Officials in Princeton are still waiting to learn the results of testing regarding contamination at the construction site of the AvalonBay rental community on Witherspoon Street. Piles of dirt have been covered up and are being wet down daily, and activity has ceased while testing is done regarding the presence of PCBs and PAHs, revealed earlier this month.

“We have not received an update today,” municipal administrator Marc Dashield said on Monday afternoon. “However, we anticipate that we will receive some information sometime this week.КWe continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis.”

AvalonBay has sent out samples for secondary testing. Princeton officials met with the Department of Environmental Protection about the situation early last week. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyl; and PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are both considered dangerous health risks.

During an update on the situation at a meeting of Princeton Council September 15, Mayor Liz Lempert said that work at the site was stopped originally because of an accident when a worker fell into an elevator shaft on August 11, before officials were made aware of the presence of harmful chemicals.

Council President Bernie Miller commented about communications from the developer. “We’re frustrated by the lack of information from AvalonBay,” he said. “The silence, the absence of a cooperative working relationship really concerns me. We need to make it clear to them that the worst thing they can do in a situation like this is to sit on whatever problem they’ve got and not be forthcoming about it. When they do it, people begin to think, what is the worst case I can be faced with?”

Municipal engineer Bob Kiser said that he has been in touch with the developer. “They have said they will share test results with us and the Whitman firm,” he said, referring to environmental consultant Ira Whitman, whose company is monitoring the construction activity. “And Whitman has people on site every day to make sure it’s properly maintained.”

Anita Garoniak, who lives very close to the site, asked how the situation came to the town’s attention. “We’re very concerned as neighbors,” she said, adding that if there is harmful dust floating around, it is troubling. “If there are PCBs, they’re on us.”

Area resident Paul Driscoll asked if people should keep their windows closed while test results are awaited, and if neighbors who live close to the site should be tested for contaminants. The town’s Health Officer Jeffrey Grosser said there was no need for those measures.