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GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 031229

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Dec 29, 2003, 1:38:07 AM12/29/03

031229

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
{*} A LEGAL VICTORY FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
{*} APPEALS COURT BLOCKS CLEAN AIR CHANGES
{*} TOO MUCH SEWAGE FLOW FOR RAMAPO
{*} DISCHARGE OF INADEQUATELY TREATED SEWAGE INTO WATERWAYS
{*} STATE: CHANGE PLAN FOR GEMS LANDFILL CLEANUP
{*} CAPE MAY COUNTY SUES DEP, OWNERS OF FORMER LANDFILL
{*} MONTGOMERY: WHAT'S HAPPENING AT 3M
{*} BID TO LIMIT WEST MILFORD DEVELOPMENT FALLS SHORT
{*} WHEN SONGBIRDS DON'T COME BACK
{*} OPINION: GREAT SWAMP VISITORS CENTER IS NEEDED
{*} CAN SAND BE MADE TO STICK LIKE GLUE
{*} USGS NATIONAL MAP VIEWER
{*} WMA 4 PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING - JAN 8

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* * *

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DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

Date: 031228
From: kos...@gsenet.org

I just wanted to take a moment to thank those who responded to our
Fall Fundraising Campaign with much appreciated support. We at Garden
State EnviroNet are extremely proud of the fact that we have always
provided the very best in news and information services to New
Jersey's environmental community at NO CHARGE. We believe that
knowledge is power. For too long, those who would degrade New Jersey's
environment (typically for commercial gain), have been able to utilize
legal and commercial resources to further their goals. Garden State
EnviroNet levels the playing field by providing information and
communication resources to the myriad of New Jersey's nonprofit
environmental organizations as well as to concerned private citizens.

We cannot continue to provide these services without your support. So
if you have not yet had the chance to send in your donation, there is
still time. In fact, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has graciously
pledged to match each new contribution dollar for dollar, up to a
total of $5,000. (This is in addition to other support that Dodge has
generously provided to GSE in the past and continues to provide.) In
this way, your five dollar donation is worth ten dollars, your 50
dollars of support is worth 100 dollars. If you value the information
you receive from GSE, please consider us in your end of year giving
plans. One million website visitors can't be wrong! Every donation is
tax deductible and every dollar serves to make New Jersey's
environmental community stronger and well-informed.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and green New Year.

Very truly yours,
Ivan Kossak, Executive Director
Garden State EnviroNet, Inc.

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A LEGAL VICTORY FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES

Date: 031228
From: http://www.nj.com/

APELLATE COURT REJECTS A CHALLENGE OF EXPANDED HABITAT FROM BUILDERS

By Alexander Lane, Star-Ledger Staff, December 24, 2003

An appellate court approved the state's new approach to saving
endangered species yesterday, rejecting builders' arguments against
the expanded protections.

The state last year began restricting development around wetlands
connected to other wetlands where endangered species had been seen. In
the past, the state had just protected the immediate vicinity of the
sighting.

Yesterday's decision by the Appellate Division of the state Superior
Court affirmed the new policy, rebuffing a challenge from the New
Jersey Builders Association.

"The prior mapping was not based on the particular habitat needs of
the sighted species, but only on the species' given location at a
particular point in time," Judge Erminie Conley wrote on behalf of a
unanimous three-judge panel. "This mapping method protected random
fragmented habitat patches, rather than the contiguous habitat area
that many threatened and endangered species require for long-term
survival."

The New Jersey Builders Association did not return calls for comment
yesterday.

New Jersey lists 73 threatened endangered species, ranging from the
bald eagle to the dwarf wedge mussel. Yesterday's ruling protects only
those that live in wetlands, such as the Pine Barrens tree frog and
the bog turtle.

Joining the state in defending the new policy were six environmental
groups: the New Jersey Audubon Society, Environmental Defense, the
Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, the New Jersey
Conservation Foundation, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the
American Littoral Society.

Environmentalists have long pushed for broad habitat protections.

"Animals move around," said Carleton Montgomery, executive director
of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. "They have foraging, breeding,
nesting, hibernating needs."

Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell
said the state would propose rules as early as January to expand the
sort of protections approved yesterday to areas other than wetlands,
such as forests. Gov. James E. McGreevey's administration has long
planned to enact habitat protections as part of its Blueprint for
Intelligent Growth, a broad strategy to combat the rapid expansion of
the suburbs.

"It's our intention as part of the rules that grow out of the BIG Map
process to expand these protections to cover upland habitats as well,"
Campbell said yesterday.

The administration recently abandoned the BIG Map's signature prop -
a state map that colorfully illustrated where development would be
banned - but Campbell has stressed that the regulatory plans behind
the map, such as habitat protection, live on.

The decision was an important judicial validation of the Landscape
Project, a nine-year effort by the state and Rutgers University to map
all the habitats of threatened and endangered species in New Jersey.

In the Landscape Project, biologists looked at where species have
been seen and concluded that some contiguous tracts also would contain
that species. For example, if a bald eagle was found in a wooded area,
that whole tract of woods would be considered habitat as long as it
was unbroken. Previously, the state would simply draw a polygon around
the location of a specific siting and define that area as protected
habitat.

Last year, the state started restricting building around wetlands
identified in the Landscape Project as suitable habitat, rather than
solely on sites where species had been seen. The state broadened the
definition of "exceptionally valuable wetlands," which are afforded
150-foot buffers from development rather than 50-foot buffers given to
less valuable wetlands.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the state's Endangered and
Nongame Species Conservation Act.

Its success has been mixed. Among the 59 species that have been
listed as threatened or endangered for a significant length of time,
at least 17 have continued to dwindle, and six more have not been well
counted recently. Eighteen species are stable, and another 18 have
increased in number, though most of those are ocean species managed by
the federal government.

* * *

Alexander Lane covers the environment. He can be reached at
al...@starledger.com or (973) 392-1790.
(c) 2003 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.

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APPEALS COURT BLOCKS CLEAN AIR CHANGES

Date: 031228
From: http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/

By John Heilprin, Associated Press, 12/24/03

Washington - A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked new Bush
administration changes to the Clean Air Act from going into effect, in
a challenge from state attorneys general and cities that argued they
would harm the environment and public health.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule would have made it easier
for utilities, refineries and other industrial facilities to make
repairs in the name of routine maintenance without installing
additional pollution controls.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia issued an order that blocks the rules from going
into effect until the legal challenge from the states and cities is
heard, a process likely to last months.

