Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 040622

1 view

Skip to first unread message

GSENet

unread,

Jun 21, 2004, 11:43:16 PM6/21/04

040622

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} OP/ED: CAMPBELL CONSIDERING RESIGNING IN PROTEST
{*} CROSS-ACCEPTANCE III INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS
{*} BERGEN RECORD - STILL HASTY, STILL HIDEOUS
{*} PRESERVATION MAY ADD TO STATE'S RISING HOME PRICES
{*} PINES PANEL OKS PLAN FOR HOUSES
{*} THE PINELANDS AND FORESTRY - A FORESTER'S VIEW
{*} RICHLAND MAN'S STUDY IS DRY WORK
{*} U.S. NOT READY FOR IMPENDING WATER CRISIS
{*} COMMERCIAL SHIPS BELCH ONE MILLION TONS OF SMOG ANNUALLY
{*} PRIME SEASON FOR OZONE POLLUTION BEGINS
{*} CITIES WILL SWELTER ON SUMMER NIGHTS
{*} OP/ED: OYSTER CREEK - WILL THE LIGHTS STAY ON WITHOUT IT
{*} TWO BEACHES REOPEN, TWO CLOSE AS BACTERIA LEVELS FLUCTUATE
{*} EPA MUST LIMIT ALL TOXICS FROM VINYL PRODUCTION
{*} WHO SEES GREAT ENVIRONMENTAL HARM TO CHILDREN
{*} BIRD LOVERS SEEK SAFER SKYSCRAPERS
{*} HISTORIC WANTAGE FARM STIRS STATE, LOCAL INTEREST
{*} FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK - JUN 25
{*} LECTURE ON THE SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY WETLANDS - JUL 6
{*} NJ AUDUBON, CAPE BRETON HIGHLANDS ECO TOUR - AUG 1-7

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

OP/ED: CAMPBELL CONSIDERING RESIGNING IN PROTEST

Date: 040621
From: http://www.nj.com/

The Auditor, Star-Ledger, June 20, 2004

Bradley Campbell, the best friend environmentalists have in the
McGreevey administration, is considering resigning in protest,
according to two sources who spoke with him about it.

Campbell, head of the Department of Environmental Protection, is
concerned that a bill granting fast-track approval to development
projects will undermine his efforts to protect the environment.

"He feels dejected and depressed about it," one source said. "He
feels the bill would take over a good part of his authority and that
he wouldn't be able to stay if the governor signs it."

Campbell, who was married last weekend, was taking his honeymoon in
Paris and could not be reached. Kathy Ellis, a spokeswoman for the
governor, said Campbell had not spoken with the governor about leaving
the administration.

Campbell lost another high-profile fight within the administration
last year over his plans for a Big Map that would identify regions
where building should be encouraged and regions where it should be
barred. In the end, the Big Map idea was shelved.

OMBUDSWOMAN?

The fast-track bill would also establish a powerful new post, an
ombudsman with authority to move building projects through the
bureaucracy and even kill regulations that might get in the way.
Several sources say the job is likely to go to Susan Bass Levin, the
commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.

Bass Levin would not confirm that. "I love being DCA commissioner,"
she says.

But could she wear both hats, serving as commissioner and ombudsman?

"I don't think there's anything that would preclude that," says
Ellis, the governor's spokeswoman. "But the decision on who is going
to be ombudsman has not been made."

For Campbell, enhanced powers for Bass-Levin might rub salt in a
wound. She was the main opponent of his plan for the Big Map.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

CROSS-ACCEPTANCE III INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS

Date: 17 Jun 2004
From: "Walsh, Barbara" {BWa...@DCA.state.nj.us}

CROSS-ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

On April 28, 2004, the New Jersey State Planning Commission approved
the release of the Preliminary State Development and Redevelopment
Plan (State Plan) and the Preliminary State Plan Policy Map. This
action launched the third round of Cross-acceptance.

Cross-acceptance is a bottom-up approach to planning, designed to
encourage consistency between municipal, county, regional, and state
plans to create a meaningful, up-to-date and viable State Plan (NJS.A.
52:18A-202.b.).

This process is meant to ensure that all New Jersey residents and
levels of government have the opportunity to participate and shape the
goals, strategies and policies of the State Plan.

Through Cross-acceptance, negotiating entities work with local
governments and residents to compare their local master plans with the
State Plan and to identify potential changes that could be made to
achieve a greater level of consistency with statewide planning policy.

Cross-acceptance concludes with written Statements of Agreements and
Disagreements supported by each negotiating entity and the State
Planning Commission. The State Planning Commission will incorporate
the negotiated agreements into the Draft Final State Plan.

Cross-acceptance is, by definition, a negotiating process. The State
Plan and the State Plan Policy Map are intended to represent the input
of counties, municipalities and the public so that we can all work
together to create a State Plan that makes sense for all of New
Jersey.

Over the next year, the State Planning Commission will be undertaking
the Cross-acceptance process. Following the release of the Preliminary
Plan, the next step is the County Informational Meetings. The
Commission invites all governmental entities and New Jersey residents
to participate in 21 County Informational Meetings during June 14
through July 15, 2004. These meetings will give you an opportunity to
hear about and discuss the updates and improvements the State Planning
Commission is proposing for the State Plan and the State Plan Map and
to raise with the Commission the issues that are important to your
community.

For complete details and schedule, please visit:
http://www.state.nj.us/dca/osg/plan/crossacceptance.shtml

* * *

Department of Community Affairs
POB 800
Trenton NJ 08625-0800

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

BERGEN RECORD - STILL HASTY, STILL HIDEOUS

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: "David Pringle" {dpri...@cleanwater.org}

Editorial by the Record, June 21, 2004

Last week, with alarming speed, Governor McGreevey and the
Legislature pushed through a measure that could wreak havoc on
environmental protection in New Jersey.

Conservationists are unequivocally labeling this stealth bill as the
worst piece of environmental legislation in New Jersey history, and
the way the bill was rammed down lawmakers' throats - at the expense
of almost any public comment - speaks to the volatility of its
contents.

Despite his expressed support for the measure, Mr. McGreevey must
review this bill thoroughly, get the public input that the Legislature
never got, and conditionally veto it so that the worst parts are
corrected.

The stated purpose of the bill is worthwhile - to reduce the
seemingly endless red tape of the state's permitting process in urban
and suburban areas where growth is encouraged. But it is laden with
potentially harmful provisions that could expedite development at the
expense of the environment, with the public effectively shut out of
the debate. No wonder, the builders lobby supports this measure so
enthusiastically.

For example, one provision gives the state Department of
Environmental Protection only 45 days to consider all sorts of highly
complicated fast-tracked applications, from building on wetlands to
cleaning up a hazardous waste site. If the agency fails to approve or
deny the permit, it gets approved automatically - which would appear
to violate federal laws. Indeed, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency had asked for time to review the proposal but was ignored.

What's more, as David Pringle of the New Jersey Environmental
Federation points out, the DEP currently has a backlog of thousands of
permits because it is understaffed. If Mr. McGreevey signs this bill,
major developers will move to have their projects fast-tracked as soon
as the law takes effect. The DEP will then have 45 days to review all
those typically complicated permits - an impossibility. Those not
reviewed in time would automatically be approved. And smaller builders
would be shunted aside.

The bill would also enable developers to pay for an expedited 45-day
appeals process on any state permit. The appeal would go to an
administrative law judge, whose decision would be final - not subject
to further review or appeal by even the state Supreme Court.
Environmental lawyers say that California courts declared a similar
law unconstitutional because it provided the public with no course of
redress.

