GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 040429
GSENet
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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{*} FREEHOLDERS WANT HIGHLANDS PANEL ELECTED BY THE PUBLIC
{*} HIGHLANDS PLAN GAINS SUSSEX COUNTY SUPPORT
{*} NJ EXPERIMENT: PUTTING GROWTH HERE, NOT THERE
{*} STUDY SHOWS REGULATION BETTER THAN VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE
{*} STUDY: CONSERVE WATER ALL YEAR
{*} STATE AGREES TO MONITOR WELL SITE IN LOWER TWP
{*} MASSIVE CLEANUP BEGINS AT PATERSON'S GREAT FALLS
{*} $10 MILLION TO PROTECT THE NATION'S BEACHES
{*} PETS PROHIBITED ON BEACHES IN NJ NATURAL AREAS
{*} TIPS TO KEEP THE SUMMER `BEAR'-ABLE
{*} REVISED REGULATIONS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES AGREEMENTS
{*} POLLUTED LAKES TURNING TURTLES INTO TURTLETTES
{*} PROPOSALS FOR RESEARCH ON ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS
{*} NEW ERA BEGINS FOR MASSIVE DUKE ESTATE
{*} NEW JERSEY'S FIRST 'GREEN' PUBLIC SCHOOL
{*} EPA REPORT: 2004 CARS AND TRUCKS AVERAGE 20.8 MPG
{*} EPA PRESENTS $134,100 CHECK TO NJ ENVIRONMENTORS
{*} TMDL FOR PEQUANNOCK RIVER - APR 30
{*} TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS MEETING - MAY 26
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THE DODGE $5,000 CHALLENGE GRANT
To date we have received $3,840.
We need $1,160 to meet our goal.
Deadline is May 31, 2004!
For more information, please visit:
http://www.gsenet.org/support/donate.php
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FREEHOLDERS WANT HIGHLANDS PANEL ELECTED BY THE PUBLIC
Date: 040428
From: http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/nj/
By Katherine Blok, Express-Times, April 28, 2004
Flemington - The Hunterdon County freeholders are proposing an
elected planning council for the Highlands region, not the
gubernatorially-appointed commission contained in a bill before the
state Legislature.
In a resolution opposing the Highlands legislation, the freeholders
said the residents of the Highlands region, which covers seven
counties in northern New Jersey, should not be subject to decisions
affecting their communities without the opportunity to speak through
elected representatives.
"Let the people who want to be in on this put their ideas to the
people of the Highlands," said Freeholder Director Marcia Karrow.
"That's democracy."
The Highlands legislation amounts to a land grant that "takes equity
and puts it in the hands of a commission of political people," said
Freeholder George Melick.
In their resolution, the freeholders said the regional master plan
and mandatory municipal compliance called for by the Highlands bill
will strip local governments of their constitutional and legal
authority to control local zoning and planning. They also said the
transfer of development rights program contained in amendments to the
bill prohibit landowners to seek compensation through the courts.
The bill fails to consider the strategic plans being developed by
counties and municipalities to manage growth and provides state aid to
compensate only municipalities for lost tax revenue, not counties.
Karrow said county officials have estimated a minimum tax increase of
5 cents per $100 of assessed value for 2005 if the legislation is
approved.
"People in Hunterdon and Warren counties will have no say. It's
absolutely taxation without representation," Karrow said.
Freeholder Nancy Palladino said everyone is in favor of slowing
development and preserving natural resources, but the bill does not
accomplish those goals. Palladino also criticized the Legislature for
filing amendments to the bill just one day prior to the final public
hearing, when criticism of the legislation and calls for amendments
had been heard several weeks before.
"The intent of the bill has merit (but) the legislation is absolutely
horrible. It's horrendous," said Freeholder George Muller. "We don't
believe this bill should be passed. It's very important it's not
passed because it doesn't benefit the people of the state."
* * *
Reporter Katherine Blok can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by email at
kb...@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004 The Express-Times.
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HIGHLANDS PLAN GAINS SUSSEX COUNTY SUPPORT
Date: 040428
From: http://www.njherald.com/
By Lynn Olanoff, Herald Staff Writer, April 28, 2004
Newton - Despite recalling the failures of earlier state efforts,
Sussex County's senior legislator said Tuesday he is trying to shape
the Highlands water bill into one that can pass in Trenton.
State Sen. Robert Littell, R-Sussex, said active negotiations behind
the scenes have addressed many of the concerns that he has brought to
the governor and Democratic sponsors of the Highlands Water Protection
and Planning Bill.
"Almost everything we asked, they agreed to," Littell said. "It's
important to note, because the state has been meddling in our affairs
for two to three years."
Littell, his Chief of Staff Jeff Spatola and Deputy County
Administrator John Eskilson met with New Jersey Herald editors Tuesday
to explain details of the bill and its potential impact on Sussex
County. The bill seeks to preserve land - by restricting development -
in Vernon, Hardyston, Franklin, Ogdensburg, Sparta, Hopatcong, Byram,
Green and Stanhope.
Littell said problems with the Pinelands land preservation of the
1970s are still "festering" and that land owners "had equity taken
from them." That law, created to preserve pine forests in southern New
Jersey, mandated that specific areas had to accept development.
However, Littell said he would support the new Highlands bill if
guaranteed funding - probably through a bond issue - were included for
payments to landowners and to municipalities for lost taxes, or
"property tax stabilization." He added that other suggestions for
paying for the Highlands bill include an additional 40-cents-per-pack
tax on cigarettes.
Littell, Eskilson and Spatola reasoned that pushing for amendments is
the most effective way to secure tax relief funding for municipalities
and some building rights for private property owners.
"I think those that are trying to kill the proposal outright are
ignoring the political reality," Spatola said, citing the state's
Democratic governor and Legislature majority. "We decided to take the
proactive approach."
Spatola said the administration of Gov. James E. McGreevey was open
to the amendments - which includes honoring municipal land-use law and
exempting existing single-family homes from the regulations - because
they are seeking bipartisan support for the bill.
Requests were met to remove Andover Borough, Andover Township and
Lafayette from the Highlands region, and portions of Ogdensburg,
Stanhope and Vernon were removed from the core preservation area.
Other amendments Littell and Eskilson pushed for included recognizing
the rights of hunters and fishermen and reaffirming the Right to Farm
Act.
Littell said he has not discussed the possibility of state funding
for sewer and water projects in Sussex County or the Highlands as part
of the effort to protect water sources.
The state is seeking to restrict development in about 395,000 acres
of the 800,000-acre Highlands region, which stretches across much of
northwest New Jersey. Local planning decisions in the core
preservation area would be subject to the mandatory review of a state-
appointed council.
A May 10 vote is scheduled for the bill in the state Senate and
Assembly environmental committees. McGreevey has said he wants the
bill enacted by July 1, the same day the state budget has to be
approved.
Eskilson provided details about how much land - and of what kind - is
proposed to be preserved in Sussex County. About 73,000 acres are
within the core preservation area, of which about 33,500 are
unpreserved lands. County officials have determined that some 11,627
acres of the unpreserved land is fit for development. About 22,000
acres of land in the core are already developed, Eskilson said.
