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GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 030625

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Jun 24, 2003, 11:08:24 PM6/24/03

030625

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SLAMS BUSH RECORD
{*} OP/ED: TIME TO RE-ENGINEER THE CORPS
{*} IS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT A FAILURE IN NEED OF FIXING
{*} A `FINAL' TEST SEES MORE POLLUTION AT FORT DIX
{*} EPA URGED TO FUND IMPERIAL CLEANUP
{*} S. PLAINFIELD AIRS PLANS FOR CLEANUP OF SUPERFUND SITE
{*} MAKING BROWNFIELDS PRODUCTIVE
{*} ILLNESS LINKED TO CONTAMINATED LAND
{*} BEACH CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON PROBLEM OF DREDGE SPOILS
{*} ECOSYSTEMS AT LAKES THREATENED
{*} STOP TRASHING THE BAYSHORE
{*} HAMILTON WINS A PIPELINE REPRIEVE
{*} E. BRUNSWICK APPROVES PLAN TO BUY 147 ACRES FOR $12M
{*} ARMY CORPS ASKED TO TAKE SWAT AT MOSQUITOS
{*} ETHANOL COMPANIES STEP ON THE GAS
{*} DEP ANNOUNCES WORKSHOPS ON OPEN SPACE FUNDING
{*} TRANQUILITY FARMS TO HOST DAIRY OPEN HOUSE - JUN 29

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The Garden State EnviroNet (GSE) gratefully acknowledges volunteers
Gerald Cullins, Bambi Dingman, Jeff Hook and Paul Neuman for their
contributions to today's issue. Thanks also to Peter Montague for his
many contibutions to the EnviroNews, and his invaluable help as a
member of our Board of Trustees. If interested in helping out, please
send an email message to mai...@gsenet.org.

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LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SLAMS BUSH RECORD

Date: 030624
From: http://ens-news.com/

By J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, June 24, 2003

Washington, DC - The League of Conservation Voters says President
George W. Bush is well on the way to compiling the worst environmental
record of any president in the history of the United States.

In a report card issued today, the environmental political lobby
blasted Bush for undermining environmental protections on all fronts,
including air, water, land and wildlife and gave him an "F" for his
administration's environmental performance.

"Bush's dismal Report Card is dominated by a disturbing trend: time
after time, Bush favors corporate interests over the public's interest
in a clean, safe and healthy environment," said League of Conservation
Voters President Deb Callahan. "Under the Bush administration,
corporate polluters have been allowed to write the laws."

The organization says it calculated the failing grade by taking into
account Bush administration appointments, administrative and executive
actions, and legislative initiative.

Other than a proposed rule to reduce emissions from diesel engines,
the League of Conservation Voters says that the "bulk of President
Bush's actions on the environment" favor industry and corporate
interests over protection of the environment and public health.

The primary beneficiaries of the administration's environmental
actions have been timber, mining, oil and gas, and real estate
development companies, according the League's Report Card.

The organization says that Bush is waging an aggressive, but subtle,
campaign to rollback environmental protections by using "deceptive
rhetoric, arcane procedural methods, and funding cuts."

This campaign, according to the League, crosses the realm of the
executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

Within federal agencies, the organization says Bush administration
officials are cutting budgets for key environmental protections and
not enforcing existing laws.

It says the Bush administration is using the regulatory rulemaking
process to slip through broad changes to land use policy and
environmental protections that are "difficult to explain to the
American public."

Within the judicial sphere, the League criticizes Bush for nominating
anti-environmental judges to lifetime seats on federal courts and for
settling a slew of lawsuits over federal land protections that
conservationists believe favor industry over environmental protection.

On the legislative front, the League of Conservation Voters says the
Bush administration is pushing forward "fraudulently named
legislation."

The administration's air pollution plan, called Clear Skies, would
weaken the current regulations of the Clean Air Act, the organization
says, and its Healthy Forests Initiative would open up 20 million
acres of national forests to logging and waive environmental laws.

"Even President Reagan, no friend to the environment and the man who
appointed James Watt as his first Secretary of the Interior, did not
attempt to undermine environmental protections at such a vast scale,"
the report concludes.

The League of Conservation Voters further criticizes the President
for his international environmental actions, including his withdrawal
of U.S. support for the Kyoto Protocol, his failure to attend last
year's United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, and his lack
of leadership on international efforts to protect endangered species
and to address population growth.

"The Bush administration has essentially abandoned its leadership
role on the paramount issues facing the global community," the
organization writes.

The criticisms of the administration in the League of Conservation
Voters report card are hardly new - they mirror a slew of similar
reports that have been released within the past year by several
national environmental organizations.

Bush administration officials and supporters say this criticism is
inaccurate, misleading and the product of organizations with political
agendas.

"This is a blatant partisan fundraising campaign," Interior
Department Press Secretary Mark Pfeifle told ENS.

Pfeifle says the League of Conservation Voters is aligned with the
Democratic party and has a political axe to grind.

He challenged the substance of the report, and said that the Bush
administration's environmental stewardship is resonating with the
American public because it is working cooperatively with local
officials and private land owners to safeguard the nation's air, water
and land.

The report mischaracterizes the Healthy Forests initiative, Pfeifle
added, which was developed with local and state officials and passed
the House with bipartisan support.

"Instead of having mandates and rhetoric from Washington, we are
partnering with local people to develop local solutions on the
ground," Pfeifle said.

Administration supporters also point to yesterday's report on the
nation's environment, released by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. The report indicates that air pollution has declined some 25
percent over the past 40 years, that 94 percent of Americans have
access to clean drinking water, and that releases of toxic chemicals
have declined some 48 percent since 1988.

Critics, however, say these statistics show that past environmental
protections have been successful and offer little evidence of the
impacts of the Bush administration's policies.

* * *

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OP/ED: TIME TO RE-ENGINEER THE CORPS

Date: 030624
From: http://www.nytimes.com/

New York Times, June 24, 2003

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has a rare
opportunity tomorrow to strike a blow for both fiscal sanity and the
environment. Before the committee is a bill that would bring a measure
of discipline and independent oversight to the Army Corps of
Engineers, an incorrigibly spendthrift agency whose projects over the
years have caused enormous damage to the nation's streams, rivers and
wetlands.

The corps, a Pentagon agency with about 35,000 civilian employees, is
basically the country's master builder, a giant engineering firm
charged by Congress with dredging harbors, building levees, managing
dams and replenishing beaches. According to studies by the General
Accounting Office and the National Academy of Sciences, the agency has
historically cooked the books by overestimating the economic payoffs
of its projects in order to justify steadily greater budget outlays.
On the environmental front, corps projects have turned free-flowing
rivers into lifeless canals and destroyed millions of acres of
wetlands - usually in the name of flood control and navigation but
mostly to satisfy Congress's appetite for pork.

