Avalon is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, on Seven Mile Island. The town is one of the most affluent communities along the Jersey Shore and is home to some of the most expensive real estate on the east coast. In 2007, Forbes listed Avalon to be the 65th most expensive zip code in the United States. The Washingtonian magazine even named Avalon the "chicest beach" in the mid-Atlantic, the place to see women in diamonds and designer swimwear. The crowd is mostly upper class from the greater Philadelphia area. A small portion of Avalon is not on Seven Mile Island. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the United States 2000 Census, the full-time borough population was 2,143, although it swells during the summer months. Avalon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 18, 1892, from portions of Middle Township, based on the results of a referendum held two days earlier. The borough was reincorporated on March 6, 1896, and again on May 4, 1897. Another portion of Middle Township was annexed in 1910. On December 27, 1941, portions of Avalon were ceded to Stone Harbor. Avalon, famous for being a South Jersey seashore resort, has the motto "Cooler by a Mile", since it juts out into the Atlantic Ocean about a mile farther than other barrier island resorts. The motto also refers to the fact that Avalon occupies 4 miles of Seven Mile Island whereas neighbor Stone Harbor occupies 3. It was ranked the seventh best beach in New Jersey in the 2008 Top 10 Beaches Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium.

What is toxic tort law?

Toxic Tort cases involve people who have been injured through exposure to dangerous pharmaceuticals or chemical substances in the environment, on the job, or in consumer products -- including carcinogenic agents, lead, benzene, silica, harmful solvents, hazardous waste, and pesticides to name a few.

Most toxic tort cases have arisen either from exposure to pharmaceutical drugs or occupational exposures. Most pharmaceutical toxic injury cases are mass tort cases, because drugs are consumed by thousands of people, many of whom become ill from a toxic drug. There have also been many occupational toxic tort cases, because industrial and other workers are often chronically exposed to toxic chemicals - more so than consumers and residents. Most of the law in this area arises from asbestos exposure, but thousands of toxic chemicals are used in industry and workers in these areas can experience a variety of toxic injuries. Unlike the general population, which is exposed to trace amounts of thousands of different chemicals in the environment, industrial workers are regularly exposed to much higher levels of chemicals and therefore have a greater risk of developing disease from particular chemical exposures than the general population. The home has recently become the subject of toxic tort litigation, mostly due to mold contamination, but also due to construction materials such as formaldehyde-treated wood and carpet. Toxic tort cases also arise when people are exposed to consumer products such as pesticides and suffer injury. Lastly, people can also be injured from environmental toxins in the air or in drinking water.

Answers to toxic tort law issues in New Jersey

In certain kinds of cases, lawyers charge what is called a contingency fee. Instead of billing by the hour, the...

Because of the health problems caused by lead poisoning, the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction...

Property owners may be liable for tenant health problems caused by exposure to environmental hazards, such as...

In general, mass tort cases involve a large number of individual claimants with claims associated with a single...