The enormous problems with this bill are reflected in the way it was
passed. Because the bill was introduced and approved in the span of
roughly 72 hours, the public had no chance to adequately review the
bill and comment on it. Indeed, much of the bill was reworked behind
closed doors last Monday, and there was no floor debate on the bill
before it passed on Thursday.

Instead of discussing the merits of the bill, lawmakers were busy
horse-trading. At one point, to win some Republican votes needed for
passage, the majority Assembly Democrats promised the Republicans a
new copying machine, a bigger staff, and the opportunity to get more
of its legislation considered. Reluctant legislators' arms were
severely twisted. All sorts of behind-the-scenes deals were struck,
and the public was shut out.

It's hard to believe that this is how the Founding Fathers thought
government should operate.

One of the most hypocritical aspects of the entire spectacle on
Thursday was the legislators' disdain for addressing the legitimate
questions raised over the measure's constitutionality. Yet the
campaign-finance law that Mr. McGreevey signed the day before had been
castrated because of Democratic lawmakers' highly questionable
concerns that tougher restrictions would have been unconstitutional.

In the frenzy to pass the bill, the Democrats didn't take the time to
address these constitutional concerns. Mr. McGreevey, who says he
wholeheartedly supports the bill, must review it thoroughly, enumerate
its flaws, and insist the Legislature go back and get it right.

# # #

NJ Environmental Federation
1 Lower Ferry Rd
Trenton NJ 08628
T: 609-530-1515
F: 609-530-1508
E: dpri...@cleanwater.org
W: http://www.cleanwateraction.org/njef/

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

PRESERVATION MAY ADD TO STATE'S RISING HOME PRICES

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: "Mr. jockey hollow" {jockey...@mac.com}

By Beth Fitzgerald, Star-Ledger Staff, June 21, 2004B

New Jersey housing prices have another reason to continue their
relentless climb: the Highlands preservation law that seeks to
safeguard drinking water by curbing development in the state's
800,000-acre northwestern region.

But given New Jersey's legacy of rampant home price increases, it may
be impossible to isolate the effect of the Highlands law as it
gradually weaves its way into the fabric of the state's economy for
decades hence, experts say. Homebuilder Sunrise Communities is putting
up 417 houses in the Highlands community of Jefferson Township in
western Morris County, a development that should be fully built out by
2006.

"The 3,000-square-foot house we sold for $319,000 in 2001 now has a
base price of $490,900 - and that has happened without a Highlands
law," said John Paszamant, director of sales and marketing for
Sunrise.

With demand for homes already outpacing supply, the Highlands
building restrictions can only put more upward pressure on prices,
real estate experts said. And they warned of the negative effect on
the state's economy if New Jersey falls behind in the competition for
businesses that need affordable communities for their workers.

"We know that neighboring states are smiling - this is a wonderful
opportunity for them to capture major employers from New Jersey," said
John Udell, president of the real estate firms Weichert Commercial
Brokers and Weichert New Homes and Land.

The long-term effect of the Highlands building constraints will
include a shortage of retirement communities for aging Baby Boomers as
well as a lack of affordable starter homes for young families, Udell
said.

On June 10, the Legislature passed the Highlands Water Protection and
Planning Act, which basically halts development on 395,000 acres, half
of which are already protected, while another 365,000 acres will fall
under the purview of a regional council that will draft a master plan
and carve out 15,000 acres for intense development.

Gov. James E. McGreevey made protecting the Highlands a centerpiece
of his administration, and the law is championed by environmentalists
as a historic victory of clean water vs. suburban sprawl.

But it will worsen an extreme imbalance in supply and demand that has
been pushing home prices up 10 percent to 15 percent a year, to a
statewide average of $382,000, according to Patrick O'Keefe, chief
executive of the New Jersey Builders Associations.

He said home construction in the Highlands averages 3,700 units a
year. "About two-thirds of that development will be walled off by this
law, meaning we will immediately lose 2,400 units a year," O'Keefe
said. "There is an expectation that this will push development out of
the Highlands in the hope that it pops up somewhere else; for example,
in Essex or Hudson counties. But the current modest-income residents
of the cities may be driven out by redevelopment, and no one is
raising the question of where they will go."

"Where are our children going to live?" asked Larry Sorsby, chief
financial officer of homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises. "And the
state's economic growth will be stymied if businesses can't attract
workers because they can't find affordable housing."

Hovnanian operates in 15 states, and "for the past three decades New
Jersey has been one of the most difficult states to build in, and now
it's getting worse," Sorsby said.

* * *

Beth Fitzgerald can be reached at efitz...@starledger.com or
(973) 392-4111.
(c) 2004 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

PINES PANEL OKS PLAN FOR HOUSES

Date: 040621
From: http://www.phillyburbs.com/

By Jason Bodnar, Burlington County Times, June 21, 2004

Pemberton Township - Construction should begin soon on the last phase
of the 900-home Presidential Lakes development, a project about a
half-century in the making.

Last month, the Pinelands Commission gave permission for Danitom
Development Inc. of Paramus to start building 39 single-family homes
along Montana Trail. The homes will be the final portion of the
development.

In order to get permission, Danitom paid to preserve 654 acres in
Pemberton Township from development. It also agreed to outfit each of
the new homes with a more environmentally friendly septic system.

To construct the new homes, Danitom now needs only to obtain building
permits from the township. Danitom President Tom Crittelli said he
hopes construction can begin within 30 days.

The final phase has been held up since 1988 due to litigation by
developers and commission concerns over its environmental impact.
Danitom purchased the property last month and was able to resolve the
issues by lowering the proposed number of homes from 51 to 39 and
offering to build alternative septic systems.

Township officials said they're pleased with the plan.

"The administration is favorably disposed to this project," Township
Administrator Dave Thompson said. "We wish Danitom the best in getting
the houses built."

Crittelli said the new homes would be about 2,500 square feet, with
four bedrooms, two stories and a price tag of about $265,000. He said
Danitom would also complete Montana Trail, which has been a partially
finished road for nearly a decade.

The first homes in Presidential Lakes were built about 50 years ago.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

THE PINELANDS AND FORESTRY - A FORESTER'S VIEW

Date: 040621
From: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org

Inside the Pinelands, June/July 2004

PPA invited Bob Williams to write for our newsletter explaining his
perspective on forestry in the Pinelands. Bob is the preeminent
consulting forester in this region, and he knows the Pinelands very
well from his many years of work here. As you will see, Bob believes
that forestry can be done in a way that is compatible with preserving
our native Pine Barrens forests. While PPA does not always agree with
Bob about how to carry out and regulate compatible forestry in the
Pinelands, we respect his expertise and his love for the land. We also
believe we can find common ground through dialogue. So we think it
makes sense for our readers to hear his perspectives on this critical
issue.

- - -

My interest in forestry began 47 years ago when my father began to
take me to his deer club in Chatsworth, New Jersey. I would be allowed
to play in the saw dust pile at the cedar mill off the end of Victor
Avenue. I also was given the job of bagging cedar shavings that were
used as bedding for our hunting dogs. Ever since, I've always been
interested in the Pinelands Forest and its uses.

Today, if the mill owner wished to rebuild that sawmill, there would
likely be significant opposition to the mill, as well as accusations
that the return of the mill would result in the destruction of our
white cedar forest resources. The general anti-timber harvesting
attitude of the public, bureaucratic red tape and misunderstood
forestry regulations have meant that Paul Schaier, a third generation
operator of our last remaining cedar mill, and I cannot secure enough
white cedar logs to manufacture the cedar shake shingles needed to
shingle the roof of the new interpretive center at Batsto Village. As
a result, the center will be roofed with non-native western red cedar.
Situations like this are an insult to the idea of the Pinelands
National Reserve and its purpose to protect and perpetuate our
cultural, historical and natural resources in this region.