Eskilson reasoned that while "11,000-plus acres is a great amount of
land," it is a small part of the core preservation area in the county.
There is only a small amount of land zoned for commercial development
in the core area in the county, he added.
The current legislation would essentially freeze equity of farmland
at its Jan. 1, 2004, value, confirmed Eskilson.
"I think we've made some pretty good strides, but there are more
things we have to look over," Littell said. "We keep asking the
questions and the one we haven't heard the answer to is where the
money is coming from."
Spatola said the bill will not pass the state Legislature without a
guaranteed funding source.
Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Sussex, said in a later telephone interview
Tuesday that he supports many of the amendments added to the Highlands
bill, but they are doing little to sway any overall support from him.
Gregg said he could not support the bill without a guaranteed funding
source, or if it did not protect the building and selling rights of
private property owners. Land designated within the core is virtually
valueless, he said.
He said he also believes the bill can be stopped despite the
Legislature's Democratic majority. Gregg said some Democrats in the
Pinelands region said they will not support the bill if they do not
get more funding for their state-preserved region.
"They don't have the votes in the Senate. I don't think there's a
southern Democrat supporting it," Gregg said.
Gregg said potential gubernatorial candidates - of which he named
Assemblyman Louis Greenwald and state Sen. John Adler, both D-Camden -
are wary of supporting the bill.
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(c) 2000, 1999, Quincy Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
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NJ EXPERIMENT: PUTTING GROWTH HERE, NOT THERE
Date: 21 Apr 2004
From: "Steven Sacks-Wilner" {ste...@sacks-wilner.com}
FOR NEW JERSEY TOWNS, AN EXPERIMENT: PUTTING GROWTH HERE, NOT THERE
By Iver Peterson, New York Times, April 21, 2004
Chesterfield - Larry Durry is a New Jersey farmer, and as any farmer
would, he opposed a plan to restrict housing developments here in his
town. After all, housing is usually the last and most profitable crop
a suburban farmer like Mr. Durry will raise in his fields.
But after generations of trying and failing to control growth, the
state whose very name stands for sprawl has been experimenting with a
plan that has promised to save farmland, meet the demand for new
housing and still provide that retirement payout for landowners like
Mr. Durry. In fact, he is now one of the new zoning rule's biggest
proponents, even though no new houses will ever appear on his land.
"I just wanted to be sure it would be fair," he said, "and it was."
The program that sold itself to Mr. Durry has a sleep-inducing name,
the transfer of development rights system, although a better term
would be the sale of development rights. Like the old practice of
transferring air rights, or height limits, to tall buildings from
short ones in New York City, the system allows municipalities to
designate where their growth will be. Developers can then increase the
number of dwellings in their projects - and their profits - by
transferring housing credits assigned to open land, like Mr. Durry's,
bought from owners whose land lies outside the designated growth zone.
With the state's population expected to grow by 750,000 and 1 million
people by the next generation, planners believe that development
pressure will eat up all the state's developable land. Early successes
in the transfer of development rights in Burlington County are being
watched as a possible model for land policy for the state's remaining
large rural areas, and particularly for the towns in the Highlands,
the hilly countryside in the state's northwest.
Here in Burlington County, where the widening rings of sprawl from
New York City and Philadelphia have begun to overlap, the towns of
Chesterfield and Lumberton are working with a transfer system
authorized with special state legislation enacted in 1989. The early
signs of success helped Gov. James E. McGreevey win his first
legislative antisprawl victory last month with the passage of a bill
permitting development rights transfers statewide.
"One thing that the McGreevey administration has done is, they
realize that we're running out of land," Bill Dressell, director of
the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said in an interview two
weeks ago. "And unless we start annexing parts of Pennsylvania or New
York, or backfilling the Atlantic, we are going to run out of room."
For still-rural towns like Chesterfield, the traditional way to
control growth has been to zone for large lots - four or five acres
per dwelling, said Susan E. Craft, Burlington County's farmland
preservation specialist. But now so many people are willing to buy
those huge boxes on treeless plains that large-lot zoning no longer
protects against development. Open acreage in rural counties like this
one is quickly being eaten up, Ms. Craft said.
But trying to force housing into smaller lots by zoning is also
unfair, Ms. Craft added, creating winners out of owners of land zoned
for housing and dashing hopes of those whose land is zoned to remain
undeveloped.
"That's the problem with zoning," Ms. Craft said. "With a stroke of a
pen, one landowner is a billionaire and the other guy is wiped out."
Traditional zoning, she said, also tends to be unstable. One
administration may impose its zoning, but its work is often undone by
new officials. Chesterton approached its transfer system with the
calculation that 1,200 houses were headed its way under its current,
large-lot zoning system. Rather than buying up the land itself or
waiting for those houses to spread across the landscape, the town
created a 560-acre "receiving area" into which all of the new growth
would be forced.
That left most of the township's remaining 21 square miles, the
"sending area," largely undeveloped.
The plan overcomes the inequity such a system would normally impose
on landowners in preservation areas by giving them a credit for each
house they were entitled to build under the existing zoning. So an
owner of 25 developable acres in a five-acre zone would be given five
credits to sell, often with fractions awarded for incomplete parcels.
Developers in the receiving area then buy those credits, each one
giving the builder the right to build one or more additional dwellings
in the receiving zone, depending on the size of the home.
"Transfers of development rights brings that windfall-and-wipeout
scenario you get from zoning into balance," said Ms. Craft, "because
the landowner in the sending area and the receiving area each have
something to sell."
Chesterfield is using the system to plan a new community from
scratch. Lumberton, in southern Burlington County, however, has
focused on pushing new development, mostly of single-family homes,
into already built-up areas, where roads and sewer connections are
easier and cheaper to make.
Although the landscape in Lumberton looks like any growing
community's - a mix of new housing and fields - Dewitt Pennypacker, a
member of the Town Council, could point out many remaining fields that
would never be developed.
"We have preserved 850 acres at no cost to ourselves - the developers
have paid that cost," he said. "Other towns around us have had to
borrow millions of dollars to do the same thing by buying the land."
One piece of Mr. Durry's farmland in Chesterfield was worth 6.25
credits, which he sold for about $23,000 each (although the prices for
credits has increased to close to $30,000 now that the first houses
are up in the new development there, Old York Village). The credits
ended up in a 400-unit development that will be built in the receiving
zone by the K. Hovnanian Companies, New Jersey's biggest home builder.
Bradley N. Haber, director of land acquisitions for Hovnanian, said
he still has concerns about the transfer system, including the
possibility of a scarcity of credits - if landowners hold out, for
example.
But Mr. Haber also found the exhaustive planning and municipal
cooperation that are key features of the transfer system a nice
surprise. Normally, the first developer on a big project foots the
bill for the costs of the parkways and boulevards that run through a
development, for example, then tries to collect from later arrivals,
he said. But under the new system, those costs are apportioned to each
housing unit from the beginning.
The town of Chesterfield also arranged for sewer and water for all of
Old York Village from the outset, eliminating one of a developer's
greatest headaches.
Old York Village's design, by the Trenton firm of Clarke Caton Hintz,
won an American Planning Council award for its New Urbanism village
style, with houses on narrow lots built close together, many with
alleyways in back to keep cars and garbage collection off the streets.