The bipartisan reform bill before the committee would subject all
projects costing more than $30 million to independent review - an idea
supported by the Bush administration. The bill would also make
environmental and economic benefits co-equal considerations, and
require the corps to replace wetlands it destroys with wildlife
habitat of equal value.

The vote is expected to be close, and a handful of moderate
Republicans from the Northeast could make the difference. They are
Sherwood Boehlert, Sue Kelly and Jack Quinn from New York, Rob Simmons
of Connecticut, and Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey. A victory for this
bill would virtually ensure its success on the House floor and give a
big push to a similar measure in the Senate.

* * *

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IS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT A FAILURE IN NEED OF FIXING

Date: 030622
From: http://www.sltrib.com/

By Kirk Robinson, Salt Lake Tribune, June 22, 2003

The Endangered Species Act was enacted by Congress to protect
"species of fish, wildlife and plants" from going extinct "as a
consequence of economic growth and development" by seeking to "provide
a means whereby the ecosystems upon which...species depend may be
conserved."

The act allows reasonable use of public and private land while
preventing the extinction of endangered and threatened species,
referred to as "listed species." It offers humanity hope that
ecosystems will remain healthy and continue to provide us with
valuable services, including clean water and abundant wildlife.

Despite its obvious merits, some view the ESA as primarily an
impediment to economic development. They have their sights set on its
extinction, though they are careful to use words like "reform" and
"fix." (See, for example, Laura E. Huggins, "A Better Way to Protect
Endangered Species," a Tribune opinion column on May 11, 2003.)

Foes of the ESA attack it as being (1) a failure at conserving listed
species, and (2) unfair to private landowners, who must on occasion
forego options for economic gain that will likely cause extinctions.
They argue (3) that the solution to both alleged problems is to
replace legal protection of species with voluntary conservation
efforts.

They are wrong on all counts.

As support for (1), they observe that species are being listed at a
faster rate than they are being delisted and that extinctions still
occur. Does it follow that the ESA is a failure? Hardly. Consider:
"More cases of fatal disease D are being reported than are being
prevented by vaccine V, therefore V is a failure."

Clearly, the wisest course would be to make the vaccine more widely
available. Yet the FY2004 federal budget allocates only a stingy $12.3
million for listing and critical habitat designations (about a third
the cost of one fighter jet) of an estimated need for $153 million.
Recently the Interior Department announced that it must suspend new
critical habitat designations essential to the recovery of listed
species for lack of funding. Where is the failure here?

As support for (2), foes of the ESA argue that it coerces personal
sacrifices from affected landowners ("coercive incentive"); that these
sacrifices benefit other members of society (are in effect a "public
service"); and that therefore the act should be "fixed" to shift the
burden: citizens who want a species conserved should "reward" the
landowner for not causing its extinction ("positive incentive").

This line of reasoning may seem appealing at first, but in fact it
would be hard to concoct a more specious argument. First, it is
patently impossible to sacrifice what one does not possess in the
first place, and landowners neither own the species inhabiting "their"
land nor possess an absolute right to exploit it without regard to
consequences for those species.

In truth, the ESA neither takes private property without just
compensation (which would be unconstitutional) nor deprives landowners
of their rights. It is mere subterfuge to claim otherwise.

Second, it is absurd for anyone to maintain that by not destroying a
species he somehow bestows a benefit on others. Consider: "I will
bestow a benefit upon you by not destroying that rare bird." This is
insulting, to say the least.

Third, why should anyone deserve to be rewarded for not destroying a
species? Lacking a genuine takings/compensation issue, foes of the ESA
try to sell us on an audacious proposal that would amount to
extortion. Consider: "If you reward me, I will not destroy that rare
bird."

The falsity of (1) and (2) leaves (3) without rationale, so a backup
horror story is told of someone who purportedly rid his property of
habitat for a rare species before it could be listed - a terrible
wrong, to be sure. But just as certainly, the better solution would be
to amend the ESA to impose a severe penalty for such behavior.

Far worse it would be to make species conservation strictly
voluntary. Consider: "From now on there will be no penalty for murder
or rape; instead, those who do not wish to be murdered or raped should
reward would-be assailants for exercising restraint." No thanks.

Anti-ESA thinking depends on the false premise that the act precludes
citizens from engaging in cooperative efforts to conserve species
(thus implying that we must choose between the act and our freedom).
Wrong again.

In fact, the ESA provides conservationists and landowners with an
incentive to negotiate cooperative solutions before species reach the
brink of extinction; and this they routinely do. A "fixed" ESA would
remove this incentive and allow greedy landowners to hold species for
ransom or extinguish them with impunity.

- - -

Kirk Robinson, Ph.D., is executive director of the Western Wildlife
Conservancy in Salt Lake City.

* * *

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A `FINAL' TEST SEES MORE POLLUTION AT FORT DIX

Date: 030624
From: http://www.nj.com/news/

By Larry Hanover, Trenton Times, June 24, 2003

Plumsted - The Air Force had been expected to announce about now that
it was at the end of its 43-year Cold War-era odyssey to clean up 11
elusive ounces of radioactive material that were scattered here when a
fire destroyed a nuclear warhead.

Instead, more contamination has been found and money has temporarily
run out, bringing work to a halt at a former missile base on the
eastern outreaches of Fort Dix, Air Force officials said yesterday.

Officials were conducting what they expected would be a final,
incident-free round of testing at the 7 1/2-acre BOMARC site on Route
539 when additional traces of radioactivity from plutonium 239 were
uncovered, Air Force spokesman Maj. John Dorrian said yesterday.

Using more sensitive instruments discovered contamination in a
somewhat wider swath, he said, although public health is not at risk.

"We're in a little bit of a position," Dorrian said. "Added funding
has to be found, but the system doesn't work fast enough for us to
continue the cleanup without a delay, unfortunately."

The work to remove 2,000 additional cubic yards of contaminated soil
and structural debris will take about five months, Dorrian said.

But efforts are at a standstill for now because money for the project
has temporarily run dry, Dorrian said. Officials are optimistic they
will land the needed $2 million next month, which would allow work to
resume in August and put the Air Force on a timetable to complete the
cleanup by the end of the year.

It is now projected to cost $19 million, double the original
estimates, Dorrian said.

More than 17,000 cubic yards of soil have been transferred by rail
line from Lakehurst Naval Air Station to a disposal site in Utah,
Dorrian said.

The Air Force built an 11-mile gravel road between the site and a
rail loading spot that is entirely on federal grounds to protect
residents from exposure.

Original plans to truck the waste along Route 539 and leave it at the
depot in downtown Lakehurst sparked outrage, forcing the Air Force to
change course.

The missile site fire dates back to an era when the United States
feared a massive strike by bombers from the former Soviet Union.
BOMARC (Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center) missiles were
designed to deliver a supersonic, nuclear response blast against a
bomber strike that never came.

