. With permission on Blogfinger.net.
Asbury Park steam plant on the left. Photo by Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net. 2015. We call this “The Glad To See You Tower.”
Post card. Note proximity of steam plant to Wesley Lake and the northeastern location of the OG North End construction site.
Blogfinger photo. 2019. Note the relationship of the steam plant to our north end site. This was taken after the Dunes fire. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click for enlargement.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ
In 2014, Marlo Montanaro, a photographer, published incredible interior images of the steam plant located next to the Casino, adjacent to the North End of Ocean Grove. His research also offered the history of that place going back many years to its inception in the 1930’s.
He allowed us access to his images, and here is a link to our piece. Marlo also has a web site with detailed information about the Steam Plant.
We know that the plant was supposed to provide heat from underground pipes, clad in asbestos, extending from the Casino to Convention Hall.
This is from Marlo. (above:) “It had at least three massive tube-type boilers, approximately 20x8x15 feet each, covered in a silver material with brick and asbestos fireboxes. The whole operation was fed by four fuel tanks adjacent to Wesley Lake (where the Casino parking lot is located now), each holding 15,000 gallons of “bunker” oil- so thick it needed to be heated just to flow from the tanks. (Bunker oil is literally the bottom of the barrel in the oil refining process. The only thing thicker, or cheaper, is the tar used in roads. Thus, it was often used in large boilers in steam plants and aboard ship.”)
As for the safety of that structure and pipe network, a great deal of asbestos was used. The structure has not been utilized in many years. According to Marlo, a contractor was brought in to remedy the asbestos in 2007, and after he was done, the structure was said to be safe.
BUT how well did he do with removing asbestos from the steam plant, its burners, boilers, fuel tanks, and the pipes underground, and how much asbestos leaked out into the soil surrounding the area, INCLUDING the soil that will be unearthed during construction proposed at the North End of Ocean Grove?
Where is the Neptune documentation that the 3 acres of the North End Redevelopment Zone contains soil free of asbestos, and this applies to the Neptune sand and boardwalk on the east side where bathers and surfers go and where undoubtedly the White Whale owner will want to build.
And did the DEP in awarding a recent approval to OGNED provide proof that the North End is not still an asbestos toxic waste site?
Testing from 16 years ago would not suffice now in 2023. We all were concerned about the environmental safety at the North End including Wesley Lake, but did we consider the effects of all that asbestos on Neptune soil and lake water ?
Steam Plant report on Blogfinger 2015.
Today Blogfinger has heard some concealed information about that asbestos risk from a reliable Asbury Park source. Evidently the Asbury Town Council considered the asbestos risk at some point in the past, and they decided that the matter could not be securely remedied, so they chose to ignore the whole issue!!
I have no confirmation of this, but Neptune and OGNED and CMA should demand documentation of asbestos safety at the North End before final approvals are granted. Send us such documentation and we will post it on Blogfinger.
BEE GEES
The last I heard was that a restaurant would going to use the porches overlooking the lake in the Steam Plant. This is actually a nice space, but the masonry should be repaired. As is the case with nearly all proposed developments in AP, nothing has happened.
As someone involved in the operation of a co-op complex in NYC for over three decades, I can assure people that asbestos was widely used in all manner of things prior to its dangers being recognized. This ranged from mats to rest hot irons on laundry day, to the common 9-inch floor tiles, to even imported garments. Its widest use was as an insulating and fireproofing material. We spent a considerable sum removing asbestos from around our boiler during replacement and from main steam pipes.
Since the Steam Plant did not serve OG, it is doubtful there are any pipes in that direction. Frequently, asbestos is only a problem if you disturb it stirring up fibers. A perhaps greater concern are oil residues from the heating operation. “Bunker” or #6 oil was burned that is waste oil from car places, refineries, etc. It has all sort of impurities, some of which are harmful. This grade of oil is very viscous and must be heated so it can be pumped to the burner.
David H. Fox