It will have its own downtown commercial area of shops, and parks,
churches and an elementary school within walking distance for many
children.
"And every time a house goes up in Old York Village, you know that
there are five or six acres out in the agricultural area that are
being preserved," said Philip B. Caton, the principal planner. He
figured the village would be built and occupied in 5 to 10 years,
depending on the housing market. And besides saving open space, the
compact design makes running a municipality cheaper.
"If you know where your growth is going to occur, you can design your
streets and your other services - water, schools, police stations -
too," said Mr. Dressell, director of the League of Municipalities.
"Garbage collection on a per-unit basis goes way down if all your
people are in one place."
Still, as critics point out, buying up farmland, while expensive, at
least allows municipalities to block growth. Allowing landowners to
transfer development rights only manages it.
"You're solving the problem of protecting farmland, but you're not
controlling population and the taxes and the traffic associated with
development," said Richard Amper, executive director of the Long
Island Pine Barrens Society, an environmental group. A transfer system
has been used to save a part of the Pine Barrens.
"Here on Long Island, no matter what the social goal, whether to
preserve farmland, increase affordable housing or preserve the
watershed, the developer's solution is, 'Let us build more houses,' "
Mr. Amper went on. "Well, sometimes it is over development itself that
has created all of these problems, and you do not solve them by
continuing to let them build more houses."
* * *
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
# # #
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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STUDY SHOWS REGULATION BETTER THAN VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}
NEW STUDY UNDERMINES BUSH ANTI-REGULATION DOCTRINE
Grist Magazine, Apr. 28, 2004
The Bush Administration mantra that "voluntary compliance" is a far
better way to reduce pollution than "command and control" regulations
received another setback this month with the release of a carefully
documented study analyzing the volume of pollution from electric power
plants.
Compiled by three organizations including New Jersey's largest
utility, the Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc.; the Natural
Resourcs Defense Council (NRDC); and the Coalition for Environmentlly
Responsible Economies (CERES), the report studied the environmental
records of the nation's 100 largest electricity companies.
The study analyzed utility-industry emissions of four pollutants -
nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and
mercury - using data collected by the U.S. EPA and the Energy
Information Administration from 1991 to 2002.
The data revealed a marked overall decrease in emissions of
pollutants subject to mandatory federal regulations: NOx fell by 28
percent over the period studied, and SO2 fell by 35 percent. Both
pollutants, targeted by the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990,
contribute to acid rain and haze, and NOx is also a key ingredient in
smog.
In sharp contrast, CO2, a greenhouse gas and major contributor to
climate change, has been the subject of a range of hopeful government
initiatives and pleas, none mandatory - and emissions of the pollutant
rose by 25 percent.
The report shows that "this notion that voluntary programs alone will
work to address global warming in the utility sector is a farce," said
Dan Lashof, science director of NRDC's Climate Center.
Perhaps more important is the finding that there is little
correlation between the amount of electricity a utility generates, and
the amount of pollution it generates. For example, the Southern
Company generated four times more electricity than its smaller
competitor Calpine, but Southern belched a staggering 6,300 times more
SO2 than Calpine.
This means "the regulations aren't working uniformly," says David
Gardiner, former assistant EPA administrator under Bill Clinton.
"There's a major discrepancy between the way our federal regulations
are being implemented among different companies and in different
states. If we implement stronger regulations uniformly nationwide, we
will see deep cuts in these emissions."
It would seem there is little time to waste. The EPA has estimated
that NOx and SO2 emissions from power plants still cause some 30,000
premature deaths each year. And EPA announced this month that 474
counties across the nation do not meet the new health standards for
ground-level ozone, directly linked to NOx emissions.
The good news, says Gardiner, now a senior adviser to CERES, is that
"More and more polluting companies - and their shareholders
especially - are beginning to realize that dirtier power plants face
disprportionate financial and legal risks compared to their cleaner
competitors." In the case of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas,
investors are starting to accept that emissions caps are inevitably
coming, and they do not like the uncertainty of wondering when it will
happen. Moreover, utilities and other industries that take measures to
increase energy efficiency and reduce pollution are finding that both
profits and productivity are improved.
Hence a growing number of shareholders are pushing their corporations
for more disclosure of environmental data, a lowering of emissions,
and even for more uniform federal enforcement of emission standards.
All this may come as news to Lynn Scarlett, the Bush Administration's
assistant secretary of the Interior Department, who recently assured
GRIST magazine, in an interview, that "Regulations tend to curtail
creativity and innovation."
# # #
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
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STUDY: CONSERVE WATER ALL YEAR
Date: 040428
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/
By Derek Harper, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7203
Press of Atlantic City, April 28, 2004
Hamilton Township - The state Department of Environmental Protection
will discuss a report next week that calls for year-round water
conservation in addition to much tighter access to the area's ground
water.
The Atlantic County meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. May 6 at the Mays
Landing Library, 40 Farragut Ave., Mays Landing.
The meeting is designed to get public comments and feedback about a
draft of a report called "Status of the Water Supply of Southeastern
New Jersey."
The report seems to detail a significant change from the way the
state allowed ground water to be used, said Richard Dovey, head of the
Atlantic County Utilities Authority.
"It recognizes the groundwater resources need to be used more
effectively and that there needs to be some stewardship," Dovey said.
The state commissioned the report following 2002's water-supply
moratorium in three Atlantic County communities, which was triggered
by a sustained drought that taxed water supplies and effectively shut
down development for months.
The state quietly issued the 77-page report in September and made it
available on the DEP's Web site in December.
Instead of focusing exclusively on the three moratorium towns - Egg
Harbor, Galloway and Hamilton townships - the report considers much of
the southeastern corner of the state. The report covers the span from
Toms River in Ocean County to Cape May Point in Cape May County and
west into the Camden, Gloucester and Burlington county headwaters of
the Great Egg Harbor and Mullica Rivers. These could all potentially
be affected by the plan.
The area is facing both short- and long-term water-supply problems,
according to the report. It suggests immediate action, followed by
more study and additional action in 2006 or 2007.
"Maintaining the status quo as development proceeds during this
period will exacerbate many of the problems...and result in greater
difficulty and more costly means in addressing them," wrote report
author Robert Kecskes, section chief for the DEP's Division of
Watershed Management.
In the short term, water withdrawals are slowly depleting underground
aquifers, causing streams to dry up and the need for deeper wells.
These aquifers extend some distance into the Atlantic Ocean. In the
long run, less fresh water in the aquifers means that the more-
abundant salty ocean water could push back inland, rendering some
barrier-island wells useless in Cape May and Ocean counties.
What about Atlantic County barrier islands?
Since 1958, this "salt front" has advanced nearly 6,500 feet toward
Stone Harbor and now is under much of Cape May County's southern
portion.
It is not known where the salt front is in Ocean County, although the
report says it is believed that salt water is in contact with the
Atlantic City aquifer. The report said this needs study.
Southeastern New Jersey will grow significantly in the coming
decades, the report said. The 557,424 people who live in the report's
coverage area will grow to 895,535 by 2050, increasing water demand by
60 percent, the report said.
This southeastern area already uses more water - 46 million gallons
per day - than goes back into the ground. The report said this will
increase to 160 million gallons by 2050.
