Judge Orders Mercury Testing For Some Children in Franklin Twp.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Gloucester County judge has ordered mercury exposure tests for more than 100 kids in Franklin Township. They attended a day care center that once housed a thermometer plant.

Judge James Rafferty ended a three month civil trial with a decision that is being hailed by parents who sent their toddlers to Kiddie Kollege, which was shut down in 2006 by the state.

Attorney Jim Pettit represented the parents in the class action suit.

"The neuropsychological testing for the children was awarded by the court. That was always the item in the funding that we looked for the earliest, and the most and that we fought for the hardest and really we've very thrilled."

Those tests will cost up to $1.5 million and will be paid for out of a pool of settlement money from the county and the real estate company that handled the property paired with a $525,000 decision against the township. They could appeal but the testing will likely proceed under court supervision.

Reported By David Madden, KYW Newsradio.