The court's decision stops, at least temporarily, one of the Bush
administration's major environmental decisions. The court's justices
said the challengers "demonstrated the irreparable harm and likelihood
of success" of their case, which are required to stop the rule from
taking effect.

EPA proposed the rule a year ago December, the then-acting
administrator signed it in August and it was made final in October. It
was due to have gone into effect this week.

Bringing suit were attorneys general for 12 states - Connecticut,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin - and
legal officers for New York City, Washington, San Francisco, New Haven
and a host of other cities in Connecticut.

Cynthia Bergman, a spokeswoman for EPA, declined to provide any
initial comment, saying the agency had not yet had a chance to review
the ruling.

EPA has maintained that it does not believe the rule will result in
significant changes in emissions, and that it will preserve the public
health protections required under law.

Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating
Council, a group of power companies, called the ruling "a setback for
energy efficiency and environmental protection," but expressed
confidence the rule would eventually be upheld.

"The rule was based upon a substantial agency record with analysis,
public hearings and thousands of rulemaking comments," he said. "We
expect the rule will soon be back on course."

Environmental and health groups, including Natural Resources Defense
Council and the American Lung Association, also challenged the rule in
the appeals court.

They argued EPA's maintenance rule violates the Clean Air Act by
letting power plants and other industries increase pollution
significantly without adopting control measures, and public harm would
result.

"This is a great gift to the American people and a lump of coal to
the Bush administration and its polluter friends," John Walke, NRDC's
clean air director. "The court agreed this rule would cause great harm
to the public that could not be undone, and it's likely the rule will
be struck down for running afoul of the Clean Air Act."

Tom Reilly, the Massachusetts attorney general, also spoke in terms
of holiday gifts, saying the court had "forced EPA to take back its
early Christmas present to the coal-fired power plants in the
Midwest."

Eliot Spitzer, New York's attorney general, called it "a major
decision."

"When it comes to environmental policy, this court decision is as big
a success as we've had in stopping the Bush administration from
undercutting the Clean Air Act," he said.

But the judges also said they found no reason to revisit an earlier
decision not to block other of the EPA's changes to the Clean Air Act
that were made final in December 2002.

Those new rules had already begun to go into effect in some states
earlier this year, giving coal-fired power plants and other industrial
facilities more flexibility in calculating their pollution levels.

- - -

On the Net:
EPA New Source Review Program:
http://www.epa.gov/air/nsr-review

Earthjustice environmental law firm:
http://www.earthjustice.org/program/air

* * *

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TOO MUCH SEWAGE FLOW FOR RAMAPO

Date: 24 Dec 2003
From: Geoff Welch {gwe...@optonline.net}

By Chris McKenna, Times Herald-Record (NY), December 23, 2003

Harriman - The Orange County-run sewage treatment plant serving eight
towns and villages is consistently discharging more treated wastewater
into the Ramapo River than the state allows.

Reports obtained by the Times Herald-Record through the state Freedom
of Information Law show the plant has exceeded its discharge limit for
10 of the last 12 months.

In its worst month, March 2003, the plant emptied into the Ramapo
almost 50 percent more sewage on average each day than its permit
allowed. The average flow that month was 6.7 million gallons a day,
well above the 4.5-million-gallon limit, the reports indicate.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation knows about the
excessive flows, which are among 36 effluent violations the plant
committed between October 2002 and September 2003, DEC spokeswoman
Wendy Rosenbach said.

The DEC is negotiating a settlement with the county that might
include a fine and will likely outline steps to comply with the
discharge permit, she said.

The discharge figures suggest the overworked facility in Harriman
continues struggling to stay within its flow limit, despite the
construction and almost immediate expansion of another treatment plant
in Kiryas Joel within the last four years.

For environmentalists, the excessive sewage discharge adds to a host
of concerns about contamination of the Ramapo, including stormwater
runoff from new development and roads in the surrounding area.

"The trend is disturbing," said Geoff Welch, chairman of the grass-
roots Ramapo River Committee. "You have to watch out for these little,
incremental increases."

Activists say the Ramapo contributes to the drinking water of more
than 2 million people in Rockland County and New Jersey as it runs 34
miles from its headwaters in Monroe to Wayne Township, NJ, where it
joins the Pompton River.

Welch said too much sewage in the Ramapo can endanger fish by raising
the water temperature and stimulating algae growth, which ultimately
lowers oxygen levels in the water.

It also raises concerns about the effect that substances found in
treated sewage, such as hormones and antibiotics, might have on plants
and animals in the river and on people who drink the water, Welch
said.

The high flows may also signal further legal woes for the county,
which was sued by the environmental watchdog group Orange Environment
Inc. in 1996 for the very same problem - discharging too much sewage
into the tiny Ramapo.

The county and Orange Environment settled the suit in November 1998
with an agreement that the plant would be expanded within five years
to handle the increased sewer usage in southeastern Orange.

But five years later, the expansion has only just begun. Workers
recently cleared ground to prepare for the construction, which is
expected to take two years to finish.

Orange Environment had agreed in the settlement not to sue the county
again for five years. Michael Edelstein, president of the group, says
his organization is prepared to take action if the DEC won't enforce
the plant's discharge limit.

"The five years is up," he said, "and we're ready to begin policing
them."

David Darwin, chief assistant Orange County attorney, says the high
sewage flows in the last year were due largely to unusually heavy rain
and snow, which gets into the sewer system through pipe cracks,
manholes and illegal storm drain connections.

"It's pretty clearly correlated with precipitation," Darwin said.
"When you have a lot of rain, you have higher flows."

Darwin also said three municipalities that contract to use the sewer
system - the towns of Monroe and Woodbury and the Village of Chester -
had sent more sewage than allowed.

He said the county is asking the DEC to raise its discharge limit
until the expansion is completed so it doesn't keep violating its
permit.

Edelstein dismissed the argument that rain was largely to blame,
saying that county officials "have a responsibility to protect the
Ramapo River. And if they can't handle the stormwater infiltration,
then they have to address that."

He also blasted the county for seeking to raise its discharge limit
as a temporary solution.

"To just play with the numbers so they don't get violations isn't the
issue," Edelstein said. "The issue is controlling pollution levels so
they don't violate their permit."

The 25-year-old sewer plant treats sewage from the villages of Kiryas
Joel, Monroe, Harriman and Chester and parts of the towns of Monroe,
Woodbury, Blooming Grove and Chester.

The $26 million expansion of the Harriman plant will increase its
treatment capacity to 6 million gallons a day from 4.5 million
gallons. The project, planned since 1996, was most recently delayed by
design changes, county officials say.