One of the problems, said the report, is that much of the area's
water is drawn, used, treated, then pumped into the ocean. The report
recommended recycling more of the treated water.
Much of the growth is expected in Egg Harbor, Hamilton and Galloway
townships, the report said. Currently 82,434 people live there - the
report believes that will be 179,822 by 2050, and will more than
double water demand. If water access was parceled out on a county
basis, these three towns are already drawing more water from the Great
Egg Harbor watershed than is available to the whole of Atlantic
County.
As the area continues to draw more ground water, the authors wrote
that there may be damage being done to wetland habitats. Further
development in the growth towns will only make this worse, they wrote,
adding that more study is needed.
Ultimately, the report suggested limiting the amount of water that
can be taken from the 800-foot Atlantic City aquifer as well as
protecting the ground around the wells.
In the short term, the report's authors suggested taking interim
steps before a final report is released.
First, they suggest allowing no additional nonpotable water use.
Either use reclaimed water or recycle similar amounts of water into
the system, it said. The report also suggested developing plans to
recycle ground water near where it is drawn.
The DEP will also use a wide array of water-conservation strategies,
such as rainfall and soil moisture sensors for irrigation systems,
days when irrigation is not allowed and drought-tolerant landscaping,
among other plans.
And the report suggested only allowing wells in the deeper 800-foot
Atlantic City aquifer, except near the salt front.
The report is available online at
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/watershedmgt/hottopics.htm
* * *
To email Derek Harper at The Press: DHa...@pressofac.com
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STATE AGREES TO MONITOR WELL SITE IN LOWER TWP
Date: 040425
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cape/
By Trudi Gilfillian, Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City, April 24, 2004
Cape May Court House - The state Department of Environmental
Protection will install groundwater-monitoring wells between a former
hazardous-waste landfill in Lower Township and a well operated by the
Wildwood Water Utility.
Deputy Attorney General Brendan Ruane said at a hearing Friday in
Superior Court that the state will have the wells in place within 180
days and the results will determine what to do next. "We need to
connect the dots," Ruane said.
Ruane said the state shares the concerns of Wildwood and the county
about possible contamination at the site, but it does not know the
exact "nature of the concern yet." He added that any cleanup of the
property would not be done overnight.
But attorney Stephen Hankin, representing the county, told Superior
Court Judge George Seltzer that the dots are well connected by several
years of county-supported research that show the landfill, which
closed in 1978, contains hazardous waste and the plume of
contamination is spreading.
"We have 60 acres and 160 million gallons of water infected with
toxic and hazardous waste," Hankin said.
The county filed suit against the state and the former owner of the
two lots in question in December, alleging that both the state and the
owners knew the property was contaminated with hazardous waste when
the county took possession of the property through eminent domain in
1985 as part of its plan to expand the county airport.
The county paid $91,250 for the two lots.
At the time, the county believed the landfill never accepted
hazardous waste, but a series of DEP reports and memos suggested
otherwise. The memos listed in the lawsuit refer to 55-gallon drums
that were never examined, sewage sludge on the property and the threat
of groundwater contamination.
A 2001 county study found hazardous waste was disposed there and that
monitoring wells found excessive amounts of hazardous substances.
Unacceptable levels of fecal coliform, lead and volatile organics and
semivolatile organics were found, and the report by S.T. Hudson
Engineers said the groundwater contamination was spreading.
At Friday's hearing, Wildwood Solicitor Marcus Karavan said the city
has tested the site and is waiting for the results.
"We have grave concerns regarding the potential contamination of well
no. 31," Karavan said.
He later said that well has been placed on emergency standby and it
is not currently providing water to the utility's customers. The water
utility gets its water supply from 12 other wells.
Hankin said the county and the state had come to an agreement about
the placement of the monitoring wells, but he asked the judge to
compel the former owners to pay to clean up the property.
"You cannot escape liability by selling the property," Hankin said.
The previous owners or operators of the two lots include Mar-Tee
Contractors, Thomas F. Brodesser Jr., T. Brodesser Jr. & Co., and SCA
Services. Mar-Tee eventually became Waste Management of South Jersey.
Attorney Michael Lampert, representing Waste Management, said it was
unusual for the county to want to force his clients to pay for the
cleanup before the state has even decided what steps it will take.
Lampert said the county has made several assumptions and is asking
the judge to write a blank check with his clients' names on it.
He added his clients have not set foot on the property in 22 years
while the county has owned the land.
Lampert said he wondered "whether there's urgency, given the county's
own inaction in 22 years."
Seltzer said he would review the various requests before him and
issue a ruling next Friday.
* * *
To email Trudi Gilfillian at The Press: TGilf...@pressofac.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MASSIVE CLEANUP BEGINS AT PATERSON'S GREAT FALLS
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}
By Nate Schweber, Herald News, Apr. 27, 2004
Paterson - As William DiPillo waded into the murky, brown Passaic
River above the Great Falls Monday morning, he figured that cleaning
up the area would be easy - if it weren't for all that pesky water.
At 7 a.m., DiPillo, who is the head operator of the Great Falls
Hydroelectric Station, plunged big wooden flashboards into the water,
heightening the dam and diverting the river through the station to run
the falls dry.
Soon, the twisted, brown branches of fallen trees, and charcoal-
colored tires, like dead, bloated doughnuts, began to poke through the
surface of the water on the far bank.
For DiPillo, who organizes a cleanup on the banks around the Great
Falls every Arbor Day, this year's project is the most ambitious yet:
He wants to shut off the falls to get the trash and debris out of the
riverbed.
For accuracy's sake, DiPillo admitted that the falls won't literally
run dry. His goal is to lower the water level by 27 inches, to the top
of the 13-foot dam that routes water through the hydroelectric
station.
On Monday, he didn't receive any help from on high.
"God keeps on raining all this water into the river we're trying to
lower and we keep praying, 'Please! No more water,'" DiPillo said.
By 9 a.m., Robert DeVita, River Restoration Project manager for the
Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, arrived at the falls, ready to
commence a longtime dream.
"My job is to clean up this river, and I always wanted to really go
in and do a good job cleaning up its most prominent point - the Great
Falls. But we could never do it, because the water was too high," he
said.
DeVita brought a crew of a dozen men dressed in orange hardhats,
yellow rain slickers and black rubber pants and galoshes. They set to
work with axes and chainsaws, hacking through the dead wood that
cluttered the riverbanks. They used pulleys fastened to trees to pull
bundles of dead branches out of the water.
Among the things they found were: a snow shovel, a Styrofoam
airplane, enough tires to outfit a convoy of semis, enough hunks of
wood to build a city of particleboard, and a rusty six-foot iron
cylinder, waterlogged. A worker had to puncture the cylinder with an
axe in order to drain the water, so he could haul it out of the river.
Other workers dredged the river muck and the water's surface with
rakes, sifting up plastic cups and bottles, beer and soda cans,
plastic milk jugs and bags and packaging and potato chip bags.
The workers chucked the garbage and big hunks of wood into Dumpsters
donated by JK Carting, a garbage disposal company in Paterson. They
fed the twigs and sticks into a woodchipping machine.