As a professional forester, I'm often asked to explain why we harvest
trees in the Pinelands. Usually, this question is asked by someone who
is convinced that cutting trees is bad and must be having a negative
impact on the Pinelands region. Nothing could be further from the
truth.

Since European settlement some 300 years ago, the forests have been
harvested repeatedly for an ever-changing forest products industry.
It's only been in the past twenty-five years that industry timber
harvesting has not been a common practice in the Pinelands region.
Today, the steep decline in forestry as a viable use of the land
continues.

Since the inception of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan
(CMP), forestry has typically been discussed in a negative light. At
present, the Pinelands Commission has appointed a new Forest Advisory
Committee to address some concerns about forestry activities. Again,
the discussion of forestry is undertaken with a negative connotation
as the backdrop. Nevertheless, this is a most appropriate time to
discuss forestry in the interest of the well-being of the Pinelands'
forest resources and the commercial forestry interests in the region.
Both are in trouble, and both need to be better understood by people
who care about the Pinelands if either are going to survive the way
the CMP intended them to.

What we see on the landscape today probably bears little resemblance
to what was here in pre-settlement times. Timber that was here at that
time was of a much superior quality and size, and there was likely a
higher percentage of early successional ecosystems fostered by the
severe natural disturbance of wildfire. The natural cycle of
disturbance and succession promotes diversity of plants and animals.
Three hundred years of intensive cutting and excessive wildland fires
have dramatically changed the landscape that we see today. Along with
these factors, the aggressive exclusion of fire from a highly fire-
adapted ecosystem over the last fifty years or so has created a
situation that now threatens the very unique biodiversity we so
zealously wish to protect. We are literally preserving the Pinelands
to death. As if that isn't enough of a problem, we have also created a
wildland fire hazard that poses the threat of catastrophic fires that
will result in significant loss of life, property and biodiversity
itself.

The Pineland's CMP Preamble warned of all this. It recommended the
need to continue to have severe disturbances to the forest, the
control of hardwood in the pine forests, and the need to avoid
prescribed burning programs that result in open, park-like forests.
The CMP also recognized the need to encourage forestry because it is
the only land use option that is compatible with the long term goals
of the CMP. We have done none of this, and it's time to begin to
change people's viewpoint of forestry. Forestry offers an economic use
that is compatible with environmental protection goals. This is indeed
a rare situation in human endeavors and we have largely ignored the
economic benefits of forestry.

A Pinelands forestry program offers an opportunity to enhance, create
or protect the unique biodiversity here, while at the same time
mitigating the dangerous wildfire hazard that threatens the public's
health and safety. Understand, you cannot preserve a forest. It will
change with time. That is nature's way. But with thoughtful
management, which includes forestry, you can preserve a dynamic forest
system.

In fact, it was a group of foresters who in 1894 began the first
discussions and efforts to protect this area from development and to
perpetuate its natural resources for future generations. As a forester
in 2004, I feel as though I should follow through on what those
foresters started 120 years ago.

I view myself as an environmentalist, but I don't believe most
environmentalists view me as such. It's easy to be against things,
i.e., to oppose a development, a golf course or any land use action.
It's easy to buy land and simply preserve it. The people of New Jersey
should understand that they cannot expect to halt timber harvesting in
forests in our state while continuing to consume increasing amounts of
forest products. That merely exports timber harvesting to other
regions, or worse, to other countries where forest management is not
as well regulated and managed by professional resource managers. We
all must take responsibility when it comes to the stewardship of our
forest lands. I know that it's difficult for environmentalists to
support or advocate forestry, simply because of the nature of it -
cutting trees. But I believe that with a better understanding of the
positive role forestry can play in the Pinelands, all us
environmentalists can come together and support truly compatible
forestry here.

Trees are the answer to so many of our environmental problems. They
clean our air, water, and soil, provide habitat and beauty as well as
our planet's most useful renewable natural resource - wood fiber. They
are the ultimate solar energy producers. I will continue to look for
the environmentalist who is for forestry. If you meet one, please have
them get in touch with me to talk more about this critical issue.

* * *

Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Bishop Farmstead
17 Pemberton Rd
Southhampton NJ 08088
T: 609-859-8860
F: 609-859-8804
E: p...@pinelandsalliance.org
W: http://www.pinelandsalliance.org

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

RICHLAND MAN'S STUDY IS DRY WORK

Date: 040621
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/

ARBORIST SAYS DEVELOPMENT DRAINING SOUTHERN NJ BODIES OF WATER

By Derek Harper, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7203
Press of Atlantic City, June 21, 2004

Buena - Mark Demitroff puts his green station wagon in park and gets
out at Wawa.

The landscape at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Route 54 is nothing
to get excited about. Two busy roads converge. Around it, builders
have sprinkled the detritus of modern life: a couple of motels and a
convenience store. A dump truck from Levari Trucking beeps as it backs
into a parking space nearby.

The real story is behind the Wawa, Demitroff says, and in his shorts
and worn leather boots, strides off quickly to Route 40 and around the
side of the store.

"There," he says, pointing.

It's a nondescript grassy field, overgrown with weeds and plants.
Wawa has zoning approvals to expand there.

But a century ago, it was the reason the roads converged, Demitroff
says. A century ago, it was a shallow pond, he says, one of several
similar ponds in the Pine Barrens.

Travelers watered their horses when they stayed at a tavern now taken
over by the Ye Olde Inn motel. Workers used it at the charcoal mill
across the street, now a private home. And in the centuries before
them, American Indians knew about it and traveled to it looking for
water, and animals that drank there, Demitroff says.

And like many of the similar ponds across the Pine Barrens, it's
gone.

While there is no scientific consensus, Demitroff and others are all
but certain that a century of well-drilling to satisfy the farms, golf
courses and a growing number of residents in southern New Jersey have
taken their toll. They have drawn enough water out of the ground that
the ponds, cripples and blue holes that distinguished the Pinelands
are slowly, inexorably and relentlessly drying up, he says.

The problem starts with southern New Jersey's geology, Demitroff
says.

The soil is sandy, porous - the result of time spent under surging
and retreating seas, and as a polar semidesert, desolate and windblown
during glacial periods.

As the Earth warmed, the water soaked away into sandy soil,
accumulating in aquifers deep below ground over the millennia. By the
time the first settlers drilled wells in Atlantic City in the late
1800s, the pent-up water pressure was great enough that anecdotal
reports said they spouted water three and four stories into the sky.

That pressure dropped slowly over the century as people drilled well
after well into the region's aquifers, he says. And as pressure fell,
small ponds like this one, at the edge of where a major aquifer
surfaces and refills itself, vanished.

It's an intriguing yet controversial theory, not conclusively proved.
Demitroff, 44, of Richland, a professional arborist and amateur
geologist studying independently with the University of Delaware, has
not yet published his findings to be reviewed by others.

"Mark's on a good trail there but it hasn't been scrutinized
professionally," said Rutgers Professor Emeritus John C. F. Tedrow,
who has written about both New Jersey and polar soils.

A report on the water in southeastern New Jersey, issued last year by
the state Department of Environmental Protection, seems to validate at
least some of Demitroff's beliefs. It said, in part, that the water
supplies are interconnected and the region's growth seems to be
overtaxing the supplies.