The Ramapo River helps to replenish the groundwater supplying wells
in the Rockland County Town of Ramapo and northern New Jersey.

Its water is also pumped directly into the Wanaque Reservoir in
northern New Jersey, although that hasn't happened in a year because
heavy precipitation has kept the reservoir filled, according to
Michael Barnes, assistant director of the North Jersey District Water
Supply Commission.

OVER THE LIMIT

The state Department of Environmental Conservation limits how much
Orange County can discharge from its sewage treatment plant in
Harriman into the Ramapo River.

The limit is 4.5 million gallons a day on average in any given month.
Monthly discharge reports obtained by the Times Herald-Record for
November 2002 through October 2003 show that the plant has exceeded
its limit in 10 of those 12 months.

The monthly averages below are in millions of gallons per day. In one
month, March 2003, the plant surpassed even the new limit of 6 million
gallons a day that will take effect once a $26 million expansion plan
is completed.

November 2002: 4.7
December 2002: 5.0
January 2003: 4.8
February 2003: 4.2
March 2003: 6.7
April 2003: 4.8
May 2003: 4.0
June 2003: 6.0
July 2003: 4.8
August 2003: 5.2
September 2003: 5.6
October 2003: 5.4

* * *

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DISCHARGE OF INADEQUATELY TREATED SEWAGE INTO WATERWAYS

Date: 22 Dec 2003
From: "Klein, Josh" {jkl...@nrdc.org}

Some extra time has been given to us to take actions needed to stop
EPA from moving forward with a guidance that would allow publicly
owned sewage treatment facilities to discharge inadequately treated
sewage into waterways during rain events.

Rep. Frank Pallone's (D-NJ) staff has decided to keep the sign-on
letter open until January 7, 2004. A list of members that have already
signed onto the letter can be found below. Please put a call into your
representative to either encourage them to sign this letter and take a
positive stance for public health in your state or thank them if they
have already signed the letter.

EPA officials have informed NRDC that they will extend the public
comment period on the sewage blending guidance by at least 30 days.
Hopefully this extra time will allow many of you to submit detailed
comments to the docket. If you have any questions on the issue or
require any assistance in submitting your comments contact Josh Klein
at (202) 289-2421 or jkl...@nrdc.org.

An online petition opposing the guidance has generated just under
16,000 signatures. To sign this petition visit:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/965207927

Below is the text of the alert that we have sent on this action in
the past, please review it and take these actions to protect your
state's water and the public health.

- - -

The EPA has released a draft guidance that would allow inadequately
treated sewage to be discharged into waterways when it rains. This
practice leads to beach closings, algal blooms, increased incidences
of pfisteria, giardia and hepatitis-A outbreaks. These are just a few
of the risks that result from the dangerous practice of "blending"
sewage. The deadline for Members of Congress to express their dissent
on this matter by signing a "Dear Colleague Letter" addressed to EPA
Administrator Mike Leavitt has been extended to Wednesday, December
17. Please take a few minutes to call your member. Tell them to do
their part to protect public health and safety by signing onto this
letter.

To reach your Representative call the House switchboard at
202-224-3121. Ask to speak with the Environment Legislative Aide in
your Congress member's office. Remember, this is NOT lobbying. Tell
them:

* The practice of merely diluting sewage before releasing it into
waterways was abandoned decades ago because of the dangers it poses
to the health of humans, fish, wildlife and entire ecosystems.

* EPA's new guidance on "blending" untreated sewage is illegal. The
Clean Water Act requires all wastewater to meet secondary treatment
standards prior to discharge.

* Sign onto the bi-partisan dear colleague letter sponsored by Rep.
Frank Pallone and Clay Shaw (House Coastal Caucus Co-Chairs ). The
letter calls on EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt to rescind EPA's
decision to ease contaminants standards on sewage being discharged
into waterways.

* You should also encourage the Legislative Aide to attend a briefing
on this subject on that is being held in room the Canon House

The Dear Colleague Letter is included below.

Please forward this alert to your lists so we can get as many
Congress members on this letter as possible.

For more information contact Josh Klein at 202-289-2421 or
jkl...@nrdc.org.

- - -

December 4, 2003

Administrator Michael Leavitt
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Dear Administrator Leavitt,

We were concerned to learn that the Environmental Protection Agency
released a draft guidance on November 7 that would allow the discharge
of inadequately treated sewage into waterways during rain events. The
guidance would allow publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to divert
or "bypass" sewage around secondary treatment units, and then combine
the filtered but untreated sewage with fully treated wastewater before
discharge, in a process called "blending". The effect of this guidance
would be to authorize the removal of the crucial second step in the
process of secondary treatment during wet weather, specifically the
biological treatment of the sewage. Currently, this sort of bypass is
prohibited.

As the EPA is well aware, the biological treatment component of the
process removes most of the pathogens, including viruses and
parasites, from the wastewater. Therefore, the absence of this
secondary treatment stage would allow the inclusion of numerous
dangerous viruses and parasites such as Hepatitis A and Giardia in the
product that is released into waterways. Disinfection (usually in the
form of chlorination) is commonly used as the third step in sewage
treatment, but disinfection without biological treatment would require
the addition of large quantities of chlorine to come close to the same
effectiveness of full secondary treatment. Yet this draft guidance
does not even require this disinfection stage, unless it is necessary
to meet water quality standards.

We understand the nature of the problem of excessive solids losses
and disruption of the biological treatment stage during periods of
heavy inflow of water into the collection system. Our nation is
inarguably faced with the critical need for a huge financial
investment in improved wastewater treatment infrastructure. However,
it is unacceptable to use the allowance of blended sewage during rain
events as the band-aid to cover these infrastructure shortfalls. The
Federal Register notice dated November 7, 2003, specifically noted the
existence of alternative measures to handle excess capacity. These
measures include the construction of additional capacity and short-
term storage until the sewage can be fully treated. We find it
disappointing that your agency has advocated a dangerous and
environmentally harmful approach that threatens public health over
these safer alternatives.

We have made great strides in the treatment of wastewater since the
passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Accordingly, today Americans
enjoy the benefit of clean drinking water supplies, clean beaches, and
healthy coastal ecosystems. We see the repercussions of polluted water
to health, livelihoods, and tourism anytime there is an accidental
breach in sewage treatment facilities. This draft guidance would turn
back the clock on clean water protections, and we urge the EPA to
enforce and strengthen these protections, rather than consider actions
that would increase the threat of waterborne illnesses and
environmental degradation. We should not allow this sort of bypass nor
should we accept blending as a replacement for full secondary
treatment when feasible alternatives exist.