This is "Phase One" of the Great Falls cleanup, DiPillo said. He said
he wants to drop the water level all week; on Friday, there will be a
massive, volunteer cleanup at the falls. More than 200 volunteers,
most from Paterson public schools, and others from local businesses
will descend upon the falls and do hard labor, lugging the junk up
from the sides and the bottom of the river.
If you want to volunteer, just show up Friday morning at the Great
Falls, DiPillo said.
Patricia Fee, marketing team leader for Whole Foods in Ridgewood,
said her company would be on-hand to donate lemonade, cookies, chips,
peanut-butter bars and fresh fruit.
"We'll be there to keep everyone hydrated while the falls run dry,"
she said.
DeVita said that his team will work at the falls all week. Soon they
will bring in six-wheeled, amphibious vehicles called Buffaloes- the
size of golf carts - to drive into the river and haul out trash. He
hopes to have a backhoe in the water on Friday, too.
Meanwhile, the river will abandon its bed and course through the
hydroelectric station, which will have two of its three turbines
activated and producing electricity, DiPillo said. Trout, bass, pike,
catfish, carp and eels will be diverted through a fish bypass next to
the mouth of the hydroelectric plant, he added.
DiPillo said he got the idea to dry up the falls last October, when
he dropped the river's level about a foot to test the strength of the
SUM dam, which was built in 1840.
The last time the falls ran completely dry was when the hydroelectric
plant was first opened in 1914. DePillo, who works for Algonquin LTD,
the company that operates the city-owned plant, said there has never
been a falls cleanup of this magnitude.
At 11 a.m., DiPillo went to his office in a small brick building just
above the hydro. The water had dropped a foot for three miles in back
of the falls.
Next to his desk, DiPillo keeps a 2-foot-tall voodoo doll with a
string of shells around its neck. He said it got stuck in the filter
of the fish bypass two years ago; he kept it as a momento.
"I imagine we will find weirder stuff than this," he said.
* * *
Reach Nate Schweber at (973) 569-7155 or schw...@northjersey.com.
# # #
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
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
$10 MILLION TO PROTECT THE NATION'S BEACHES
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: "Connie Tyson" {tyson....@epamail.epa.gov}
BUSH ADMINISTRATION COMMITS $10 MILLION
TO PROTECT THE NATION'S BEACHES
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, April 28, 2004
Washington, DC - Today, the Bush Administration announced nearly $10
million in grants available for beach monitoring and notification
programs to eligible coastal states, territories, including those
bordering the Great Lakes and tribes to help meet the new requirements
under the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH)
Act of 2000. This is the fourth year in a row that this money is being
made available totaling about $32 million since the BEACH ACT passed
in October 2000.
"These grants help protect public health at America's beaches," said
Administrator Mike Leavitt. "The money we are making available today
will go a long way to helping states in expanding their water quality
monitoring and information programs that alert the public about
potential health-related problems in coastal recreational waters."
Money is available to eligible coastal states and territories based
on the length of beach season, the miles of beach and the number of
people who use that beach. In addition, money will be made available
to eligible Indian tribes who apply.
These funds are designed to ensure that the public receives better
protection when traveling to various beaches across the country. EPA
estimates that Americans take a total of 910 million trips to coastal
areas each year and spend about $44 million at those beach locations.
If all 35 eligible coastal states and territories apply and meet the
performance criteria, the distribution of the funds for 2004 is
expected to be:
[Snip]
For the state or territory of: New Jersey
The year 2004 allocation is: $281,680.00
[Snip]
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires coastal states, and territories, to
adopt up-to-date pathogen criteria to protect beach goers from harmful
bacteria. Information about the grant money being made available and
the Clean Beaches Plan as well as related documents is available at:
http://www.epa.gov/beaches.
* * *
Contact: Cathy Milbourn 202-564-7824 / milbour...@epa.gov
To receive all headquarters EPA news releases by email, subscribe to
the epanews listserv at: http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/email_signups.htm
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PETS PROHIBITED ON BEACHES IN NJ NATURAL AREAS
Date: 27 Apr 2004
From: "Jennifer Tomko" {Jennife...@dep.state.nj.us}
PETS PROHIBITED ON BEACHES IN NEW JERSEY NATURAL AREAS
TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SHORE BIRDS
April 27, 2004
Trenton - Recognizing the importance of protecting the threatened
piping plover, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) and the city of Brigantine have announced the prohibition of
pets on the beach at the North Brigantine Natural Area in Atlantic
County. The prohibition, which will be followed annually, began April
1 and continues through September 15. The natural area is located on
the north end of Brigantine.
"I'm confident that visitors and residents will understand the need
for this order to protect our threatened shore birds," said DEP
Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell. "As stewards of our natural
resources, it is our responsibility to make sure that these extremely
rare birds have a chance at survival."
Pets both leashed and unleashed pose a significant threat to adult
and juvenile piping plovers and disrupt their nesting activity. Pets
frighten adult birds, which causes the adults and chicks to become
separated. Lone chicks are vulnerable to predation.
A total of 17 pairs of piping plovers nested at the North Brigantine
Natural Area in 2003, the second largest population found in New
Jersey, representing 12 percent of the record total of 144 pairs that
nested in the state last year.
Coastal activities of people often conflict with what the piping
plover needs to successfully reproduce while here in New Jersey. Due
to its precarious existence on New Jersey's beaches, the piping plover
remains one of the state's most endangered species.
Although weather-related and tidal flooding resulted in poor
reproductive success in 2003, in recent years the natural area has
been one of the most important sites in New Jersey and helped drive a
steady increase in the statewide population of piping plovers over the
past five years.
For the first time, signs prohibiting pets will be posted on the
beach in Brigantine, as well as signage to clearly delineate the
boundaries of the restricted area of the North Brigantine site.
Leashed pets are permitted on the city-owned portion of Brigantine
Beach north of 15th Street North year round.
Since the late 1940's, coastal development and increased recreational
use of beaches have caused the plover population to decline. In 1984,
the piping plover was listed as an endangered species in New Jersey.
In 1986, the Atlantic Coast piping plover population was listed as
Threatened in the United States. Since its date of listing the
Atlantic Coast piping plover population has increased from 790 pairs
in 1986 to 1,386 pairs in 1999.
The on-going pet ban continues at the Strathmere Natural Area, Cape
May Point State Park and Corson's Inlet State Park in Cape May County,
and at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park in Ocean County.
The purpose of the state's Natural Areas System is to protect and
preserve ecologically significant lands and the resources found on
them, including endangered and threatened wildlife and rare vegetative
communities.
The piping plover was the July species of the month in honor of the
30th Anniversary of the New Jersey Endangered Species Conservation Act
and the beginning of the DEP's Endangered and Nongame Species Program.
The illegal taking of piping plovers by killing chicks or impeding
access by chicks to intertidal feeding areas is a violation of state
regulations and the federal Endangered Species Act.
For more information about the program, go to
http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensphome.htm
* * *
Contact: Elaine Makatura, (609) 292-2994
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TIPS TO KEEP THE SUMMER `BEAR'-ABLE
Date: 21 Apr 2004
From: "Carol Banhart" {ca...@njconservation.org}
THE STATE WE'RE IN
By Michele S. Byers, Executive Director
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
April 21, 2004 - Volume XXXIV, No. 16
With black bears coming out of their dens, now's the time to take
action to minimize the chance of encountering an unwanted bear in your
neighborhood!