There were 56 BOMARC missiles on the Fort Dix site, which was under
the command of McGuire Air Force Base from 1959 to 1972 and was one of
eight such bases nationwide.

The fire occurred June 7, 1960, inside an underground launching pad,
destroying the missile. Plutonium spread on the site, partly from the
fire, partly from the water used to douse the flames. Contamination
spread down a ditch to an area across Route 539.

Originally, the site was covered by 4 inches of steel-reinforced
concrete. But the Air Force decided a cleanup was necessary.

* * *

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EPA URGED TO FUND IMPERIAL CLEANUP

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}

By James Quirk, Asbury Park Press, 6/24/03

Marlboro - Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, is putting new pressure on
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the final
cleanup phase at the Imperial Oil Superfund site receives federal
funding.

In a letter sent Friday to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman,
Pallone acknowledged that several Superfund sites in central New
Jersey did receive funding last year, but criticized the EPA for
creating delays.

The more than $20 million needed to finish cleanup at Burnt Fly Bog,
the 1,700-acre Superfund site located between Texas and Spring Valley
roads, did not come through from the EPA last year until Pallone and
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., pressed the issue with the agency, Pallone
said yesterday.

Last week, the state Department of Environmental Protection opened
bids for contractors to begin work on two off-site areas of the 15-
acre Imperial Oil site, which is off Tennent Road.

That work has received $7.5 million from the EPA. The DEP also has
received about $1.2 million from the EPA to fund the cost of the
design for the final two remediation projects at Imperial Oil.

It is unclear when or if the EPA will provide the estimated $15
million to do the actual cleanup work at Imperial Oil.

"I am hopeful that Imperial Oil will not face the same delays that
occurred at Burnt Fly Bog and Chemical Insecticide Corporation" in
Edison, Pallone stated in the letter. "It is my hope that EPA will
coordinate its planning in order to ensure the necessary cleanup funds
are ready for use immediately after the completion of the design phase
later this year."

EPA officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

* * *

# # #

Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org

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S. PLAINFIELD AIRS PLANS FOR CLEANUP OF SUPERFUND SITE

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: Alsp...@aol.com

By Sally Goldenberg, For the Star-Ledger, June 24, 2003

South Plainfield residents concerned about the Cornell-Dubilier
Superfund site can heave a sigh of relief with recent news that
contaminated soil will be excavated and removed.

But they should proceed with caution before inhaling again, according
to a local environmentalist.

Edison Wetlands Association executive director Robert Spiegel said
homes near the site may have air quality problems resulting from
cracks in the foundation serving as vents for underground
contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has already removed soil and dust from 13 homes near
the site because of elevated levels of PCBs, which may cause cancer
and developmental disabilities.

The rear of the property along the Bound Brook has been fenced off.

"What if these people have an air quality problem?" Spiegel asked
after a public forum last night.

The EPA, which held the forum to discuss its remediation plan for the
site, is doing "too little, too late," Spiegel added. "This should've
been done years ago."

The realization about air quality dangers has prompted Spiegel to
plan his own soil tests through his agency, rather than relying on the
EPA results, he said.

But EPA representatives last night said residents should not be
concerned over elevated levels of PCBs in certain areas of their soil
because the overall levels are relatively low near homes. The levels
increase in Hamilton Industrial Park, a portion of the site that will
be evaluated in the second phase of the EPA plan, authorities said
last night.

"We collected hundreds and hundreds of samples and we found a few
properties that needed, in our view, additional cleanup work," said
John Prince, chief of the EPA's remediation section for central New
Jersey.

Speaking after the meeting, Prince said the first phase of
remediation involves "revisiting" the 13 homes remediated in 1997 and
testing the soil of another 60 properties.

According to an EPA report released last week, 20 of the 630 EPA soil
samples showed contamination. The EPA deems soil with 1 part per
million contaminated, in contrast to the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection standard of .49 parts per million.

The EPA will excavate based on its own standard, and the DEP can then
excavate more, since its standard is more stringent, Prince said after
the meeting.

Delmore Street resident William Hogan, whose soil tests reveal PCB
levels of up to .6 parts per million, said he is concerned about his
health and the property value of his home.

Speaking after the meeting, Hogan said he knows of 25 people from his
neighborhood, which is near the site, who have died of cancer in the
last 35 years.

The 26-acre site at 333 Hamilton Blvd., which was put on the federal
Superfund list in 1998, was in operation from 1936 to 1962 as a
manufacturing plant for electronic components.

"Water keeps on going down, goes through the dump, then out into the
Bound Brook stream," Hogan said. The stream is part of the final phase
of EPA remediation, Prince said during the meeting.

Hogan is also worried that potential homeowners will offer a reduced
price for his property.

"The people (will) know about this - it's got to be put on a deed
now," he said. "That just gets me."

* * *

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MAKING BROWNFIELDS PRODUCTIVE

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}

Editorial, Trenton Times, June 24, 2003

In many ways, the deck is stacked against the redevelopment that is
so urgently needed by New Jersey's old urban centers. For one thing,
property taxes in the cities are higher than in the suburbs. For
another, much of the available land is polluted "brownfields," a
legacy of the cities' industrial past. In most cases, the perpetrators
of the pollution are long gone and cannot be charged for the cleanup.

Last week, Trenton learned that it will receive some federal help in
dealing with the latter problem. Former Gov. Christie Whitman, the
outgoing head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, visited the
capital city's most notorious brownfields site - the old Magic Marker
plant off Calhoun Street - to announce that Trenton will receive $1.2
million in cleanup funding out of $5 million earmarked for New Jersey.
The money was authorized under last year's Small Business Liability
Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.

City officials plan to use $200,000 of Trenton's funds for Magic
Marker, where plans call for new housing, a school and a park. In
addition, $400,000 will be used to clean 19 acres that would be part
of the proposed Assunpink Greenway, $200,000 will be reserved to clean
a potential housing site on Hanover Place that now is a state parking
lot, and another $400,000 will go to investigate possible
contamination at a variety of sites.

These seem like sensible allocations, and they ought to make a
substantial dent in the problem. Even as the work goes forward, city
and state officials must continue their effort to find the funds to
finish the job.

* * *

# # #

Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org

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ILLNESS LINKED TO CONTAMINATED LAND

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}

BBC, June 23, 2003

Subtle health changes in people living by contaminated land has
raised concerns about further building on former industrial
"brownfield" sites.

The government says that three out of five new homes should be built
on these sites to ease pressure on the green belt and other rural
locations.

However, there remain worries that certain sites may be contaminated
with heavy metals or other dangerous chemicals - and that
decontamination may not render them completely safe.

A study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental
Medicine, looks at just one example of a former industrial site near
to existing homes.

The land, two quarries, in Halton Borough in Cheshire, used to
dispose of industrial waste, including the chemical
hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD).

It is known to have damaging effects on the kidneys, including the
potential to cause cancer.