Sincerely,
(Your Name & Address)

- - -

List of Representatives Already Signed onto Letter (53):

Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Clay Shaw (R-FL), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Raúl
Grijalva (D-AZ), Timothy Bishop (D-NY), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-IL),
Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), Thomas Allen (D-ME), Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
Barbara Lee (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Sam Farr (D-CA), Lois Capps
(D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Honda (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-
NY), William Delahunt (D-MA), Steve Israel (D-NY), James McGovern (D-
PA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Christopher Shays
(R-CT), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), George Miller (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA),
Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), James
McDermott (D-WA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Susan
Davis (D-CA), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Edward Markey (D-MA), John
Dingell (D-MI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Rush Holt
(D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Mark Foley (R-FL), Ed Case (D-HI), Jay
Inslee (D-WA), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), John Conyers (D-MI), Edolphus
Towns (D-NY), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Karen
McCarthy (D-MO), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Bob
Filner (D-CA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Mike
Castle (R-DE)

- - -

SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER

Please mail your letter to Administrator Leavitt & also email it by
Jan. 9 to the EPA docket at [OW-D...@epa.gov]. Please also send a
copy to CWN [jkl...@nrdc.org]. Make any changes you wish.

The Honorable Michael Leavitt
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Subject: Keep inadequately treated sewage out of our waters

Dear Administrator Leavitt:

On behalf of [YOUR ORGANIZATION], I urge you to drop the proposed
policy that would allow sewage treatment plants to routinely discharge
inadequately treated sewage during rain events. The proposed policy
would increase the amount of bacteria, viruses and parasites
discharged into the nation's recreational waters and drinking water
supplies.

The EPA's proposed policy (which it calls "blending") would mix
together treated and largely untreated sewage before discharge.
Blending is dangerous because it would allow sewage-infested
wastewater to be discharged without removing most of the pathogenic
organisms and other pollutants. The proposed policy would allow
blending even when feasible alternatives exist, such as such as
constructing additional capacity or storing sewage until it could be
fully treated.

More than half of all waterborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. in the
past 50 years were preceded by heavy rainfall. Pathogens in sewage-
contaminated waters can cause gastrointestinal and respiratory
illnesses, dysentery and hepatitis, conditions that can be life
threatening for children, the elderly and those with weakened immune
systems.

Discharges of untreated and inadequately treated sewage in [name
state or community] cause beach closures, algal blooms, waterborne
illness, and other environmental and public health harms. (Discuss
specific water quality issues your community or state has faced that
relate to contaminated discharges). The Clean Water Act requires
sewage to receive effective treatment before it is discharged into
streams, lakes, and coastal waters.

I urge you to abandon this seriously misguided proposal, and instead
protect Americans' health by requiring effective sewage treatment at
all times.

Sincerely,

Carbon Copy:
Att'n: Docket # OW-2003-0025
Environmental Protection Agency, Water Docket
Email: OW-D...@epa.gov

* * *

Joshua R. Klein
Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator
Clean Water Network
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
202-289-2421
jkl...@nrdc.org

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

STATE: CHANGE PLAN FOR GEMS LANDFILL CLEANUP

Date: 031229
From: http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/

By Shawn Menzies, Gloucester County Times, December 27, 2003

The state has filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Camden seeking
to amend a prior ruling on how to clean up a former landfill, now a
toxic Superfund site in Gloucester Township, environmentalists said.

Jane Nogaki, of NJ Environmental Federation, said the state
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was concerned the current
plan to clean the site - which would be to allow contaminated water
from the site to be flushed through public sewer lines so it could be
cleaned off-site - was not in the public's best health interest.

The motion to amend is a court process which, if approved by a
federal judge, would change the direction of the plan, Nogaki said.
The state filed its motion on Wednesday, she said.

"This is what we have been waiting for," said Nogaki.

The filing of the motion came eight days after Gov. James E.
McGreevey signed into law a bill that bans the current GEMS flushing
plan. Nogaki said the new law was used as a legal basis in the state's
motion.

The Gloucester Environmental Management Services (GEMS) site was used
as a landfill for over three decades before it was closed and listed
near the top of the federal government's list of the worst toxic dumps
in the nation in the early 1980s.

During the second phase of the recent cleanup, radionuclides were
found in the groundwater. Further tests results found levels of
uranium in the water.

The detection of uranium led state officials to request from the
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission a list of several companies that
held federal licenses to handle and dispose of uranium and who also
dumped at the site.

"I have testified at public hearings, most of the time regarding
radioactivity in the water," said Ed Knorr, of the Monroe Township-
based Green Action Alliance. "The concern is not the initial exposure
to it, but the long-term exposure. The concern is what are safe
standards."

Knorr said several years worth of public hearings on the issues
surrounding the GEMS Superfund site have been frustrating to many and
that only recently has the state gotten involved and brought the
concern of "what ifs" into the limelight.

"Only recently has Bradley Campbell (commissioner of the state DEP)
got involved," Knorr said. "Unfortunately, it has become a political
issue and was whitewashed for a long time. We can't keep putting Band-
Aids on the issue."

Knorr said the federal government and the EPA have broken their own
rules in relation to GEMS. According to the EPA's Web site, radiation
is a cancer-causing agent and no level is deemed safe, Knorr added.

"Our concerns have always been on the people, from residents living
near the site, to the workers at the Camden County Municipal Utilities
Authority and those along the line and in Gloucester County," Knorr
said.

The Gloucester County Utilities Authority takes in sludge, the
byproduct of wastewater treatment, from Camden County and burns it in
the county's incinerator. Gloucester County officials have said they
would no longer accept sludge from Camden County if the plan to flush
groundwater from GEMS was carried through sewer lines for fear of its
workforce's exposure to the sludge.

"How many years has the water being allowed to be flowed into Timber
Creek, no one knows and no one knows at what length of contamination,"
Knorr said.

Timber Creek runs into several smaller creeks and streams that head
into Washington and Monroe townships in Gloucester County. Elected
officials in both towns have adopted resolutions to call for the
banning of the flushing plan.

While the state is eager to find out what company dumped what at the
site, Knorr said many possibilities and theories exist.

A former employee at a Nike missile base in Gloucester Township,
Knorr said he would be not at all surprised if radioactive material
from the former base found its way to the landfill. Missiles at the
former base on Erial Road housed nuclear-tipped missile during the
Cold War years when it was in operation.