Although it may seem obvious, DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!
Not only is it dangerous, but it also links people and food in the
mind of the bear, which will only lead to many more problems later.
And it's also against the law. Get caught feeding bears and you could
face a penalty of up to a $1,000 for each offense.
Also be sure that you aren't "unintentionally" feeding bears. Take
steps now to "bear-proof" your home and yard to prevent a bear picnic
in your neighborhood.
For example, invest in "bear-proof" garbage containers. Store your
garbage in airtight containers with tight fitting lids in a secure
area inside your garage or shed.
When trash day arrives, put out the garbage the day it's picked up,
not the evening before.
When you drag your trash cans back from the curb after pick-up, take
a minute to hose them out and spray them with a disinfectant to
eliminate bear-attracting odors.
Watch what you put in compost piles. Meats or sweet foods should go
down the disposal or in the (airtight) trash cans instead.
Birdfeeders can be another welcome mat for bears. Consider feeding
birds only when bears are least active - from December 1 through April
1. If you do use birdfeeders, suspend them at least 10 feet off the
ground, and clean up spilled seeds and shells every day.
And of course, summer wouldn't be summer without grilling - whether
it's your favorite meat or a vegetable kabob! Clean outdoor grills
thoroughly after each use to get rid of any grease or food residue.
Finally, if you live in an area where bears have been sighted in the
past, spread the word about these precautions! Reducing bear problems
is a community effort - even if you do everything right, but your
neighbors leave trash cans full of food waste, the backyards in your
neighborhood will still be attractive for bears.
If you do encounter nuisance behavior or damage from a bear
encounter, report it to your local police department or to the NJ
Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife
at (908) 735-8793.
You can learn more about New Jersey's black bears, at the DEP's
website at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com. And I hope you'll contact
me at 1-888-LAND-SAVE or in...@njconservation.org, or visit NJCF's
website at http://www.njconservation.org, for more information about
conserving New Jersey's precious land and natural resources.
* * *
Carol K. Banhart
Senior Coordinator Development & Outreach
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
170 Longview Road, Far Hills, New Jersey 07931
908-234-1224
Fax: 908-234-1189
email: ca...@njconservation.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
REVISED REGULATIONS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES AGREEMENTS
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: Mitch...@fws.gov
ASSISTANT SECRETARY MANSON ANNOUNCES REVISED REGULATIONS FOR
ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS ON PRIVATE LANDS
Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson today announced
revised regulations that will encourage private landowners to
undertake voluntary conservation measures on their property to benefit
threatened, endangered and at-risk species.
The new regulations will improve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Safe Harbor and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances
policies by providing clearer definitions and more certainty to
property owners, Manson said.
"Both Safe Harbors and CCAA's have proven to be powerful tools to
promote conservation and recovery of imperiled species," Manson said.
"The revised regulations we are issuing today will encourage more
landowners to participate in this voluntary conservation by spelling
out more clearly the terms and conditions of the agreements."
"Safe Harbor agreements have been a very effective way of enlisting
the cooperation of private landowners in conserving endangered
species," said Michael J. Bean of Environmental Defense, an
organization that helped develop the first such agreements nearly a
decade ago. "These changes should facilitate the even broader use of
this creative new conservation approach by farmers, ranchers, and
forest landowners."
Under a Safe Harbor agreement, private landowners agree to take
actions on their property to benefit species that are listed as
threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. In
return, they receive assurances that their conservation measures will
not lead to further restrictions on the use of the land if they lead
to an increase in the population of the species on the property.
CCAA's are similar agreements except that they apply to species that
are either proposed for listing under the Act or are on the candidate
list. In these cases, the landowners get assurances that their
conservation actions, if successful, will not lead to further
restrictions under the Act if the species is listed in the future.
There are now 23 Safe Harbor permits covering 29 listed species and
involving more than 130 landowners. More than 50 additional Safe
Harbor Agreements are under development. Seven CCAAs are in effect,
covering 21 species. More than 25 additional CCAAs are under
development.
The revised regulations will make such agreements easier to
understand and implement, by eliminating inconsistencies between the
policies and the regulations used to implement them. In addition,
experience gained since the policies and regulations were adopted in
1999 has shown the need to clarify ambiguities in the regulations that
have been causing confusion for landowners.
For example, the rule also clarifies the process for obtaining
authorization to transfer a permit issued in association with the
agreeements. In addition, the rule clarifies the efforts the Service
will make to avoid the need to revoke a permit.
The rule more explicitly provides landowners with greater certainty
that such agreements will be altered only if continuing an authorized
activity may jeopardize the existence of the protected species. The
rule also ensures that traditional agricultural uses can continue
alongside habitat improvements.
"More than half of threatened and endangered species depend on
private lands for habitat, and if we are going to recover many of
these species, we must work hand-in-hand with landowners to restore
their habitat," Manson said.
* * *
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the
American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National
Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife
refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management
areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery
resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency
enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species
Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as
wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting
equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
News releases are also available on the World Wide Web at
http://news.fws.gov
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
POLLUTED LAKES TURNING TURTLES INTO TURTLETTES
Date: 040428
From: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
By Martin Mittelstaedt, Environment Reporter, April 28, 2004
Toronto - Canadian researchers studying wildlife on the Great Lakes
have found sexual abnormalities in male snapping turtles, with penis
size diminished and some males able to produce egg yolk protein, a
capability normally found only in females.
The research, conducted by biologists with the Canadian Wildlife
Service of Environment Canada, is part of a growing body of
international evidence indicating that many species are suffering from
exposure to so-called gender-bending chemicals, industrial pollutants
that have been found to mimic sex hormones.
These changes so far have been observed most in fish, but researchers
have noted genital abnormalities in other species ranging from Florida
panthers to alligators.
The turtles with abnormal penis size were found in Ontario: in the
Detroit River near Windsor, the St. Clair River near Sarnia, and the
harbour of Wheatley, a small fishing community on Lake Erie. All three
sites are pollution hot spots.
Snapping turtles in cleaner environments, such as Algonquin Park and
in a marsh near Midland, Ont., lacked the abnormalities.
The turtles that produced egg yolk protein were found around
Wheatley. That protein is normally "only produced by females when
they're laying eggs," said Kim Fernie, a biologist with the wildlife
service, who was part of the team conducting the research. "You would
not expect to find it in a male turtle."
Additional work by the scientists on herring gulls discovered the egg
protein in some male birds along the Detroit River.
Female reproductive characteristics in male turtles and birds are a
sign of contact with chemicals that act like female sex hormones.
More than 50 synthetic compounds have been found to affect hormone
systems, among them dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides and
some plastics.
Sarnia has Canada's largest concentration of petrochemical plants;
the Windsor-Detroit area is heavily industrialized. Wheatley is in an
agricultural area.
Young turtles showed other biological abnormalities, such as impaired
thyroid function, at all three sites.
Researchers say they don't know yet which compounds caused the
developments they observed.
"As this is relatively new, we don't know what is causing that yet,"
said Laird Shutt, a toxicologist with the wildlife service who
conducted the research on the gulls.