HEALTH CHECKS

The researcher, from the Health Protection Agency, gave residents
living in close proximity a health check and found warning signs in
their urine that their kidneys were under pressure.

High levels of HCBD were found inside their houses, and the families
were moved while the release of chemicals from the site was halted.

After 10 months, tests revealed that their condition appeared to be
improving.

However, the author, Dr Brian Staples said that the findings
emphasised the need for stringent health risk assessments to be part
of the planning process for brownfield sites.

He said: "Land contamination exists throughout the UK.

"In the light of this evidence, the public, planning authorities, and
development agencies need to be aware of the potential health risks
when considering how brownfield sites may be utilised in future."

ONGOING PROBLEM

Dr Tim Dixon, who researches the issue of brownfield land use at the
College of Estate Management, told BBC News Online that it was
impossible to draw wide conclusions about safety from just one area.

"These sites vary widely from location to location.

"The problem is that in this country we simply don't know accurately
how many contaminated sites there are - new ones are being discovered
all the time."

He said that it was mandatory for local authorities to have a
strategy for dealing with contaminated land in their area - and this
included assessing the potential risks to the health of residents.

A new body, Sustainable Urban Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated
Management, has been set up to carry out further research into the
potential of such sites.

* * *

# # #

Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org

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

BEACH CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON PROBLEM OF DREDGE SPOILS

Date: 030624
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/

By W.F. Keough, Staff Writer, (609) 463-6710
Press of Atlantic City, June 24, 2003

Cape May Court House - Shore towns accustomed to dealing with eroding
oceanfront beaches now face a new threat from the bay: shrunken
channels and clogged harbors that strand local boaters, panelists at
the Cape May County Beach Conference said Monday.

The half-day conference held Monday afternoon focused on shore towns'
growing difficulty in dredging their back bays. The biggest obstacle
is often not dredging the waterways but finding a place to store the
spoils.

The problem: limited locations approved for dumping the spoils. The
shortage is so severe that the Department of Environmental Protection,
responsible for dredging some of the waterways, can't even get an
approval from within the DEP.

"It's difficult," said William Dixon, a DEP environmental specialist,
who told the audience that some channels his department is responsible
for have gone undredged because the DEP's regulatory branch wouldn't
approve the project.

Local boaters and officials are even more exasperated by the
complicated regulations governing dredging projects.

Stone Harbor Mayor Suzanne Walters said her town's seven-year
struggle to dredge her town's lagoons was snagged countless times by
environmental concerns raised when the borough sought to use the
spoils to raise the southern tip of the island. Walters blamed
regulators - in this case the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - for not
helping the borough navigate its permit requirements. The battle
landed in court and a settlement was reached, but at great cost and
considerable delay, she said.

And the project still isn't completed.

Walters said rules have to be simplified so that towns can act more
quickly and avoid lengthy legal or bureaucratic battles.

Her town's project "is as important to us as a road is in north
Jersey," she said.

Not everyone agreed. Steven Fenichel, an Ocean City doctor and
independent candidate in the 1st District Senate race, said he
believes officials are only telling the positive side of dredging,
glossing over the potential problems caused by storing contaminated
spoils above the waterline.

The panelists Monday pointed to the economic benefits of dredging on
the state's economy, which is fueled in part by the more than 250,000
registered New Jersey boaters.

"Absolutely not," said Genevieve Boehm, a U.S. Department of
Transportation maritime specialist, when asked if her department would
discourage residents from buying boats. To the contrary, Boehm said,
the DOT was in the process of completing an economic study showing how
important boating is to New Jersey's economy.

Boehm said her goal is to help find a solution to storing dredged
material. Dixon, in his remarks, said one proposal the DEP is working
on would allow dredge spoils to be reused to re-create habitat.

Boehm said whoever finds the solution will get rich because of the
pressing need for spoils sites.

Also attending the conference were Assemblyman Nicholas Asselta, R-
Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, and U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-NJ
Corzine spoke to the audience about the need for beach funding but
also addressed other topics raised during a question-and-answer
session. Asselta touted legislation that would allow towns to use some
of the real-estate taxes generated locally to fund beach protection
projects.

* * *

To email W.F. Keough at The Press: WKe...@pressofac.com

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ECOSYSTEMS AT LAKES THREATENED

Date: 030624
From: http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/

By Shawn Menzies, smen...@sjnewsco.com
Gloucester County Times, June 24, 2003

Washington Twp. - A state order to gradually reduce Lake Sterling and
Cresse Lake to stream level could pose severe - perhaps irreversible
- environmental damage, local environmentalists say. For more than
two centuries, the lakes have created a thriving ecosystem that's home
to a rich variety of plants, animals, and other aquatic species.

Ed Knorr, of the Green Action Alliance, a Gloucester County-based
environmental organization, said "de-watering," as the state calls the
plan, would threaten most living things at the two lakes.

"It would kill off most of the ecosystem and not only change the
aesthetics, but also the use of the area," Knorr charged. "It (each
lake) would no longer be a lake, it would be a stream."

After state inspections found dams at both bodies of water to be
unsafe - capable of posing serious health and property hazards if
they were to be breached - state officials recommended reducing the
water level at each lake to a natural stream.

The dams have been listed by the DEP's Bureau of Dam Safety and Flood
Control as "high hazard." That's the highest classification for unsafe
dams. Residents estimate the cost to repair each of the privately-
owned dams at $750,000, money the owners say they do not have.

On May 5, DEP officials notified Cresse Lake dam owner R. Wayne Groff
and Lake Sterling dam owner David Duffield, Sr. to reduce the water
levels.

"Those decisions are not made yet," Campbell said. "We are
reevaluating whether lowering is appropriate in those cases or not."

Since April, more than 40 homeowners living on Lake Sterling and
Cresse Lake, also known as Wadsworth Lake, have lobbied local and
state officials to stop the draining of the lakes.

Helen Foster, a long-time resident of Cresse Lake, said she can't
believe the state is willing to endanger the ecosystem.

"I can't see much of it existing (after its drained)," Foster said.

Foster said she has seen vegetation like Cardinal weed (a protected
species of plant) and Swamp Pink (an endangered plant), in the area
for many years. She added that the lakes are home to osprey, blue
herring, beavers, otters, muskrats, and many species of turtles and
fish.

Homeowners have asked the state what they plan to do with the animal
and aquatic life once the de-watering moves forward, but no clear
answers have been given, Foster said. She added that the cost for any
aquatic removal might have to come from the pockets of the dam owners.

"The first response from the state was they were going to harvest the
fish and take them to the next lake, which is Bethel Mill Lake,"
Foster said. "Then, they said Bethel Mill Lake is not large enough to
support them and told the owners of the dams they would have to pay to
have the fish harvested and removed to another area. But they don't
tell them where."

Knorr, a member of the board of directors of the Green Action
Alliance, said the state's position on dealing with the situation is
typical of how business in New Jersey is conducted.