"The government is the greatest polluter and who's to say if they are
not covering something up?" Knorr questioned. "Anything is possible.
We have to look at all the aspects."

"I say we are two-thirds of the way there," Nogaki said. "And now we
need the cooperation of the federal judge and the EPA to take another
look at on-site treatment and discharge beneath the site."

Nogaki said the federal judge is reviewing the motion and is expected
by Jan. 23 or 24 to call for more testimony and more documentation,
which would be followed by a decision to either keep the current plan
or change the remedy for the site.

* * *

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CAPE MAY COUNTY SUES DEP, OWNERS OF FORMER LANDFILL

Date: 031229
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/

By Trudi Gilfillian, Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City, December 25, 2003

Cape May Court House - Cape May County and its Health Department are
suing the state Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, and
the former owners of two lots the county purchased in January 1985,
alleging that the state and the former owners knew the property was
contaminated with hazardous waste when the county bought them.

"Our goal is to wake up the DEP at Christmas and give everybody in
Cape May County a present, a clean environment," said attorney Stephen
Hankin, who is representing the county.

The two lots, which equal about 25 acres, were used as a landfill
until 1978. The county believed the landfill never accepted hazardous
waste, but a series of DEP reports and memos suggest otherwise.

The memos, as detailed in the lawsuit, make reference to 55-gallon
drums that were never examined, sewage sludge on the property, the
owner's failure to install monitoring wells and the threat of ground
water contamination.

"We're asking the DEP, 'What have you been doing for 22 years?'"
Hankin said.

According to court documents filed Dec. 19, the county used its power
of eminent domain to buy two lots in Lower Township as part of its
plan to expand the county airport. The property was purchased for
$91,250 and was among several parcels taken over by the county during
the expansion.

The county said it purchased the land, which remains vacant, after
the previous owners and/or operators of the two lots said it never
accepted various hazardous or toxic wastes such as industrial
materials, chemicals, waste oil or other toxic materials. The previous
owners or operators include Mar-Tee Contractors, Thomas F. Brodesser
Jr., T. Brodesser Jr. & Co., and SCA Services. Mar-Tee went on to
become Waste Management of South Jersey.

The county went on to monitor groundwater on the property, and in
January 2001, S.T. Hudson Engineers "concluded a review of the
groundwater samples of lots 17.01 and 18.01 suggested that hazardous
materials were disposed there" and that monitoring wells "revealed
hazardous substances in the groundwater in excess of permissible
standards."

Unacceptable levels of fecal coliform, lead and volatile organics and
semi-volatile organics were found and the engineering firm went on to
suggest the groundwater contamination was spreading.

DEP representatives met with the county in January 2003 to discuss
the contamination at the site as well as how it was spreading, but the
meeting didn't deliver the action the county was looking for.

In February and March 2003, the county again asked the state to
investigate the former landfill and make sure the responsible parties
cleaned the landfill and made it suitable for use.

The state responded in June but by that time the county was already
preparing to take legal action.

According to the lawsuit, "To date, the contaminated plume is in
excess of 60 acres in size and comprises in excess of 160 million
galloons of groundwater."

DEP spokesman Fred Mumford said the agency has reviewed the suit and
is working with the Attorney General's Office to "address the county's
concerns."

Mumford added that the DEP has been working with the county for a
year and is aware of the issues.

Hankin said he hoped the DEP would assess, investigate and take steps
to fix the problem.

"Other than the wrongdoers, the DEP is just as responsible," Hankin
said.

* * *

To email Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilf...@pressofac.com

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MONTGOMERY: WHAT'S HAPPENING AT 3M

Date sent: 2003 21:22:
From: "Steven Sacks-Wilner" {ste...@sacks-wilner.com}

By Ruth Cooper, Montgomery News, 12.22.03

According to many township officials, nothing good. With the heavy
rains, wind and snow that we've been experiencing in the last few
months, the runoff of mineral fines from the 3M plant up the mountain
west of Route 601 has continued, if not gotten worse. The 1,400 acre
installation on the Montgomery/Hillsborough border quarries diabase
rock, and the mineral fines, or rock dust, are a waste product of the
process. The problem is the way 3M has been storing them since the
1960's. The stockpiles cover approximately 40 acres, are 80 feet tall,
have no vegetative cover, and have steep side slopes. With a heavy
rain, the fines are washed into tributary waters downstream of the
quarry, the Back, Roaring, and Cruser brooks. The only thing 3M has
used to stem the tide is hay bales and silt fencing. "While the impact
of the pollution discharges can not be quantified, the contamination
caused visible water turbidity in the illegal runoff areas," according
to a press release of the state Department of Environmental
Protection.

3M has already been fined almost $100,000 by the DEP for polluting
between August 2000 and October 2002, and they have been sited at
least five times for violations since then. According to Leigh Oterlei
of 3M, 3M is doing all that the DEP requires and is just waiting until
Montgomery approves their remediation plan, and they receive a last
DEP permit. But according to Gwen Farley of Montgomery's Environmental
Commission, "3M is moving too slowly and getting away with too much."

An unnamed township official has said that "the opinion on the
street" is that 3M has made an economic decision. The remediation plan
of regrading and vegetating the stockpile and building a series of
four detention basins to filter the runoff before it enters the
streams will cost between $2 and 4 million. "And it's cheaper to stall
and pay fines." They also claim that 3M has substituted staff
engineers from their headquarters in Minnesota who are not licensed in
NJ for local consultants. Ms. Oterlei has denied this. Regrading of
the stockpile was started before the weather turned bad.

Ms. Farley says that the Environmental Commission has begun looking
for volunteers to monitor the streams and document the runoff. "The
Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association has an established
protocol with set procedures to follow. Some volunteers could watch
from their own backyards, visually checking the water twice a day. The
Rock Brook could be used as a control since it is not polluted by 3M."
The Environmental Commission wants to collect hard data to present to
the powers that be and perhaps influence the DEP process next year.
"We feel that the DEP regulations are not stringent enough and are not
being enforced."

The Environmental Commission also wants to raise public awareness and
will be putting together a report.

# # #

Steven L. Sacks-Wilner, Esq.
489 Dutchtown-Zion Rd
Skillman, NJ 08558-1307
ste...@sacks-wilner.com
Tel. & Voice Mail: 908.359.8884
Fax: 908.359.5550

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BID TO LIMIT WEST MILFORD DEVELOPMENT FALLS SHORT

Date: 031228
From: http://www.northjersey.com/

By Tara Kane, Record Staff Writer, December 24, 2003

West Milford - The Township Council has fallen short in efforts to
restrict a long stretch of Union Valley Road to just large-lot
development.