Ms. Fernie said her results are preliminary, and she has done more
field work trying to verify the extent of the turtle abnormalities.
But the newer samples are being analyzed, and results are not expected
until next year because of laboratory backlogs at Environment Canada's
testing facilities.
"We did find these changes in the first year, but is that going to be
consistent over multiple years or not, I don't know at this point,"
she said.
Environment Canada has issued a summary of the research on its
website but has not publicized the findings.
Mr. Shutt said the levels of egg yolk protein he observed in male
birds were not high enough to affect their chances of survival.
However, environmentalists said the research is worrisome because
chemicals powerful enough to affect hormones are a potential health
threat.
"As soon as you're disrupting hormone systems, there is a chance of
cancer; there is a chance of other diseases," said Bailey Mylleville,
a spokesman for Great Lakes United, an environmental group based in
Buffalo.
In the turtle research, Ms. Fernie said she calculated penis size by
measuring the distance between the reptile's shell and anus, and from
that made an estimate of penis length.
She would not say how much the organs were reduced in size. Taking
actual penis measurements would have required killing the turtles and
opening up their shells.
The research also found excessive production of some liver enzymes in
young snapping turtles and adult herring gulls from the Detroit River
area.
They said high production of the enzymes occurs when animals are
exposed to dioxin-like substances.
At Wheatley, the researchers were unable to find any signs of
reproductive activity by the snapping turtles.
Along the St. Clair River, scientists found less hatching success
than at the non-polluted sites.
Gulls from the Detroit River showed impaired immune systems. There
were also high numbers of dead gull embryos in nests along the Detroit
River and in western Lake Erie, compared to cleaner sites, and a
single male bird with what the Environment Canada research summary
called a "significantly feminized reproductive tract."
* * *
(c) Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PROPOSALS FOR RESEARCH ON ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: Tyson....@epamail.epa.gov
To better understand the dose-response relationship for endocrine
disrupting chemicals (EDCs), EPA is requesting research proposals that
characterize EDC exposure and resulting health effects during critical
periods of development, including in utero or early postnatal
exposure.
Endocrine disruptors or EDCs are chemicals in environmental
pollutants that are believed to cause adverse effects in humans and
wildlife through interference with hormonal systems.
Some 1990's research observed greater effects at lower EDC levels
(the low-dose effect hypothesis), which contradicts the scientific
assumption that the incidence or severity of toxic effects increase in
proportion to the quantity/dose of a contaminant. Yet these low-dose
findings have been difficult to replicate.
The requested research will help EPA understand factors that
influence biological response over a range of dose levels, including
environmental levels. This research could potentially change dose
selection in toxicological studies and how the resulting data is
applied to risk assessments.
Institutions of higher education, non-profit U.S. institutions, and
tribal, state and local governments, are eligible to apply. EPA
expects to make up to 11 awards for an average of $200,000 per year
for three years of research under its Science to Achieve Results
(STAR) program. The deadline for submitting proposals for these
research grants is June 1.
For more information on this request for applications,
see: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2004/2004_low_dose.html. For more
information about the EPA STAR program, see http://es.epa.gov/ncer.
* * *
Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819/ackerman...@epa.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEW ERA BEGINS FOR MASSIVE DUKE ESTATE
Date 28 Apr 2004
From: "Steven Sacks-Wilner" {ste...@sacks-wilner.com}
HILLSBOROUGH CLEARS ZONING CHANGE TO CREATE
'WORLD-CLASS' CULTURAL AND TOURISM DESTINATION
By Joe Tyrrell, Star-Ledger Staff, April 28, 2004
Officials in Hillsborough approved a zoning change last night to
allow cultural and tourism facilities in the heart of the estate of
late tobacco heiress Doris Duke.
The new zone creates an "open space cultural landscape district" on
1,235 of the estate's 2,704 acres, and "just the sound of that is
right," said Township Committeeman Anthony Gwiazdowski.
The foundation that oversees the property, the largest in Somerset
County, "will have the support it needs to become a world-class
cultural center," said Committeeman Robert Wagner. "It will definitely
put us on the map."
"This is something other communities can only dream about," said
former Committeewoman Marian Fenwick-Freeman.
As Duke Foundation officials looked on, the township committee
approved the zoning change 4-0, with Committeeman Anthony Ferrara
absent.
In previous presentations to township boards, foundation
representatives said the change would help them welcome the public to
the once-mysterious grounds for cultural and horticultural events -
and also provide offices, hotel rooms and a gift shop.
The new zone covers the gardens, lakes, lawns, waterfalls and parks
built for James Buchanan Duke as he reshaped fields and marshes into
an oasis in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. His daughter, who
died in 1993, added several hundred acres of farmland, and most of the
estate would remain in an agricultural zone.
"We are committed to preserving the character of the historic Duke
Estate landscape," said Patrick Lerch, the foundation's director of
properties.
Along with botanical gardens, paths and ornamental landscapes, the
new zone also permits professional and business offices, research
facilities, a golf course, tennis courts, athletic fields, a visitors
center, restaurant, cafe, gift shop, studio and performance space and
an "inn or other overnight visitor accommodation."
The Duke estate is large enough to hold Central Park and Disneyland
with room to spare. But for the past four decades, only the gardens
were open for seasonal tours. The rest of the property, including the
mansion and an elaborate coach house and barns, was off-limits to the
public and well-guarded while Doris Duke was alive.
Douglas Horne, director of land advisory services for the
Conservation Fund, said Duke officials see a chance to place the
property among the great American estates open to the public, and
generate revenue to support the initiative.
Horne cited the Rockefeller estate at Pocantico Hills in Westchester
County, N.Y., and Shelburne Farms, the agricultural center established
by William Seward and Lila Vanderbilt Webb on Lake Champlain just
south of Burlington, Vt. Both those properties are about 1,400 acres,
with inns and conference sites, Horne said. While the Duke estate is
about twice as large, the amount of land covered by the new zone is
similar to those other estates, he said.
The first test comes this fall, as Duke Farms plays host for the
first time to the biannual Dodge Poetry Festival. That's expected to
draw about 35,000 visitors to the estate off Route 206, at a time when
the Nevius Street bridge that provided alternate access from Raritan
remains closed.
Peg Van Patton, a township environmental commission member who has
attended the previous festivals at Waterloo Village in Byram, said she
is "overjoyed" to have the event in Hillsborough.
* * *
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.
# # #
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
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEW JERSEY'S FIRST 'GREEN' PUBLIC SCHOOL
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: "Jeffrey Brown" {glj...@verizon.net}
By Jen Maxfield, WABC, April 27, 2004
Freehold - New York educators may want to look to New Jersey, where one
school
is creating a new environment - turning green as they call it - hoping
it will boost test scores.
It may look like red brick, but the Adelphia School in Howell
Township is New Jersey's first 'green' public school. A school where
every classroom is brightly lit, climate controlled, and quiet.
Robby Schiazza, Second Grader: "It's more fun and there's more joy in
this school."
Jen Maxfield: "Really, why?"
Robby Schiazza: "Because it's brighter, there's happier teachers."
The Adelphia School itself is a lesson in conservation. When it's
sunny, the school runs on solar power. And every classroom is built
from recycled material, free of toxins.