The Pinelands Commission is also interested in tracking the
Pineland's water, but there just are not any conventional records from
a century ago that can be compared with today, chief scientist Robert
A. Zampella said.

Their records over the past decade or so show that streams are more
affected by rain than other sources. But they are interested in what
he has to say.

"He may be on the right track," Zampella said, "but there is no
empirical evidence."

Earlier, at his country house down a long gravel path, Demitroff
unfurled a black-and-white aerial photograph of the region on his
wooden kitchen table. These are his records.

Without scientifically measured records charting the streams and
ponds from a century ago, Demitroff has to rely on what he has at
hand: historic photographs, old maps, journals and the records of
mills that used the once-strong streams to power their waterwheels.
These documents are anecdotal and not entirely scientific, but it
makes his case, he says.

When airplanes flew over the area west of Vineland, Cumberland
County, in 1930, they recorded the land as a series of charcoal and
light gray squares, bisected by neatly drawn streets and slashing
railroad tracks.

But that's not all. Demitroff points to a series of light streaks
across the surface: ancient sand dunes. But more importantly, he
singles out the black dots and blots that are sprinkled across the
photos: water.

"Now you have to remember you were in a drought," Demitroff says
excitedly. "You were in the worst dust bowl drought."

Now, in a time of plentiful rains, few, if any, of those holes
remain, he says.

He unfurls a similar map of southern Cape May and goes to work.

"There's Lake Lily," he says, pointing to a longish black mark on the
map.

"But a lot of people don't know Lake Lily also used to have a sister
lake next to it right...there," he says, his index finger sliding over
slightly, touching a smaller black mark above a spot labeled "Cape May
Light" in an old-fashioned block font.

With a note of triumph in his voice, he describes what happened after
years of human intervention.

"And now, it's dry."

* * *

To email Derek Harper at The Press: DHa...@pressofac.com

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

U.S. NOT READY FOR IMPENDING WATER CRISIS

Date: 040621
From: http://www.ens-newswire.com/

Environment News Service, June 21, 2004

Washington, DC - The U.S. government is ill prepared to confront
increasingly severe water shortages across the country and should make
a new commitment to water research and governance, water experts warn
in a new report.

Water research is fragmented among 20 federal agencies and is poorly
coordinated, according to a new study from the National Academies of
Science sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The report comes on the heels of an announcement by USGS scientists
Friday that the parched Interior West could be the driest it has been
in 500 years.

A decade of drought has produced the lowest flow on record in the
1,400 mile long Colorado River, which provides drinking water to
Phoenix and Las Vegas.

USGS scientists said Sunday that drought continues to affect a broad
area of the West, from the Central Plains into the Northern Rockies,
and has now moved into the Southeast.

Committee Chair Henry Vaux, a resource expert with the University of
California at Berkeley, warned "water crises are not confined to
western states."

Vaux cited as an example the recent conflict between Maryland and
Virginia over Potomac River water rights that had to be settled by the
U.S. Supreme Court.

"Decisionmakers at all levels of government are going to have to make
difficult choices in the coming decades about how to allot limited
water supplies, and they need sound science to back them up," Vaux
said.

Given the competition for water among farmers, environmental
advocates, recreational users, and other interests, as well as
emerging challenges such as climate change and the threat of
waterborne diseases, the committee concluded that an additional $70
million in federal funding should go to water research each year.

Overall federal funding for water research has been stagnant in real
terms for the past 30 years, and that the portion dedicated to
research on water use and related social science topics has declined.

The panel says additional millions of dollars should be allocated
with the aim of improving the decisionmaking of institutions that
control water resources and gaining a better understanding the water
use challenges that lie ahead.

The water experts called for a new entity to coordinate water
research at the national level. No structure is in place now that
prioritizes research for funding purposes, evaluates progress, or
shifts priorities as new challenges arise.

The panel said either an existing interagency body, a neutral
organization authorized by Congress, or a public-private group led by
the White House Office of Management and Budget could serve as the
coordinating entity.

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) say one of the worst climatic events in the history of the
United States, the Dust Bowl drought, which devastated the Great
Plains in the 1930s, was brought on by changes in sea surface
temperatures.

Siegfried Schubert of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and his
colleagues used a computer model developed with satellite data to look
at the climate over the past 100 years.

The study found cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean surface
temperatures combined with warmer tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures
to create conditions in the atmosphere that turned America's
breadbasket into a dust bowl from 1931 to 1939.

These changes in sea surface temperatures created shifts in the
large-scale weather patterns and low level winds that reduced the
normal supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and inhibited
rainfall throughout the Great Plains.

"The 1930s drought was the major climatic event in the nation's
history," Schubert said. "Just beginning to understand what occurred
is really critical to understanding future droughts and the links to
global climate change issues we're experiencing today," he said.

Across the Great Plains 2004 ranks as one of the top five driest
years since 1893 in parts of Nebraska and since 1909 in parts of
Wyoming, according to data provided by Brian Fuchs, regional
climatologist at the High Plains Regional Climate Center.

From southeastern Montana into western Nebraska, cccasionally hot
weather and short-term dryness is aggravating the effects of a multi-
year drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.

In parts of western Nebraska, the January-May period rivaled 2002 for
the driest start to a year in more than a century.

Meanwhile on the southern High Plains, where June 8 to 14
temperatures ranged from four to six degrees Fahrenheit above normal,
short-term heat and dryness continued to take a toll on dryland summer
crops. As a result, abnormal dryness and moderate drought continued to
expand across the southern High Plains, the National Drought
Mitigation Center said.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

COMMERCIAL SHIPS BELCH ONE MILLION TONS OF SMOG ANNUALLY

Date: 040621
From: http://www.ens-newswire.com/

AmeriScan: June 21, 2004

New York, NY - Commercial shipping discharges about one million tons
of smog forming pollution in U.S. waters every year, according to a
new report by Environmental Defense, a national advocacy organization
based in New York.

"Ships are floating smokestacks that contribute to a ripple of
harmful health effects across America," said Environmental Defense
attorney Janea Scott.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that
commercial shipping's percentage of transportation sector smog will
rise from 6.6 percent in 1996 to about 28 percent in 2030, a figure
Environmental Defense cites in its report.

By comparison, all of the nation's highway vehicles are projected to
contribute 37.5 percent of the smog forming pollution from the
transportation sector in 2030.

"Many communities near ports, coastal waterways and inland waterways
are hard hit by high polluting commercial ships," said Scott. "These
ships need strong pollution controls to protect the millions of
Americans with asthma and other lung diseases."

Many of the nation's largest coastal and inland ports have unhealthy
smog levels.

Environmental Defense says that in communities like New York, Los
Angeles and Houston the smog forming pollution from ships is
comparable to hundreds of thousands of vehicles operating on roads and
highways.

The organization criticized the EPA for giving diesel ships longer to
meet new diesel standards than other nonroad diesel engines. Last
month the agency ordered cuts the sulfur content in nonroad diesel
fuel from the current average of 3,400 parts per million (ppm) to 500
ppm in 2007 - the same standard as current highway diesel fuel.

It calls for this standard to be further tightened to 15 ppm by 2010,
but gives diesel trains, boats and ships until 2012 to meet the final
standard.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

PRIME SEASON FOR OZONE POLLUTION BEGINS

Date: 040621
From: http://www.njherald.com/

By Jamie Goldenbaum, Herald Staff Writer, June 21, 2004

Sussex County has welcomed the start of the season for swimming, sun
bathing and barbecuing with good air quality today, but summer is the
prime season for ozone pollution, which can irritate the respiratory
system, according to the EPA.