"Basically, the state is hypocritical (on environmental issues) when
it's convenient for them," said Knorr, who has attended meetings held
by homeowners on the lake. "Once you do something to dramatically
change an ecosystem, it's hard to bring it back. To let a lake go to a
stream is a tragedy to Washington Township."

Residents said no timeline has officially been presented, but plans
do suggest that the lakes be drawn down by no more than one foot per
day and by no longer than one month until the de-watering operations
are complete.

Foster, like many other homeowners, says she hopes that those plans
do not move forward until at least October when fish are not spawning.

"These poor creatures can't speak for themselves. We have to stand
and speak for them," Foster said. "If this continues - the state
going from lake to lake - the aquatic life won't survive."

* * *

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

STOP TRASHING THE BAYSHORE

Date: 030619
From: http://www.ahherald.com/

OLD OAK TRAIL

By Joe Reynolds, Atlantic Highlands Herald, 19 June 2003

As you travel around the Bayshore region of Monmouth County this
summer, you might not realize that in the last 50 years the area has
seen some dramatic landuse changes. In the 1940s, Middletown, Holmdel,
and Hazlet were largely agriculture-based communities, and families
who made their living from fishing and shellfish harvesting generally
dominated Highlands, Keyport, and Belford. Small towns with busy
downtown areas dictated by tourism or commerce characterized Atlantic
Highlands, Matawan, Keansburg, and Union Beach.

Over the past decades, however, the Bayshore region has been
transformed from a country atmosphere to a mostly urban region
influenced by new roads, strip malls, fast-food restaurants, and
large-scale building projects.

One of the most visible signs of this rapid growth in the Bayshore
region has been an increase in garbage and litter along our beaches,
in our creeks, and in our forests. This rubbish comes in many forms
including plastic or glass bottles, plastic food bags, tampon
applicators, aluminum cans, pieces of lumber, newspapers, cardboard,
metal cans, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, and bottle caps.

It is not as if local residents don't care. Every year, many people
in the Bayshore take part in Clean Ocean Action's "Beach Sweeps,"
which is a wonderful activity that helps to clean up our shoreline and
educate the public about the problem of beach pollution. In addition,
numerous towns throughout the year conduct clean ups of their open
space areas and distribute free information about non- point
pollution, the primary source of pollution in our environment.

Yet, every day more trash accumulates onto our landscape from people
like you and me who believe that someone else will clean up after
them. Moreover, the Bayshore region is hit twice as much with litter
than most other areas in Monmouth County, as a constant amount of
beach pollution arrives along our shore from outside the area. Refuse
gets carried to our beaches from the tides and winds off the bay and
out of communities along the Hudson River, such as New York City, or
out of towns along the Raritan River. In fact, I once found a piece of
litter that had a Coney Island address wash up along a beach in
Aberdeen!

What can be done to help stop litter from further degrading the
Bayshore region? I believe that fundamentally our political leaders
need to start taking the issue of litter more seriously. We need to
devote greater resources to create an overall environmental management
plan that ensures all layers of government work together to guarantee
our environment is clean and safe. This involves improving local
recycling centers and provide more funding to bolster residents and
businesses to recycle more. We also need to make sure there are enough
visible trashcans with covers present in public areas and enough
street sweepers in towns that can repeatedly clean the streets.

Yet, an important step in this plan should be to encourage police
departments to step up enforcement of litter laws, since many people
associate litter with areas of crime. Littering is an offense, but
over the years, many law enforcement officials in the Bayshore region
have not devoted sufficient time or resources to enforcing litter
laws.

There should also be in place a quick and easy method for people to
report violations, such as a telephone hot line. When someone
witnesses a person or organization littering, that person can then
pick up his or her cell phone to quickly notify authorities. In this
way, private citizens can help enforce litter laws and take an active
role in improving their environment.

We also need to strengthen our laws against littering and double the
amount of fines and prison terms for offenders. Furthermore,
educational and awareness programs should be increased to
schoolchildren and business organizations.

Although political leaders can play an important role in this matter,
to truly reduce the amount of litter we see in our environment,
everyone needs to be active in its solution. We need to stop trashing
the Bayshore region, as litter can be an ugly sight to see and
dangerous to all living things. Litter can cause injury and illness to
humans and wildlife, and can degrade a beautiful landscape. Let us
protect the Bayshore region and keep our natural resources healthy,
clean, and safe for everyone.

* * *

Contact Joe Reynolds
sosa...@comcast.net

Lenape Woods Preserve
http://www.ahherald.com/atlantichighlands/lenprsvshots.htm

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

HAMILTON WINS A PIPELINE REPRIEVE

Date: 030624
From: http://www.nj.com/news/

By Maria Cramer, Trenton Times, June 24, 2003

Hamilton officials won a temporary reprieve yesterday when the State
House Commission delayed deciding whether Green Acres land in the
township should be disturbed to allow a Texas company to run an
underground natural gas pipeline through it.

But officials from Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp., also known as
Transco, did not see the move as much of a setback. "There is nothing
that says Transco needs to obtain permission from the state," asserted
Transco attorney Michael K. Rutter.

Mayor Glen Gilmore went before the commission yesterday morning and
pleaded with its members to reject Transco's application to remove
restrictions on 4 1/2 acres of preserved land in Veterans Park.

The company also wants to lift restrictions on nearly 7 acres of
parkland for temporary work space.

Transco needs the land to begin building a 7 1/2-mile section of a
36-inch diameter pipeline that also would run through Bordentown and
feed gas to Virginia Power Energy Marketing. It already has approval
from the federal government.

Although a pipeline with a 16-inch diameter already runs across the
township, Gilmore said adding another, much larger one would
compromise public safety.

"It's a burden our community should not be asked to bear," Gilmore
told the commission.

Douglas Anderson, team leader at Transco, also testified before the
committee.

"We have a very good safety record in this state," Anderson said. "We
feel it's a safe pipeline."

State Sen. Walter J. Kavanaugh, R-Somerville, suggested the two sides
try again to negotiate.

- - -

In front of a crowd of 100 angry residents last month, the township
council unanimously agreed to reject a deal between Transco and the
township.

Had the deal been approved, it would have allowed the company to take
over five parcels governed by the state's Green Acres program and a
sixth parcel owned by the township.

In exchange, the company would have paid the township $400,000, which
would go toward open space purchases, and $35,000 for park
improvements.

Gilmore said the township's issues were about public safety not
money. "I don't believe further discussion would be productive,"
Gilmore said.

"There is a risk, there's no question," Kavanaugh said. "But with the
up-to-date technology, I believe it's minimal."

Actually, township officials did not raise any issues of public
concern until late February.

Last May, when Transco officials said they planned to seek approval
from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), hardly any
opposition was expressed.

"We didn't get any serious questions from the community," Gilmore's
aide, Rich McClellan said last May in Times reports. "But people have
lived with the existing pipeline and there have been no problems."