Jason Kliwinski, Architect: "You know that it's a healthier
environment, they're not going to get sick, they're going to be here
and enjoy themselves, and see, this is why we do what we do."
Kristie Rossi, Fifth Grader: "We have air conditioning, and the other
school we didn't, and we always felt really hot and it was hard to do
our best when we're not feeling comfortable."
In fact, research has shown that all other factors being equal,
students in modern schools like this one score better on their
achievement tests than students in older schools.
A 1997 study at the University of Georgia compared third-graders'
test scores. Students in modern buildings scored, on average, about
three points higher on reading and almost six points higher on math
than students in older schools.
Tracy Whalen, Fifth Grade Teacher: "Everything that a child could
need is here. They're comfortable while they're here, and they're
happy while they're here."
Howell Township administrators are happy, too. The school came in
almost half a million dollars under budget. Because of its 'green'
design, the district has already received a $1.2 million rebate from
the state.
Scott Prisco, President, The Prisco Group: "The annual operating cost
for the district will be significantly decreased."
A healthy approach to learning that benefits the students, the
environment, and the district's bottom line.
* * *
Copyright (c)2004 ABC Inc., WABC-TV Inc.
# # #
Jeffrey Brown
Executive Director
Global Learning, Inc.
400 Union Avenue
Brielle, NJ 08730-1820
Tel. 732-528-0016
FAX 732-528-1027
Email: glj...@verizon.net
Global Learning web site: http://www.globallearningnj.org
New Jersey Sustainable Schools Network:
http://www.globallearningnj.org/SSN.htm
Libraries Build Sustainable Communities:
http://www.ala.org/sustainablecommunities
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
EPA REPORT: 2004 CARS AND TRUCKS AVERAGE 20.8 MPG
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: Tyson....@epamail.epa.gov
NO CHANGE FROM 2003
April 28, 2004
Washington, DC - Model year 2004 vehicles are estimated to average
20.8 miles per gallon (mpg) according to EPA's annual fuel economy
trends report. Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy
Trends: 1975 through 2004 provides data on the fuel economy and
performance characteristics of light-duty vehicles (cars, vans, sports
utility vehicles (SUVs), and pickup trucks) for model years 1975
through 2004.
Since 1997 fuel economy has been relatively constant, ranging from
20.6 to 20.9 mpg. Fleet-average fuel economy peaked in 1987 at 22.1
mpg, but has declined since then due to the increasing popularity of
less fuel-efficient light trucks, particularly SUVs.
This year, cars are projected to account for 52 percent of vehicle
sales and light trucks are projected to account for the remaining 48
percent.
While fuel economy levels have been relatively unchanged recently,
vehicle performance (e.g. power) has nonetheless increased as
manufacturers continue to respond to consumer demands and apply
innovative technologies to more cars and light trucks. Moreover,
refinements to catalytic converters, transmissions, fuel injection,
and electronic controls have made today's cars cleaner and more
durable than ever before.
Recent technology developments, such as hybrid-electric vehicles,
clean diesel technology and variable displacement engines hold promise
for the near-term future.
The new report can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm
* * *
John Millett 202-564-7842 / millet...@epa.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
EPA PRESENTS $134,100 CHECK TO NJ ENVIRONMENTORS
Date: 26 Apr 2004
From: Delly...@epamail.epa.gov
EPA REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR KENNY AND REPRESENTATIVE
HOLT PRESENT $134,100 CHECK TO NEW JERSEY ENVIRONMENTORS
April 26, 2004
New York, NY - Trenton Central High School students taught
environmental lessons to pre-kindergarten through fifth graders today
at Stokes Elementary School through an environmental education project
made possible by federal funduing. Following the morning's lessons,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Jane
Kenny and Representative Rush Holt presented a check to New Jersey
EnvironMentors for this program, which pairs science and environmental
professionals with high school students.
"This program brings adult mentors, teenagers and young children
together to learn how to be environmental stewards in their
communities, " said EPA Regional Administrator Jane Kenny. "It
encourages high school students to pursue careers in science and the
environment. EPA environmental education grants, such as this, make a
difference in classrooms across New Jersey."
The $134,100 EPA grant to the New Jersey EnvironMentors was made
possible through the efforts of Representative Rush Holt. The high
school students are matched with professionals in science and the
environment. Over the course of a school year, the mentors advise the
students as they research environmental issues in their communities.
Based on their research, the Trenton high school students prepared
classes for the Stokes Elementary School students as part of the
EnvironMentors program to foster environmental stewardship. EPA has
awarded more than $1 million in environmental education grants in New
Jersey.
Information on EPA's environmental education grants program can be
found at http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html
* * *
Teresa Ippolito, (212) 637-3671
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 2
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
290 Broadway - New York, New York 10007-1866
http://www.epa.gov/region2
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TMDL FOR PEQUANNOCK RIVER - APR 30
Date: 28 Apr 2004
From: Pequan...@aol.com
For a number of years the Pequannock River Coalition has been working
to see temperature problems in the river addressed and adequate flows
restored. Our monitoring and advocacy resulted in the listing of
several Pequannock River segments as "impaired" for high water
temperatures on the NJDEP's statewide "Integrated List".
The NJDEP has now responded by developing a TMDL for the river. This
is a detailed study of the sources and causes of the river's
temperature elevation, ultimately leading to correction of these
problems.
This Friday the DEP will unveil this TMDL at the Watershed Management
Area 3 Technical Advisory Committee meeting. The meeting is scheduled
for 8:30 AM at the Wanaque Campus of Passaic County Community College.
The college is on Union Ave in Wanaque about a mile west of Ringwood
Ave and the Wanaque exit on Rt. 287.
The TMDL is a major achievement for us and for the DEP. It is also
the first temperature TMDL ever done in New Jersey. I am hoping some
of our members and supporters can attend this meeting to share the
moment.
If you need more info or directions, email me or give me a call at
973-492-3212.
* * *
Ross Kushner
Pequannock River Coalition
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS MEETING - MAY 26
Date: 040428
From: njfu...@njfuture.org
Members and Friends Series
Join a discussion with three experts on how to make Transfer of
Development Rights (TDR) work for your community.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Phil Caton, Clarke Caton Hintz
Consulting Planner, Chesterfield Township TDR Program
John Stokes, Pinelands Commission
Executive Director, Pinelands Commission
Jim Tripp, Environmental Defense
Chair, Long Island TDR Bank
Wednesday, May 26, 2004, 8 to 9:30a.m.
Eagleton Institute
Rutgers University
191 Ryders Lane
New Brunswick
Continental breakfast provided
Free to NJF Members, $10 for non-members
Please RSVP by May 17 if you plan to attend.
By email: njfu...@njfuture.org or call 609/393-0008 x101
Visit our website http://www.njfuture.org for more information.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tickets are available for the 2004 Smart Growth Awards on May 5.
Visit our website - http://www.njfuture.org - for details.
* * *
New Jersey Future
137 W Hanover St
Trenton NJ 08618
T: 609-393-0008
F: 609-393-1189
E: njfu...@njfuture.org
W: http://www.njfuture.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...@gsenet.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
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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/
EnviroNews mailing lists:
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