Coughing, throat irritation and chest discomfort are all symptoms of
breathing too much ozone into your lungs. Ozone can reduce lung
function and make it more difficult to breathe deeply. It can increase
susceptibility to respiratory infections, inflame or damage linings in
the lungs, or spark increased sensitivity to allergies.

"Ozone occurs all over New Jersey," said environmental medical Dr.
Paul Lioy, who is the deputy director of government relations and
director of the exposure measurement and assessment division at the
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in
Piscataway.

"It's a summertime smog problem," he said referring to ground ozone.
"Even in Sussex County, you'll get high levels of ozone."

The State Bureau of Air Monitoring divides the state into nine zones
for air monitoring. Sussex County is in the Northern Delaware Valley
Region.

Lioy suggests that people alter their outdoor activity schedules on
high ozone summer days. Ozone builds up during the day, so people
would get less exposure to ozone when they are outdoors in the
mornings and evenings.

Not every day is a high ozone day, Lioy said, but New Jersey tends to
average 15 to 40 percent of the summer season at above federal
standard levels. Last year, from April to August, the state exceeded
federal ozone standards for 20 days. The Northern Delaware Valley
Region exceeded the standard for seven days, according to the Bureau
of Air Monitoring.

Sussex County's rural setting and plethora of trees do not protect it
from air pollutants produced to the west in Pennsylvania, southwest
and within the state.

"In the summertime, all areas of New Jersey are considered to be in
violation of (the federal) ozone standard," he said.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, ground
ozone occurs when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react
to sunlight.

About one in three people in the United States is at risk of feeling
the health problems associated with the pollution. Children, elderly,
active outdoor enthusiasts and people with respiratory diseases are
most at risk of suffering from the adverse impacts of ground ozone.
But, healthy adults doing heavy exercise or manual labor outdoors may
experience the unhealthy effects of ozone

The state Bureau of Air Monitoring is charged with monitoring
pollution levels in New Jersey 24 hours a day and it issues air
quality warnings daily through the summer season. A bureau Web site is
also maintained where people can check the air quality for the day.

Six pollutants are regularly monitored by the bureau in response to
federal standard requirements; carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen
dioxide, ozone, particulates and sulfur dioxide.

While ground ozone is considered harmful, upper atmospheric ozone is
labeled "good" ozone, according to the state bureau. Ozone in the
planet's upper atmosphere reduces the amount of ultraviolet light
reaching the earth, but this layer is also at risk of being eaten away
by pollutants.

The EPA has set a standard for levels of ozone in the United State
occurring over an eight-hour period, Lioy said, and it is expected
that New Jersey will go over the limit.

"New Jersey usually exceeds (the standard) by more than a few
points," Lioy said. "It can be well over 100 parts and people need to
alter their outdoor period during that time."

The federal standard dictates that if ground ozone levels go over 80
parts per billion, referring to molecules, then the area exceeds
healthy standards.

In the early 1970s, Lioy conducted a study at High Point State Park
in northern Sussex County to learn more about how ground ozone formed
and traveled.

"The ozone was coming west to east," he said. "You could actually see
the smog coming from the west (Pennsylvania) to New Jersey."

A generally low ozone summer means a rainy summer, Lioy said. Rain
keeps the particulate matter down. So, a dry summer means plentiful
ground ozone.

"Lots of rainy days and ozone can't be produced by the sun," Lioy
said.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

CITIES WILL SWELTER ON SUMMER NIGHTS

Date: 20 Jun 2004
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}

By Fred Pearce, New Scientist, June 20, 2004

Summer nights are going to get stickier - especially in the city.

An analysis by the UK Met Office shows that the effects of global
warming will be much more intense in urban areas, where vehicles and
buildings heat the air and asphalt and concrete retain heat at night.

As many city-dwellers are aware, urban air is often hotter than that
of the countryside, where fields and forests absorb less heat in the
day and give it up more readily at night. But Richard Betts of the Met
Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction in Exeter, Devon, says
this "urban heat island" effect will intensify.

Betts told a conference on Gaia and climate change in Dartington,
Devon, earlier in June that a doubling of carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere could triple the intensity of the heat island effect.

Cities that now release an average of 20 watts of heat per square
metre will in future release 60 watts more.

HUMAN HEALTH

Londoners, says Betts, can expect many more sweaty nights as a
result. In the past 30 years, there have only been 20 nights when the
minimum temperature in London failed to fall below 20 deg. C.

Subscribe to New Scientist for more news and features Related Stories
Record ice core gives fair forecast 09 June 2004 'Earthshine' fall
heats global warming debate 27 May 2004 Climate change heralds thirsty
times ahead 22 May 2004 For more related stories search the print
edition Archive Weblinks Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and
Research, Met Office Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
Doubling carbon dioxide levels will be likely to quadruple that
figure. But add in the exaggerated urban heat island effect and it
soars to six times the number - an extra three nights per year at
least.

"This could have quite significant effects on human health," he says.
Last year's heat wave in Europe caused at least 20,000 deaths, for
example.

The findings coincide with the publication of research into the
warming effect of cities in China. Liming Zhou of the Georgia
Institute of Technology in Atlanta reported that south-east China,
which has extensive urban development, is warming 0.05 deg. (c) per
decade faster than rural regions of the country. Heating within cities
in the region is likely to be even greater.

- - -

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science (DOI 10.1073/pnas.0400357101)

# # #

Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
T: 732-828-9995
F: 732-791-4603
E: e...@rachel.org
W: http://www.rachel.org

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

OP/ED: OYSTER CREEK - WILL THE LIGHTS STAY ON WITHOUT IT

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: "Edith" {gb...@comcast.net}

Asbury Park Press, 6/21/04

'The bottom line on everything is money, and without that plant,
we're dead."

So says Lacey Mayor John Parker, employing an unfortunate metaphor,
about the economic importance of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant to his
township.

Parker, Oyster Creek's giddiest cheerleader, is wrong on two counts.

First, when it comes to nuclear power, the bottom line is safety, not
money.

Second, Lacey would not suffer financially from the shutdown of
Oyster Creek. The township receives an annual $11.5 million subsidy
from the state for hosting the plant. State law requires that the
subsidy be granted in perpetuity, with annual adjustments for
inflation, whether the plant remains open or not.

Even if that weren't the case, to suggest that Oyster Creek should be
kept open to keep taxes low in the town that hosts it is an affront to
neighboring towns and to the millions of people who would pay a much
larger price should a severe accident ever occur at the plant.

Next to safety, the most important question state officials should be
asking is this: How would the loss of Oyster Creek's generating
capacity affect New Jersey's ability to obtain reliable, affordable
power?

The short answer: The impact would be negligible.

Oyster Creek's overall contribution to New Jersey's energy needs and
the multistate power grid of which it is a part is modest; its loss
would have to be replaced, but it's already being planned for. New
capacity from natural gas plants that is expected to come online would
more than compensate for Oyster Creek's shutdown, according to the
state Board of Public Utilities.

Oyster Creek is one of the smallest nuclear plants in the nation;
only seven of the 103 reactors have less generating capacity,
according to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oyster Creek
supplies about 9 percent of the state's electricity but contributes
less than 1 percent to the regional grid, PJM Interconnection, of
which New Jersey is a part.

PJM plans for the energy needs and coordinates the movement of
electricity for 35 million people throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Delaware and parts of three other states. New Jersey can
draw on that grid for any shortfalls when the need arises.

The BPU is not expected to take a formal position on Oyster Creek's
license renewal, but it has provided information to the governor's
office about the possible impact of the loss of the plant. BPU
Commissioner Jeanne Fox says she is confident the state's energy needs
can be met without Oyster Creek and the B.L. England coal-burning
plant in Cape May County, which is expected to shut down in 2007.