Gilmore said public safety was always a concern but he had no clear
answers as to why he did not publicize his opposition last May.

"It certainly was brought up by me to Transco," he said. "It is
something that we have brought up. It's also something that remains a
real concern. At the same time, I realize that we're facing an uphill
battle. I'm very grateful that the commission heard our concern and
did not grant Transco's request."

Township officials believe FERC did not give them the chance to
express their opposition or give their alternatives for a route that
would be closer to the New Jersey Turnpike and farther away from
neighborhoods.

- - -

Township attorney Paul Adezio said Hamilton filed to become an
"intervener," or opponent, on July 30, 2002. But he said township
officials never heard back from FERC.

They learned Transco had received the approvals in late February this
year when the company contacted officials about the condemnation suit
it planned to bring against the township to take control of the land,
Adezio said.

"Although never notified, Hamilton was awarded intervener status in
this case, and as a result, the commission had a duty to inform
Hamilton of the case status," read the township's request for a
rehearing of the decision, filed in mid-June.

"Because of the commission's failure to inform Hamilton of its
status,...Hamilton and the citizens of Hamilton were denied their
right to participation in this proceeding."

Buoyed by the State House Commission's decision, Adezio tried to
block a federal district court yesterday from giving Transco the right
to take over the land.

He argued before Judge Garrett Brown that he should stay his decision
until FERC decides whether to rehear the application.

But Rutter countered that denying Transco its right to take over the
land would delay the construction of the pipeline. Transco is under a
federal order to finish the pipeline by Nov. 1.

Brown said he would render his decision in the next day or two.

* * *

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

E. BRUNSWICK APPROVES PLAN TO BUY 147 ACRES FOR $12M

Date: 030624
From: http://www.thnt.com/

By John Yocca, Home News Tribute, June 24, 2003

East Brunswick - Township officials may soon have the largest piece
of available open space in East Brunswick.

The Township Council last night authorized a plan to purchase 147
acres off Cranbury Road at the South Brunswick border.

The purchase would cost nearly $12 million, Mayor William Neary said
during his presentation to the council before the panel's unanimous
vote.

The former farmland is west of the Middlesex County Fairgrounds
between Cranbury and Dunhams Corner Road and is owned by developer
Samuel Halpern.

Neary said the town would seek $6 million in state Green Acres aid
and $3 million in county open-space funds to buy the property. The
township would cover about $3 million or 25 percent of the total cost.

It would be the largest open-space acquisition for the township since
voters in 1997 approved a tax of 2 cents per $100 of assessed
valuation to generate funding for such purchases.

In 2001, the township purchased the 39-acre Lapinski Farm off
Cranbury Road for $7.8 million. The land is adjacent to the 27-acre
Kelemen Farm on Ryders Lane which the township bought in 1999 for $5.4
million. The township also has purchased the development rights to the
35-acre Giamarese Farm on Fresh Ponds Road.

The land that Halpern owns under the name Heavenly Farms is in a
rural 4,300-acre zone that limits development to 6 acres for each new
home.

Property owners, including Heavenly Farms, sued the township after it
approved the controversial zoning in late 1999 because they felt it
devalued their land.

Heavenly Farms was negotiating the sale of its land to the township
when the new zoning was approved. Heavenly Farms is no longer a
plaintiff in the case.

Neary said the land would be perfect for a large recreation area,
with soccer and baseball fields as well walking trails through the
woods.

* * *

John Yocca: (732) 565-7256; jyo...@thnt.com

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

ARMY CORPS ASKED TO TAKE SWAT AT MOSQUITOS

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: "Kirk Barrett" <kbar...@cimic.rutgers.edu>

DREDGING OF PASSAIC RIVER COULD HELP THE BUG PROBLEM

By Nikita Stewart, Star-Ledger Staff, June 20, 2003

Essex County's 21 mosquito control workers are simply outnumbered.
They keep spraying, mosquitoes keep breeding and residents keep
swatting.

Pesticides have proved to be a temporary solution, mosquito control
experts say.

The better solution is so big that it will take the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, millions of dollars and a lot of time to dredge the
Passaic River.

The Army Corps will be in Essex County next week along with the state
Department of Environmental Protection to review the dredging
solution, said Ed Farmer, chief of staff for Rep. William Pascrell Jr.
(D-8th Dist.).

"They're not making any promises," Farmer said. "They are certainly
willing, at the behest of the congressman, to see if they can help."

Last year, the county asked the Army Corps for help but never
received a response. Farmer said that was before Pascrell and Rep.
Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) got involved. "Is it possible,"
Farmer asked, "when there's an act of Congress, the Army Corps says,
'We can do this.'

"If the Army Corps gets involved, it's a long-term solution. It's a
long-term project, too," he added.

Pascrell got involved because of Essex County Executive Joseph
DiVincenzo, Farmer said.

DiVincenzo announced the county's request to the state and the Army
Corps at a news conference yesterday in the swamp in West Caldwell. He
and others whacked themselves and scratched at mosquitoes as the scent
of pesticide wafted through the sticky, wet air.

DiVincenzo said he wants the Army Corps to survey the Passaic River
and its surroundings, especially Hatfield Meadow, a 1,400-acre
drainage area of the river basin.

Residents call it the Hatfield Swamp.

Dredging the Passaic would reduce the amount of floodwater for
mosquitoes that breed in the wetlands, said Lawrence Ferchak, Essex
County's superintendent of mosquito extermination. "Water wouldn't sit
as long out there."

Experts at yesterday's news conference said dredging would be costly
but long-lasting.

"It would be hundreds of millions of dollars, I'm sure," said Marc
Slaff, superintendent of Morris County's mosquito commission, which
has worked with Essex officials in the past to combat the mosquito
problems. "You're talking about a huge river system."

"Water management is very, very expensive, but it's the best
solution," said Wayne Crans, research professor in the department of
entomology at Rutgers University.

He said pesticides can give relief for a season while dredging the
Passaic River could bring 10 to 20 years of mitigation.

There is a lot of misinformation about mosquito control, Crans said.
Many people believe cleaning bird baths and gutters and emptying
buckets are the answer, he said. "In fact, there are 63 different
kinds of mosquitoes in this state alone."

Most of them are "floodwater mosquitoes" that spend most of their
time as eggs in low-lying areas awaiting a flooding rain, Crans said.
"The number gets into the millions," he said. "These mosquitoes are
especially aggressive. They can fly long distances."

The floodwater mosquitoes require a "drying out" period and flooding
to breed. The constant rain this spring could curb the number of
mosquitoes this summer, Crans said, adding that the number of
mosquitoes will still be high.

Essex County saw a "rebirth in mosquito control" about two years ago,
Ferchak said.

The fear of the deadly West Nile virus renewed interest.