Its failure to do so in action Monday night came as a relief to
affected landowners who had threatened lawsuits to protect their
denser zoning.

But one landowner, whose 105-acre tract was subjected to a zoning
change earlier this month, says he still is contemplating a lawsuit
against the township.

For the last year, the council has pushed a "down-zoning" initiative,
seeking to limit residential development to keep property taxes stable
and to preserve the township's rural character. The idea was to change
the zoning on Union Valley Road - which allows up to four houses per
acre on some lots - to R-4, one unit for every four acres.

But at a special meeting Monday night, the council rejected two
ordinances to rezone three parcels: the Idylease tract, which totals
about 109 acres; a 28-acre tract owned by resident Henry Jecker; and
16 acres owned by West Milford Union Valley Associates LLC.

The ordinances fell one vote short of the four votes required for
adoption. Councilmen Karl Danckwerth abstained on voting on the Jecker
and WMUV properties, but joined Dick Nobis in a vote opposing the
ordinance to rezone the Idylease tract.

"I don't think [development of] Idylease will greatly affect the
overall population growth or density of West Milford," Danckwerth said
Tuesday, explaining that the property sits in Newfoundland, away from
the congested center of town.

Danckwerth voted along with the council majority at the Dec. 11
meeting to down-zone Steve Olson's Apple Acres property, which was
previously zoned for 350 town houses. The 105-acre tract, near
Stephens Road and the Crescent Park community, now has a maximum
build-out of 26 units.

Jecker and other affected landowners had publicly threatened to sue
the township if the ordinances were adopted.

On Tuesday, Olson said he was still considering a lawsuit, but had 45
days to take such action. The landowner noted that before the council
adopted the downzoning ordinance, he had intended to build a maximum
of 35 homes on his property.

"When we go to court, I'm no longer looking for 30-35 homes," Olson
said, "I'm looking for the maximum return on my investment."

Meanwhile, council members are continuing to negotiate with the
landowner to purchase Apple Acres. Olson said there was a small
possibility he would sell the land to the township, but that offers to
date had been too low.

The entire five-member council will step down next week when the new
all-Republican council takes office at the Jan. 1 municipal
reorganization.

On the issue of down-zoning, Mayor-elect Joseph DiDonato has said
he's concerned about spending tax dollars to defend against lawsuits
filed by affected landowners.

Olson filed a lawsuit last year when the council tried to rezone his
land. On Feb. 27, a judge issued a summary judgment in Olson's favor
because the township failed to properly notify surrounding property
owners. The council then came back with the reintroduced down-zoning
it adopted in November.

* * *

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WHEN SONGBIRDS DON'T COME BACK

Date: 031228
From: http://www.thestar.com/

Toronto Star, Dec. 27, 2003

Ottawa - For decades, conservationists in North America have been
asking the question with rising urgency: Where have all the songbirds
gone?

And not only songbirds, but many of the 200 migratory species that
breed and raise their young in Canada and the United States and then
fly south for the winter.

Four out of five species of birds in Ontario are migratory. Their
disappearance would indeed mean a silent spring.

Surveys point to accelerated declines in the breeding populations of
many well-known species. In Ontario, for example, a breeding bird
count carried out by volunteers every June has recorded a 2 per cent
annual drop in the relative abundance of scarlet tanagers since 1968.
Between 1993 and last year, however, the decline was almost 7 per cent
a year.

Some estimates put a score of species at no more than 10 and 20 per
cent of historic levels, although scientists caution that the numbers
are far from firm.

Conservationists have suggested many possible causes - climate
change, pesticides, loss of southern habitat through intensive coffee
plantings, loss of northern habitat through urban sprawl and forest
fragmentation.

Yet, despite the energetic advocacy of some groups, no one really
knows which of these potential causes plays the biggest role and
should get the most attention.

Finally, bird researchers are closing in on some answers, thanks to
sophisticated radio tracking and lab techniques that reveal individual
environmental signatures in the feathers and blood of the birds.

Most migratory birds are far too small to carry radio transmitters
with a range greater than two kilometres or battery life longer than a
few months. Instead of waiting for miniaturization advances, Canadian
federal government scientists came up with substitute biological
markers - almost as if the birds carried a passport that got signed
and stamped wherever they settled down for the winter.

And this geographical signature allows researchers for the first time
to link the summer and winter ranges of individual birds. Now, they
hope to tease out the most important factors in the often precipitous
declines. Some recent developments:

A team led by Queen's University researchers documented striking
differences in the reproductive success of the insect-eating American
redstart in five forest plots along the Rideau River between Ottawa
and Kingston. The redstarts who wintered in high-quality locations
(meaning plentiful insects) arrived earlier, bred sooner and produced
two more eggs on average than those forced to make do with poor-
quality winter locales.

U.S. researchers discovered that the black-throated blue warbler, a
species that breeds from the Maritimes south to Georgia, migrates
south to two completely different areas. Birds from the northern part
of the breeding range head largely to Cuba and Jamaica for the winter
while those from the southern part of the range wind up in Puerto
Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

A York University Ph.D. student has found that another species of
Canada-breeding warbler is much more stressed (judging from elevated
levels of a stress hormone in the blood) when wintering in Mexican
scrub lands compared with the pristine rain forests of Belize.

"It's a physiological response. They've jacked up the hormone to
compensate for the poor environment," says Bridget Stutchbury, a York
biology professor supervising the graduate student's research.

Yet, preliminary measurements by the student, Francisco de los
Santos, suggest that this compensating tactic doesn't work: The
Mexican-wintering hooded warblers weigh less than their Belize-
wintering counterparts.

This lower weight almost certainly would reduce winter survival and
leave the hooded warblers with lower fat reserves for the flight
north.

Stutchbury, her students and other research collaborators will be
looking for the warblers and several other migratory species when they
arrive in May.

Holder of the Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation
Biology, Stutchbury is two years into an unrivalled long-term
investigation of troubled songbird species in both their summer
breeding and wintering environments. So far, work has started on
Arcadian flycatchers, wood thrushes, scarlet tanagers, ovenbirds and
American redstarts in addition to the hooded warblers.

The York professor is focusing on how the summer and winter
environments affect the behaviour of the birds and the links between
that behaviour and whether the birds have lots of healthy offspring.