David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear energy
watchdog group, says he is unaware of any electricity disruptions or
price spikes that have resulted from the shutdowns - some of them
abrupt - of more than 20 nuclear plants. Some of the plants generated
two or three times the amount of electricity produced by Oyster Creek.

In addition to being able to draw on the regional grid for power, New
Jersey has established renewable alternative energy source targets of
4 percent by 2008 and 20 percent by 2020 for the state's four major
electricity providers - JCP&L, PSE&G, Conectiv and Rockland. Fox
believes the targets are achievable, even with today's technology. New
developments could push those targets upward. The chief alternative
sources projected for New Jersey are solar, wind and biomass
electricity generation, a process in which organic material is
converted into energy.

Although the Bush administration wants to jump-start the nuclear
industry, the opposition is certain to be fierce. It's been more than
30 years since a new nuclear plant has been ordered and built because
of profitability concerns and political and environmental opposition.
Today, nuclear power plants generate about 20 percent of the nation's
electricity.

When commercial nuclear power debuted more than three decades ago,
its enthusiasts gushed that it would provide a new energy source "too
cheap to meter." Today, Oyster Creek and the industry continue to tout
nuclear energy's low costs. But a 2001 study by Public Citizen, a
national consumer advocacy group, debunked that myth.

It found that the greater a state's dependence on nuclear energy, the
higher its rates. In the five states that drew more than 50 percent of
their power from nuclear, electric rates were 37 percent higher than
those in non-nuclear states. Nuclear power is more expensive than
other forms of energy because its capital costs are far higher and
because it is costly to meet safety standards.

When capital outlays, which account for 60 to 75 percent of the cost
of operating a nuclear plant, are factored in, nuclear-generated
electricity is nearly four times as costly to produce as gas-powered
energy, according to an International Energy Agency report. Those
figures don't include the value of federal subsidies for such things
as insurance and waste disposal.

Safe, renewable alternatives must be found and developed. Extending
the life of aging plants that generate tons of radioactive waste that
will remain threats to the environment for thousands of years makes no
sense. The longer nuclear power is deemed an appropriate response to
our energy needs, the longer we will defer investing in the
development of cleaner, safer, cheaper alternatives. And the longer we
will postpone having to confront the issue of how to deal with some of
the planet's most toxic waste - radioactive spent fuel rods.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

TWO BEACHES REOPEN, TWO CLOSE AS BACTERIA LEVELS FLUCTUATE

Date: 040620
From: http://www.nj.com/

Associated Press, 6/20/2004

Trenton - Fluctuating bacteria levels along the New Jersey coastline
caused health officials to close beaches in two towns over the
weekend. Two other beaches that had been closed earlier last week were
reopened on Saturday. Unhealthy bacteria levels in the water led to
the closing of beaches at 75th Street in Harvey Cedars and Third
Avenue in Ship Bottom on Saturday. The Department of Environmental
Protection reported that the beaches would remain closed Sunday.

Beaches in northern Allenhurst and Spring Lake were reopened to
bathers Saturday. In Allenhurst, the entire beachfront and a saltwater
pool were closed Wednesday after high levels of fecal pollution were
detected. The ban between Corlies and Cedar avenues was lifted
Saturday after water samples showed low levels of enterococcus
bacteria, according to Monmouth County health officials.

The ban in Spring Lake affected beaches at Brown and York avenues and
was precautionary. Health officials routinely ban swimming near the
Wreck Pond outfall for 24 hours after it has rained at least one-tenth
of an inch.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

EPA MUST LIMIT ALL TOXICS FROM VINYL PRODUCTION

Date: 040621
From: http://www.ens-newswire.com/

AmeriScan: June 21, 2004

Washington, DC - Environmentalists won a partial victory Friday when
a federal appeals court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has failed to set emission limits for all hazardous air
pollutants emitted by factories that manufacture polyvinyl chloride
(PVC).

The popular plastic is used in the construction industry for siding
water distribution, irrigation and sewer pipe, wire and cable
insulation, electrical conduit, floor and wall coverings, and roofing;
in the healthcare industry for blood bags and tubing, packaging,
gloves, masks, labware and medical devices; in vehicle manufacturing;
toys and electronics.

PVC producers release large quantities of vinyl chloride, a known
human carcinogen, in addition to other hazardous air pollutants that
threaten the environment and public health in and around communities
where these plants are located.

The environmentalists challenged a final agency rule that set limits
for vinyl chloride, but did not address other pollutants emitted by
these facilities.

Among these pollutants are vinylidene chloride, methanol, chlorine,
hydrogen chloride, and ethylene dichloride - exposure to these and
other hazardous pollutants is associated with serious adverse health
effects.

Although the court rejected the challenge to the vinyl chloride
limits set by the agency, it agreed that the EPA must set standards
for these other pollutants.

"For its part, EPA contends it simply utilized vinyl chloride as a
surrogate for other [hazardous air pollutants]," according to the
three-judge panel. "EPA makes several efforts to defend this view,
none of which can save it."

"In short, we do not find EPA's explanation persuasive, and hold its
determination that vinyl chloride is a surrogate for all other
[hazardous air pollutants] emitted from PVC production facilities is
arbitrary and capricious and not supported by the record."

The court ordered the agency to reconsider properly why it has not
set these limits.

"Instead of requiring control of dangerous air pollutants, EPA has
blithely assumed the problem away," said Howard Fox, managing attorney
for Earthjustice, a non-profit law firm that represented Mossville
Environmental Action Now and the Sierra Club in the case.

"The court has blown the whistle on EPA's uncorroborated 'surrogate'
scheme," said Fox, "pointing out what is obvious from the agency's own
decision: there is no 'there' there."

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WHO SEES GREAT ENVIRONMENTAL HARM TO CHILDREN

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}

WHO TALKS UP SCALE OF ENVIRONMENT-HEALTH RISKS

Environment Daily, June 21, 2004

One-third of all child deaths in Europe are caused by the
environment, the World health organisation (WHO) claimed on Friday The
statement represents a final bid to grab media attention before
ministerial talks on environment and health in Budapest this week, the
centrepiece of which will be adoption of a children's health and
environment action plan for Europe (Cehape).

According to the new research, between 1.8% and 6.4% of all deaths
among European children up to 4 is caused by outdoor air pollution by
fine particulates. Some 4.6% of deaths in the same group is attributed
to indoor air pollution by smoke from solid fuel burning. A further
5.3% of deaths in children up to 14 is attributed to dirty water or
sanitation.

Using a parallel measure of disability-adjusted life years (dalys),
the report estimates lower relative importance for indoor air
pollution and dirty water and sanitation at 3.1% and 3.5% of all
childhood deaths respectively. However, it attributes 1.4% of all
dalys in the 0-4 age group to poisoning by the heavy metal lead.

Combined, these environmental risk factors add up to between 12% and
16% of all child deaths. The researchers arrive at their overall
estimate of 34% of deaths "due to environment" by including injuries
of all kinds, ranging from traffic accidents to falls and drowning,
suicide to violence. All such injuries are estimated to be responsible
for 22.6% of deaths in children up to 19, and 19% of dalys.

"This is the biggest study ever done on the link between child health
and the environment," a WHO spokesperson told Environment Daily. In a
statement, the UN agency described the results as "devastating" and
"ominous".