Residents in suburban Essex, led by Pat Robbie, demanded help from
the county. The county's mosquito control employees had dwindled down
to five employees, dismal compared with the 60 or so workers employed
in the 1960s when the county was leading the mosquito control
industry, said Aaron Rappaport, chairman of the state Mosquito Control
Commission.

Living in West Caldwell became unbearable, Robbie said. "There was no
way to go outside and have a good time," he said. "We had a kid in the
hospital with an eye infection from a mosquito bite."

Robbie said the county beefed up its manpower and began spraying.
While the efforts have helped the quality of life in western Essex
communities, he said he knows the efforts offer a temporary solution.
"What you need to do is dredge," Robbie said. "Essex County does not
have the money it takes to dredge."

That's where Congress comes in, DiVincenzo said.

The budget for mosquito control is a little more than $1 million and
rises to about $2 million in indirect funds from the Department of
Public Works, Ferchak said.

DiVincenzo said he had no idea how much dredging would cost or how
long it would take.

"The job is just too overwhelming. We have a situation here that I
feel is an emergency situation," DiVincenzo said. "I need the state
and federal government to come in here."

Farmer said he had no choice but to get the Army Corps and DEP into
Essex County next week. He had visions of standing in Hatfield Swamp
and getting attacked by mosquitoes. "They threatened me with it if I
didn't get this meeting set up," he said.

* * *

# # #

Dr. Kirk R. Barrett, P. E., P.W.S.
Research Assistant Professor and Research Director
Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute (MERI)
Rutgers University CIMIC
180 University Avenue, Room 200L
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Telephone 973-353-5026 Fax 973-353-5808
Email: kbar...@cimic.rutgers.edu
Web: http://cimic.rutgers.edu/meri

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

ETHANOL COMPANIES STEP ON THE GAS

Date: 030624
From: http://www.philly.com/

BASED IN WEST DEPTFORD AND YORK, THEY RACE TO BUILD PLANTS FOR THE
REGION'S OIL MARKET.

By Kaitlin Gurney, Inquirer Staff Writer, June 24, 2003

The Philadelphia region is better known for its fields of oil tanks
than its fields of golden grain.

But companies in West Deptford and York, Pa., have visions of both.

They are vying to build the East Coast's first corn-based ethanol
plant by 2005, banking on the region's built-in oil market for the
clean-burning gasoline additive.

Politically popular but environmentally controversial, the all-
American fuel designed to reduce air pollution will be pumped from
nearly every gas station in nine years if Congress passes its energy
bill this year. States from North Carolina to New York are developing
business plans to cash in on the new market for the alcohol, which has
always been the corn belt's domain.

Garden State Ethanol of Gloucester County and Penn-Mar Ethanol of
York County are well ahead of the competition. Both companies were
formed by groups of grain farmers eager to bolster corn prices. They
are now wading through the two-year permit and construction process
before distilling can begin.

"We'd certainly like to be the first," said Scott Welsh, project
manager for the Pennsylvania company, which plans to produce 55
million gallons a year at a site in York County or Lancaster County.
"But we're not setting our timeline by trying to beat them. We're
closer to the grain market but still nearby the oil market."

The South Jersey company says there will be business enough for both
plants, but boasts of its plans for the 292-acre site of an old West
Deptford chemical plant conveniently situated between the Valero and
Coastal oil refineries. The Delaware River and Bay Authority is
planning to buy the property for $7.5 million this summer. It would
lease the land to Garden State Ethanol, which would build a $71
million plant to distill 40 million gallons a year.

The company, which is searching for financial backers and drawing up
paperwork for the Department of Environmental Protection, plans to
break ground early next year. Construction is expected to take a year,
and farmers have been asked to reserve some of their 2004 harvest for
the first barrels of alcohol.

"We've had local gas producers say they could use every drop we
produce, even without a federal mandate," said Dave Specca, a Rutgers
University researcher working with Garden State Ethanol. "One of the
advantages of being located where we are is that the cost of delivery
will be almost nothing."

The agricultural communities in both states are thrilled at the
prospect of stabilizing the steadily declining grain market, said Pete
Furey, executive director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. The ethanol
plants, which will use 14 million bushels of corn and sorghum a year
in West Deptford and 20 million bushels in York, will have to import
corn from Delaware and Maryland as well as from the Midwest.

"Ethanol won't make every field crop farmer's problems go away, but
fewer people will leave the industry with it brightening the horizon,"
said Furey, who has been working with the 12 farmers who make up the
board of Garden State Ethanol since 1998. "If it weren't for this
plant, we'd be looking at the continuation of a long decline."

For Jim Etsch, a Monroe Township corn farmer, the West Deptford plant
may mean his 10- and 12-year-old sons have a chance to follow in his
footsteps on the 1,300-acre, third-generation family farm. Corn prices
have dropped substantially in the last 15 years, he said, and now
hover around $2.30 a bushel.

"I can't turn to a roadside stand when the market collapses," said
Etsch, 43, president of the Garden State Ethanol board. "I don't need
to get rich. I just want a stable income."

Ethanol production has two profitable side businesses: The corn
grinding, heating and fermenting process puts out carbon dioxide and
wet grains as well as alcohol. The carbon dioxide can be captured and
sold to soda or dry-ice producers, while the leftover grain can feed
livestock.

But environmentalists, instead of championing the fuel said to reduce
tailpipe emissions by 30 percent, disparage ethanol as glorified food
stamps for farmers who otherwise could not sell their corn. Although
supportive of the energy bill's plans to ban MTBE (methyl tertiary
butyl ether), another clean- burning gasoline additive that has been
found to contaminate groundwater, most conservation groups favor
reformulating gas and automobile engines so they travel farther for
less.

They also point out that ethanol evaporates at nearly 100 degrees,
adding to the ozone problem in hotter areas of the country.

"New Jersey has never been a good grain state. When you grow a crop
that's not necessary, that's really kind of welfare," said Jeff
Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "And on
almost every summer day, ethanol can actually hurt the environment by
evaporating and adding to our smog problem."

Ethanol was developed as a fuel during the 1970s oil crisis, when
researchers were desperate for a method to stretch gas supplies and
reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. But in the 1980s and '90s,
ethanol producers receiving hefty federal subsidies came under fire
for using more energy to grow, harvest and distill the corn than the
alcohol yielded.

Proponents say that although that criticism might have been true a
decade ago, ethanol technology has vastly improved. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture last year released an ethanol efficiency
report concluding the alcohol produces 34 percent more energy than is
used in growing, harvesting and distilling the corn.

But ethanol's detractors have not been satisfied. This month, Tad
Patzek, a professor of geoengineering at the University of California,
Berkeley, released a study alleging the USDA analyzed the fuel's
efficiency incorrectly. He called federal energy bill's reliance on
ethanol "one of the most misguided public policy decisions to be made
in recent history."