Bird researchers consider breeding environments to be either sources
or sinks. Large swaths of forest are usually "sources," meaning birds
breeding there more than replace themselves. But nesting studies
suggest fragments or patches of forest are "sinks," with fewer birds
coming out than went in.

From this, a view emerged of forest fragments being like islands
where breeding birds were trapped, unable to leave to find mates
elsewhere. Many researchers also argued that the edges of forests were
a hostile zone, shunned by what they call "area-sensitive" species,
such as hooded warblers and scarlet tanagers.

"My goal is to show how wrong those ideas are," says Stutchbury, a
Toronto-area native who did her Ph.D. at Yale.

The latest blow in this campaign was struck this summer with a study
of scarlet tanagers by Stutchbury and Gail Fraser, also with York's
biology department.

By outfitting tanagers with ultralight radio transmitters, Fraser and
Stutchbury tracked more than 30 males as they sought mates in a dozen
grid-marked forest sites, including eight small patches south of Erie,
Pa.

In contrast to the conventional island-and-hostile-edge wisdom, young
male tanagers flew regularly from one forest patch to another, without
the need for protective corridors of trees. Such behaviour boosts the
prospects of reproductive success.

"The males are shopping around from place to place singing their
little hearts out to attract mates," Stutchbury says.

This result is far from the only surprise to emerge in the new wave
of bird research. Another came from Venezuela, where pioneer
conservation researcher John Terborgh asked graduate student Kenneth
Feeley to look into a strange relationship that Terborgh had uncovered
on islands in Lake Guri, formed in 1986 behind a hydro dam.

Terborgh published a 1989 book of essays titled Where Have All The
Birds Gone, which was an important rallying cry for conservationists.

The researcher carried out bird censuses in 1993 and 1995 that
revealed that the smaller islands in Lake Guri had two times as dense
a bird population as the mainland. Several had 20 times as many.

Feeley discovered that many of the smaller islands were also home to
large populations of howler monkeys, strict vegetarians that eat
leaves, flowers or fruits. There's no obvious reason why plant-eating
howlers should boost the bird population, but Feeley proposed a kind
of reverse whammy.

Instead of ruining the environment for birds by stripping the islands
of vegetation, the howlers actually spur faster plant growth through
their nutrient-rich dung. Result: more leaves, more food for insects,
more bugs for birds. Ultimate result: more birds.

The Lake Guri work suggests just how difficult teasing out the key
factors for healthy bird populations is going to be. No conservation
group was lobbying to increase howler monkey populations in the
tropics in order to save Ontario's songbirds.

Another example of the complexity comes from the recently published
findings about American redstarts from Queen's University graduate
student Ryan Norris, supervised by biology professor Laurene
Ratcliffe.

Norris used a breakthrough bird-tracing technique that federal
research scientists played a major role in perfecting. Instead of
radio signals, the bird's previous whereabouts are revealed by
measuring isotope levels in the blood or feathers.

Here's how it works. Through photosynthesis, plants naturally remove
carbon dioxide from the air and store the carbon as organic matter
like leaves.

Both the regular {+1}{+2}C form and the less common stable {+1}{+3}C
isotope are present in carbon dioxide. But plants have two ways of
photosynthesizing, which results in different proportions of {+1}{+3}C
in leaves depending on whether the plants are moisture-loving or dry
tolerant.

Insects eat the leaves and incorporate the relative abundance of the
{+1}{+3}C isotope. Birds eat the insects and the telltale {+1}{+3}C
signature lingers in their red blood cells for six to eight weeks.

So by drawing tiny blood samples from the eight-gram hooded warblers
netted at a Queen's biological station near Chaffey's Lock south of
Ottawa, Norris could say whether the birds had wintered well in
mangrove swamps with lots of insects, or toughed the months out in
dry, scrubby lands.

The warblers were banded and closely followed during the breeding
season. The ones from the cushy wintering group scored higher in
almost all reproductive measures.

Unfortunately, the tropical lowland forests and mangrove swamps where
migrating birds overwinter best are the very areas most prone to
development to accommodate the human variety of migrating visitor.

Norris is also measuring hydrogen isotopes from the feathers of
wintering redstarts. This will reveal the region in North America
where those birds bred and provide another link between environment
and behaviour.

"We're the first to be able to combine isotope information with very
good ecological data from our sampling sites," he says.

Other similar research is in the works, holding out real promise of
solving the mystery of disappearing songbirds.

- - -

Migrating bird Web sites:

Smithsonian Migratory Birds Program:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/

Birds In Flight:
http://www.partnersinflight.org

Breeding Bird Survey:
http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/nwrc-cnrf/migb/01_1_2_e.cfm

Canadian Bird Conservation Regions:
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/international/bcrcanada.html

* * *

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OPINION: GREAT SWAMP VISITORS CENTER IS NEEDED

Date: 031229
From: http://www.zwire.com/

12/27/2003

Editor:

The article in last week's edition, "Clamor Grows Over Great Swamp
Plans, is about the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge's plans to
acquire the 15-acre property at the end of Pleasant Plains Road for
use as office space and a visitors center.

The controversy inspired me to go online and read the draft
environmental assessment for the proposed project. (Go to:
greatswamp.fws.gov and click on "Important Messages").

I'm sorry that the project has generated any controversy because it
seems like a very good plan with few, if any, disagreeable side
effects. First, the plan would preserve a breathtakingly beautiful
historic farmstead that commands an outlook over the Great Swamp that
gives the visitor a direct sense of the unique character of this
place: a vast expanse of open sky stretching above a vast expanse of
flat, nearly primeval swamp and woodland.

This sense of place would be particularly evident to the visitor
arriving via the proposed new driveway from Lee's Hill Road.

Secondly, the location, on the edge of the refuge, will provide
access to the Great Swamp without slicing into sensitive habitat in
the wilderness or management areas. Since the fish and wildlife
service plan is to renovate and retrofit existing structures, there
would be little disturbance of the site.

Thirdly, the buildings can well accommodate both the need for decent
office space for refuge management and space for exhibitions and
educational programs. This is not going to be a mega visitors center;
it will provide direct access to and information about the "treasure
in our back yard" that will compliment but not replace programs
offered at the two county education centers-Somerset County's Lord
Sterling Education Center and Morris County's Great Swamp Outdoor
Education Center.

Quite importantly, it will prove a much needed easy access to our own
children.

As a member of the Environmental Commission, I was one representative
of Harding Township in 1998, during the search for a site to
accommodate a visitor's center. Participants in the painstaking
evaluation process, ranked the farm on Pleasant Plains Road highly in
meeting the criteria and requirements for a federal visitors center.