It is unclear whether there is general agreement that estimates of
"environmental" health risks should properly include injuries, as the
WHO study does. The EU environment and health strategy Scale launched
last year does not. In proposals for a Scale action plan earlier this
month, the Commission referred to the WHO study as showing that one-
sixth rather than one-third of child deaths are due to environmental
factors (ED 10/06/04)

The WHO report warns Europe's ministers that child-specific
legislation is needed if children are to be protected from
environmental risks. It claims the fact that "children are not just
'little adults'" has previously been ignored by policy makers.

However, the study also stresses the difficulty of establishing exact
figures for environment-linked child deaths. Challenges faced include
differing absolute numbers of children in the regions surveyed, and a
reliance on available data.

- - -

Follow-up: WHO Europe office, tel: +45 39 17 17 17, a press release
and Budapest conference information.

# # #

Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
T: 732-828-9995
F: 732-791-4603
E: e...@rachel.org
W: http://www.rachel.org

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

BIRD LOVERS SEEK SAFER SKYSCRAPERS

Date: 040621
From: http://msnbc.msn.com/

NEW YORK CITY AUDUBON SOCIETY CAMPAIGNS TO SAVE FRIENDS

Associated Press, June 21, 2004

New York - It's not one of the oldest environmental problems, but it
may be among the most common: Who hasn't been startled by a sudden
thud and turned to see a small bird - dead or stunned - on the other
side of a plate glass window?

"Every year, vast numbers of birds are killed or injured by colliding
with windows," says E.J. McAdams, executive director of New York City
Audubon Society.

The group is mounting a multi-pronged campaign, Project Safe Flight,
to seek solutions to the problem. Proposals include darkening
skyscrapers at night and encouraging the use of new types of patterned
glass.

"The problem is especially severe during migration season, when most
birds fly at night, navigating by the moon and stars, at between 500
and 2,000 feet," he said. "Especially when there's cloud cover or
inclement weather, they may be confused by city lights, and don't know
a window is really a solid barrier."

In daytime, he added, birds may be fooled by a window's reflection of
sky or trees, or by decorative plants inside a building lobby.

Project Safe Flight also involves an annual survey, now in its
seventh year, of avian casualties among the skyscrapers and shop
facades of New York City. As of 2003, it had recorded losses of nearly
3,000 birds of 97 different species, about half the number recorded
yearly in Central Park, McAdams said.

FATALITIES BY SPECIES

White-throated sparrows, among Gotham's most common birds, lead the
2003 list with 423 killed and 181 injured, followed by the common
yellowthroat, 208 killed and 147 injured; ovenbird, 163 killed and 77
injured, and dark-eyed junco, 104 dead and 50 hurt.

Despite New York's proximity to water, no seabirds are on the list,
and only one predator, a sharp-shinned hawk, was recorded in the six-
year survey from April 1997 to May 2003. The rock pigeon - by far the
most common city bird - suffered only three dead and two hurt.

Project Safe Flight initially focused on the glass-walled World Trade
Center's twin towers that rose 1,100 feet, into the flight path of
migrating birds, and stayed partially lit overnight for cleaning
crews. The towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

For a time, the Empire State Building had turned out lights during
bird migrations, but ended that practice after the attacks. "Having
the lights on became a morale factor for the city, and we didn't want
to disagree with that," McAdams said.

LIGHTS OFF SAVES LIVES

Chicago and Toronto are other cities studying the bird collision
phenomenon. Switching off decorative lighting in Chicago's Loop during
migration seasons is estimated to have saved 10,000 birds a year.

Jon McMillan, an architect for a new apartment tower complex in
Queens, across the East River from the United Nations, said he became
concerned about birds after seeing casualty tolls published by
Audubon.

"For the most part," he said, "we will avoid large expanses of glass
near the ground and lighting our buildings too late in the night."

Bruce Fowle, of the architectural firm Fox & Fowle, said the problem
is so recently recognized that bird collisions were not a
consideration when his company's state-of-the-art Conde Nast building
in Times Square was built in the late 1990s.

But it is now a "major issue," attracting serious interest among
building designers and contractors, said Fowle, whose wife is a former
executive director of the city's Audubon society. "Recent studies have
caught our attention, and we're trying to help," he said.

Stand-alone skyscrapers pose more of a threat to birds than dense
clusters of buildings like Times Square, Fowle said, and patterned
glass to deter birds may be more realistic than turning off lights.

"You're not going to get people to go home at 5 p.m. just because the
birds are coming," he said.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

HISTORIC WANTAGE FARM STIRS STATE, LOCAL INTEREST

Date: 040621
From: http://www.njherald.com/

LOCAL GROUP PROPOSES AGRICULTURAL CENTER

By Lynn Olanoff, Herald Staff Writer, June 21, 2004

Wantage - Donna Traylor gazed with hope over the red paint-flaked
barns circled by thigh-high grass.

Though many of the buildings at the state-owned Lusscroft Farm are in
poor condition - from the weather-torn agriculture buildings to the
eight-bedroom mansion marred by vulgar graffiti - Traylor, the
coordinator of the Sussex County Board of Agriculture, could envision
a favorable future for the 500-acre Wantage site.

"It would be kind of criminal to take down two dozen buildings when
there could be use," Traylor said on a Friday tour of the farm.

Traylor is part of a local group of people who advocate turning the
90-year-old farm into an agricultural heritage center, as a
destination for agricultural, historical and ecological tourism.

"Had we done nothing and just sat back, you probably would have seen
these buildings leveled," said Freeholder Glen Vetrano, another group
member. "This could be an economic boon to add to our tourism
attractions, our agriculture base."

The Sussex County Milk Producers Association has interest in the farm
as a possible site to produce local milk and cheese, Vetrano said.

The group has garnered the attention of the state, which has set up a
public meeting to discuss future options for the farm. The meeting
will be held July 29 at 7 p.m. at Space Farms Zoo and Museum, Traylor
said.

In addition to an agricultural heritage center, state-proposed
options for the property include using the farm, which borders High
Point and Stokes state parks, as a headquarters for a new state park,
or leaving the property as is under the care of the state Division of
Parks and Forestry.

The local group, which also includes members from the county Heritage
and Agriculture Association, favors the agriculture heritage center
over the state park because the first option could allow for some
private funding.

Sue Gerber, president of the Heritage and Agriculture Association, is
applying for a non-profit designation so the local group can pursue
grants and other funding for the farm.

With any option chosen, the local group wants the property to be on
public display, since the farm has agricultural significance. The farm
was the first site where artificial insemination was used to improve
dairy herds in the United States, which was undertaken by researcher
Enos Perry in 1938.

"This site has national significance to the agricultural community,"
Traylor said.

Montclair stockbroker James Turner bought the property on the west
side of Wantage in 1914, and built the farm's 20 or so structures,
including his namesake mansion, during the 16 years he lived there.
Following the stock market crash of 1929, Turner donated his 1,050-
acre farm to the state in 1931, which allowed the North Jersey Dairy
Branch of the state Agricultural Experiment Station to conduct
agricultural research at the facility for nearly 40 years.

The farm was then used as a 4-H camp for about 25 years. It has been
vacant since about the mid-1990s except for two tenant farmers dating
back to the farm's days as an agricultural research facility, Keator
said. The state Department of Environmental Protection, specifically
its Division of Parks and Forestry, took over care of the farm in
2002.

A department spokeswoman said Friday the state supports preserving
the farm's history, but will get public comment before creating a firm
plan.

"We would like to be able to offer it to tourists - to open it up and
provide some historic culture," said Elaine Makatura of the DEP during
a Friday telephone interview. "The public input will be considered
before the final proposal is outlined."