In political circles, however, ethanol enjoys unqualified support.
President Bush has held key energy-policy speeches at ethanol plants,
and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D., S.D.) sponsored an energy
bill amendment - passed this month by the Senate, 67-29 - that would
mandate the use of five billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. (The
Senate is expected to vote in July on the energy bill, which would
then likely be reconciled with a House- passed version in September.)

In addition, all four Democratic senators seeking the presidential
nomination, mindful of the Iowa caucuses in January, advocate
investing in further ethanol production.

With that sort of clout, ethanol is not likely to remain a Midwest
specialty for long. Almost all of the country's 72 ethanol plants,
which already produce nearly two billion gallons a year, are in the
heartland. "Ethanol is something whose time has come, and I think
lawmakers in Washington recognize that," said Hank Capro, director of
Garden State Ethanol's development. "We grow this material, and we can
make fuel out of it that we can control. The corn belt has embraced
it, and I think we'll see the same thing happen here in the gasoline
belt."

* * *

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

DEP ANNOUNCES WORKSHOPS ON OPEN SPACE FUNDING

Date: 24 Jun 2003
From: "depnews depnews" {depnews...@dep.state.nj.us}

PROGRAMS HELP LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN APPLYING
FOR FUNDING FOR OPEN SPACE ACQUISITION

June 24, 2003

Trenton - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Green Acres Program and the Environmental Infrastructure Financing
Program will hold four workshops in June and July to guide municipal
and county officials and nonprofit organizations through the state-
funding application process. These workshops are part of the McGreevey
Administration's continued commitment to promote open space
preservation and to create new parks and recreational areas around the
state.

"Given the overwhelming demand from local governments and nonprofits
for funding to preserve open space, we wanted to help applicants
navigate the process more easily and explore additional funding
opportunities they might not otherwise use," said DEP Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell. "Working with community partners to preserve open
space is a vital component of Governor McGreevey's smart growth
agenda."

Governor McGreevey's other open space initiatives include a proposal
to provide capital gains tax waivers to landowners who sell their
property to the state. His constitutional amendment to invest an
additional $150 million for creating and enhancing community parks and
for preserving open space and farms in the Highlands has passed the
Legislature with widespread support and will appear on the November
ballot.

During the workshops, DEP will encourage municipal and county
government applicants who have a project with a water quality benefit
to apply to the Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program (EIFP)
for acquisition funds. By holding workshops early in the year, the
Green Acres program hopes to inform applicants of this opportunity in
time to meet EIFP's early deadlines and to qualify for EIFP funding.

The EIFP is a partnership between the NJDEP and the NJ Environmental
Infrastructure Trust (Trust). The EIFP provides low-cost financing to
municipal, county, and other local government units as well as to
water purveyors for the construction of wastewater, drinking water and
stormwater or nonpoint source pollution management projects, including
open space acquisition that provides a water quality benefit.

Financing through EIFP provides a rate equal to one-quarter of the
current market rate and results in a loan structure that reduces
annual debt service significantly when compared to local financing
options. The EIFP has no limit on the amount of money that a borrower
can finance to acquire land and the funds can be used as a local match
for land acquisition projects funded through Green Acres.

The Green Acres program protects environmentally sensitive open
space, water resources and other significant natural and historic
resources and provides parks for New Jersey residents and visitors to
enjoy. Green Acres partners with, and provides grants and low interest
loans to, qualifying county and municipal government agencies and
nonprofit land conservancies who work to further these same goals.

Since Green Acres was established in 1961, the program has protected
more than 517,000 acres of open space and developed hundreds of
recreation facilities. Statewide, more than 1.2 million acres of open
space and farmland have been preserved.

This year's workshops are scheduled for:

June 27 at Cumberland County College, Vineland, from 9:30 to 3:30,

July 17 at Brick Township Municipal Building, Brick, from 9 to 3,

July 23 at Mercer County Boathouse, West Windsor, from 9 to 3, and

July 31 at Charles Watters Community Service Building (formerly the
Museum Building), Paramus, from 9 to 3.

Pre-registration is required for all workshops. There is a nominal
fee, which covers breakfast, lunch and handouts, of $25 per person and
$20 for each additional member from the same municipality or
organization. To register, contact Nancee May, Green Acres workshop
coordinator, at (609) 984-0570.

For more information, visit the Green Acres section of the DEP
website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/greenacres.

* * *

Contact: Peter Boger, (609) 984-1795
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

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TRANQUILITY FARMS TO HOST DAIRY OPEN HOUSE - JUN 29

Date: 030624
From: ajoe...@tnc.org

NATURE CONSERVANCY HELPED PRESERVE FARM AND NATURAL AREA

June 24, 2003

Newton - Third generation dairy farmers Larry and Carol Freeborn will
host a Dairy Open House at Tranquility Farms in Allamuchy on Sunday,
June 29 from 11am to 4pm. The free event will feature a number of
farming activities including agricultural demonstrations, sheep
shearing as well as free milk and cheese. The event is expected to
draw up to 4,000 participants.

Located in Allamuchy in Warren County, the 620-acre Tranquility Farms
was preserved from development a few years ago. A complex undertaking,
the conservation project brought together eight county, municipal,
agricultural and nonprofit partners to protect a key link in the
expansive greenway which includes the 7,000-acre Allamuchy State Park,
more than 1,000 acres of Warren and Sussex County protected Farmland
and nearby parklands. The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey purchased
the 620-acre farm from the heirs of Peter Stuyvesant, and then worked
with its public and private partners to transfer portions of the
property in a way which: permanently preserved the working farm
portion of the property; expanded an adjacent state park; preserved an
historic railroad station, added additional land for the local school
playgrounds, and established a new nature preserve. Larry and Carol
Freeborn, third generation dairy farmers, continue to farm 324 acres
working farm portion of the property.

"As part of a community-based approach to land preservation,
maintaining agriculture is critical to The Nature Conservancy's
mission, Working farms can help preserve and enhance nearby natural
areas that support biological diversity and contribute to the local
economy," said Albert Joerger, Director, Skylands program office. The
Conservancy also recognizes that "it is essential to preserve not just
prime farmland, but also exemplary farmers like the Freeborn family",
added Michael Catania, the Conservancy's Executive Director for New
Jersey.

* * *

The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that preserves
plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of
life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have
been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in
the United States and more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the
Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Active in the Garden State since
1955, the Conservancy established the New Jersey Chapter in 1988.
Within the state, the Conservancy has protected over 50,000 acres and
has completed over 300 conservation transactions with the help of
33,000 individual members, as well as corporate sponsors and
foundations. The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey launched a
community-based program office in the Skylands in July 2001 to
safeguard globally significant Skylands, designated by the Conservancy
as a `Last Great Place'. Visit us on the web at:
http://nature.org/NewJersey.

Contact: Albert Joerger ajoe...@tnc.org, 973-300-0311
The Nature Conservancy in the Skylands

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Phil Reynolds - Associate Editor - reyn...@gsenet.org

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

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