Judging from the environmental assessment and from a recent
conversation with refuge Manager Bill Koch, I do not believe that the
neighbors will be inconvenienced or imperiled by the conversion of
this farm from private use to public use.

There is a need for the visitors' center and certainly it will be
well used, but it is hard to envision a dangerous or intensive traffic
situation. Keep in mind that both the Morris and Somerset county
centers will continue to offer their own excellent programming and
outdoor education experiences.

Most importantly, all concerned parties should plan to attend the
hearing on Monday, Dec. 30[sic] at 8 p.m. in the Harding Township
municipal building, to hear about the proposal first hand, form our
own opinions and make suggestions.

Penny Hinkle
Meyersville Road
Harding Township

* * *

(c)Recorder Newspapers 2003

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CAN SAND BE MADE TO STICK LIKE GLUE

Date: 031228
From: http://www.app.com/observer/

By Paula Scully, Ocean County Observer Staff Writer, 12/28/03

Harvey Cedars - A scientific product to allow sand to bond to water
and stick to the beach may be tested in the borough.

The Board of Commissioners said they won't make a decision until
after Jan. 1 about a product to combat beach erosion.

Scientist Blaise McArdle, Ph.D., invented Sand-Rx, which he said was
composed of a sea water solvent system used to prepare vegetable food
amino acid complexes for dispersal over the beach. The solvent, he
said, is the same as seawater without the toxins off the coast.

McArdle recently made a presentation at the regular Board of
Commissioners meeting here, suggesting that his product be tested 100
yards of beach. Holes in the sand would be dug near the high water
mark, the liquid product poured in the holes and the holes refilled
with sand. Sea water would wash over them, mixing the product with the
sand. Significant sand accumulation is expected to appear within six
weeks of application and the sand would come from off-shore sites, not
neighboring beaches.

Mayor Jonathan Oldham, Commissioner Judith Gerkens and Commissioner
Michael Garofalo all said they wanted more information on the product.

"Although we haven't met formally to discuss this yet, my personal
feeling is we would be remiss not to consider any experiment that
would help restore or maintain our beaches," Garofalo said a few days
after the presentation.

On Long Beach Island, some beaches are in better shape than others,
but the borough has been particularly hard hit by erosion since the
1990s. At one point the board had to bond for a state-local storm
protection project with the state trucking in fill.

McArdle said his father was a research scientist in the food
industry. He was educated at Harvard and MIT where he pursued advanced
training in chemistry. He received a Ph.D. from the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst.

He reported he personally used Sand-Rx in the 1990s on a small beach,
called Light House Beach, at his childhood home in Gloucester, Mass.
The result was that lost sand was redeposited on the beach and has
remained to this day.

According to a fact sheet he handed out at the meeting, the
freeflowing agents (chemicals) used in many food and household items
starting in the 1950s not only makes sand less cohesive but also kills
microscopic plant and animal life.

"The erosion in Harvey Cedars' beaches has been caused by or is
coincident with, the use of freeflowing chemical agents used by
industry over the past 40 years," he said in the fact sheet.

He said freeflowing agents have been added to hundreds of industrial
and household products to make them move freely in the presence of
moisture.

Table salt is one example. But the freeflowing agents are not
biodegradable, passing through humans, septic systems, water treatment
facilities and eventually ending up in lakes and estuaries leading to
the ocean.

"When they are washed up on a beach by tides and storms, they act on
the sand just as they did on the original product they treated," he
said in his report.

The freeflowing agents allow the sand to move and slip away more
easily than it normally would. And he reported that Harvey Cedars
beaches show "the presence of a substantial amount of freeflowing
agents."

The amino acid complexes in Sand-Rx are those found in "healthy sea
water," he said in the paper, and consist of 99.9 percent sea water;
.05 percent sodium hydrozide; and .05 percent calcium carbonate as a
buffer.

McArdle said every chemical part of the product can be found in a
healthy beach and sea, adding that healthy sand can hold water on the
surface and support plant and animal life. But with freeflowing
agents, McArdle said, sand cannot hold water.

* * *

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USGS NATIONAL MAP VIEWER

Date: 031228
From: http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

If Mapquest just isn't cutting the mustard, or you feel compelled
over the holidays to take your geekery to new and mysterious depths,
the National Map Viewer from the U.S. Geological Survey is your new
best friend. The dynamic interface lets you layer roads, topos, and
satellite imagery on top of one another at your whim. And if you're
really hardcore, make your own app by downloading and mining the
Census Bureau's TIGER database.

Note: Map viewer and interface may not be friendly to all browsers;
this is a common limitation of government websites.

http://nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/tgrcd108/tgr108cd.html

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WMA 4 PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING - JAN 8

Date: 24 Dec 2003
From: "Pietrykoski, Thomas" {TPietr...@PVSC.COM}

WHAT: WMA 4 Public Advisory Committee meeting

WHEN: Thursday, January 8, 2004 at 6:30pm

WHERE: Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
600 Wilson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07105

SPECIAL GUEST: Jeremee Johnson from the NJDEP's Office of Environmental
Justice.

Introduction to Jeremee Johnson's presentation could be found below:

"Various studies show communities of color and low-income communities
are exposed to a disproportionate amount of industrial pollution and
other environmental hazards. To help address environmental inequities,
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) launched
the environmental justice program to ensure fair treatment for people
of all races, cultures, and incomes, in the development,
implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and
policies. DEP's Environmental Justice Program aims to empower citizens
who are often outside of the decision-making process of government,
and strives to create partnerships with communities to improve the
quality of life in New Jersey's urban areas. Additionally, the
Environmental Justice Program serves to:

- Work with federal and state agencies to address environmental justice
concerns

- Develop initiatives to address the concerns of environmentally-
stressed
communities

- Inform community members of opportunities for public participation in
environmental decision-making

- Provide tools for community empowerment

- Help educate municipal officials about environmental justice issues

Rooted in the 1960s Civil Rights movement, environmental justice is
governed by Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In 1994, President
Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, directing the federal
government to review its policies to ensure that they did not promote
environmental inequity based on a community's racial makeup or income
status. It also required states to do the same for programs that
received federal funding. "

Please contact Veronica Craw at 973.817.5958 or vc...@pvsc.com for
details.

* * *

Thomas A. Pietrykoski
Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
600 Wilson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07105
973.817.5735
tpietr...@pvsc.com

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Phil Reynolds - Editor - reyn...@gsenet.org
Ivan Kossak - Executive Director - kos...@gsenet.org

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