Vetrano said Jose Fernandez, the director of the Division of Parks
and Forestry, had a postive and progressive visit at the farm
recently. Traylor said state Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus,
also a Sussex Borough farmer, is on board with the project, as well as
the Wantage Township Committee.

"This could be a win-win for everyone," Traylor said.

* * *

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK - JUN 25

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: FBW {f...@betterwaterfront.org}

FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK BY STEVENS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY; NONPROFIT ADVOCACY GROUP ASKS JUDGE TO DISMISS FRIVOLOUS
DEFAMATION LAWSUIT

WHO: Superior Court Judge Camille Kenny will hear oral arguments in
the case of Stevens Institute of Technology vs. the Fund for a Better
Waterfront (FBW).

WHAT: Defendants FBW have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking
dismissal of a lawsuit they term a "SLAPP suit" (Strategic Litigation
against Public Participation). SLAPP suits are typically initiated by
developers seeking to silence critics of their projects and inhibit a
full and robust debate on issues of public concern.

WHEN: Friday, June 25 at 9 a.m.

WHERE: Superior Court of NJ, Hudson County Administration Building,
595 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ - Eighth Floor, Judge Kenny's
courtroom.

WHY: In March of 2002, contractors working for Stevens Institute of
Technology began blasting and excavating serpentine rock at its campus
in Hoboken, NJ This rock contained naturally occurring asbestos. FBW
filed a complaint with the Hoboken Board of Health and complained
publicly that Stevens was not wetting the site, thus allowing asbestos
to be released into the air, posing a public health risk. Throughout
2002, FBW also objected to development plans by Stevens to expand its
campus to Hoboken's waterfront. In January 2003, Stevens filed this
defamation lawsuit against the nonprofit advocacy organization. FBW
Lawyers say that none of the group's statements meet the legal
definition of defamation. FBW's briefs also show a clear record that
statements were based on expert advice diligently sought by FBW's
executive director and president.

For more information visit betterwaterfront.org
http://www.betterwaterfront.com/index.shtml or call FBW attorneys:

New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center
Renee Steinhagen, Esq. 973-735-0523
Ira Karasick, Esq. 973-509-1800 x32

Columbia University Law School, Environmental Law Clinic
Ed Lloyd, Esq. 212-854-4376

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

LECTURE ON THE SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY WETLANDS - JUL 6

Date: 21 Jun 2004
From: "Alliance for a Living Ocean" {livingo...@comcast.net}

WHO: Alliance for a Living Ocean

WHAT: Environmental Night (lecture)

WHEN: July 6, 2004

WHERE: The Long Beach Island Community Activities Center
Corner of West Ave. & Pelham Ave.
Beach Haven, NJ

July 6th at 7pm Alliance for a Living Ocean presents an hour-long
lecture about the Southern New Jersey Wetlands, featuring a guest
speaker from The Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association at The Long
Beach Island Community Activities Center on the corner of West Ave.
and Pelham Ave. in Beach Haven. Admission is $2 per person. For more
information or directions call ALO at (609) 492-0222.

* * *

Contact: Jason Koralja, (609) 492-0222,
jasonlivi...@comcast.net

Alliance for a Living Ocean is a grass roots non-profit (501-c-3)
organization based in North Beach Haven, NJ with members throughout
the New Jersey / New York / Pennsylvania tri-state area. ALO promotes
clean coastal waters through educational programs, legislation, and
outreach. The Alliance can be reached at (609) 492-0222, or visit the
ALO Environmental Center at 2007 Long Beach Boulevard, North Beach
Haven, NJ.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

NJ AUDUBON, CAPE BRETON HIGHLANDS ECO TOUR - AUG 1-7

Date: 16 Jun 2004
From: "Mike Anderson" {mi...@njaudubon.org}

The wind swept coniferous Cape Breton Highlands have nesting Spruce
Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Black-backed Woodpecker and
Bicknell's Thrush. The Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia is the most
spectacular meeting of the land and sea on the Eastern Seaboard. The
bold headland cliffs and offshore islands are summer home to
Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake
and Arctic Tern. There are 21 species of nesting warblers, including
Mourning, Bay-breasted, Wilson's, Nashville and BD2 cpoll. Expect a
bird species total of 100 to 125 species. Mammals will include moose,
whales, seals, and porpoise.

The pace of the tour will be moderate, with days typically beginning
at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 6:00 p.m., with some optional night-time
excursions possible and some down time at mid day. On a few days, an
earlier start may be required; we build in either siesta time or an
early end to the day (that day or the one before) in those cases. We
will spend part of every day walking, as little as 2 hours and as much
as 6 hours. Any of the longer walks will return on the same route, so
participants will have the option of doing a shorter version of the
hike. We use two way radios and both leaders have first aid training.

Travel during this tour will be in vans, with no more than 6
participants plus a leader in each 12-15 passenger van. Tour size is
limited to 12 participants. Additional information about the tour,
with a list of participants, addresses of motels, lists of things to
bring, a reading list, a list of birds which could be seen, and
information about weather, dress and so forth, will be mailed to all
participants well in advance of the tour.

DATES: Sunday August 1 to Saturday, August 7, 2004.

PRICE: $1,300.00 per person, double occupancy; single supplement
(payable if you request single occupancy or if we cannot find you a
suitable roommate), is $450.00. The final price will be adjusted
depending on the current exchange rate this summer. A deposit of
$500.00 (US dollars) will hold your place until full payment becomes
due.

PRICE INCLUDES: 6 nights, 6 days including lodging, all entrance fees,
land transportation, and expert leadership. Does not include meals or
airfare.

NJAS Eco-Travel
POB 126
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
(908) 204-8998

- - -

Mike Anderson has worked at the New Jersey Audubon Society's
Scherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary in Bernardsville since 1990. His
work is mostly with school groups and school teachers. He has led the
Acadia National Park tour in Maine for the last three years and leads
local New Jersey field trips. Prior to working for NJ Audubon he has
been a white water river guide in New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, West
Virginia, Arizona and East Africa. He has vacationed in Nova Scotia
the last two summers. All of the photos here are from those vacations.

Randy Lauff teaches Biology at St. Francis Xavier University in
Antigonish Nova Scotia. His current research is on Saw-whet and Boreal
Owls. Randy is the former editor of Nova Scotia Birds and is co owner
of Turnstone Nature Tours. He has been leading birding field trips
since 1998. He has a Masters degree in biology from McMaster
University.

http://www.njaudubon.org/Travel/Tours/CapeBreton04.html

* * *

Mike Anderson, Program Director
New Jersey Audubon Society
Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
11 Hardscrabble Road
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
908 766 5787 x 14
mi...@njaudubon.org

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Many thanks to our Volunteers:
Tricia Aspinwall, Michele Cooklin, Jerry Cullins, Peter
Montague, Paul Neuman, Scott Olson, Mary Paist, Penny
Pollock-Barnes, Phil Reynolds, Pat Rolston, and to all
you folks out there who contribute in so many ways.
If you have a couple hours a week, and would like to
help out, please email us at: mai...@gsenet.org

George-Therese Dickenson - Editor - dick...@gsemail.org
Ivan Kossak - Executive Director - kos...@gsenet.org

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Back issues of the Garden State EnviroNews are available at
http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/11gsn.php

EnviroNews mailing lists:
TOC - subscribe-en...@gselist.org
TEXT - subscribe-en...@gselist.org
HTML - subscribe-en...@gselist.org

Garden State EnviroNet, Inc.
19 Boonton Ave, Boonton NJ 07005
Tel: 973-394-1313 - Fax: 973-394-9513
mai...@gsenet.org - http://www.gsenet.org/

0 new messages