Offiicials in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, say they were so suspicious of a local real estate magnate's plan to convert a former mercury thermometer factory into a day-care center that they purposely stalled on issuing local permits. But when landlord James Sullivan III produced a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report saying "the site does not present an immediate threat to human health or the environment," the township zoning officer finally issued a permit that allowed Kiddie Kollege Daycare & Preschool to open. "Everybody knew what was there," Mayor Dave Ferrucci said, referring to mercury contamination documented at the building since 1990. "The issue was, did it get cleaned up or not?" It did not. And in the end, every level of government - local, state and federal - failed to protect dozens of children who attended the day-care center.