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GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 040325

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Mar 25, 2004, 12:17:33 AM3/25/04

040325

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
{*} POLITICAL SHADES OF GREEN CLASH OVER POPULATION
{*} NJ DOT: ON THE ROAD TO PROMOTING SMART GROWTH
{*} BUSH BLASTED FOR BACKING OFF WETLANDS PROTECTION
{*} FIGHT AGAINST OCEAN DRILLING RENEWED
{*} SAVE BARNEGAT BAY SAYS $3M FROM FEDERAL BUDGET NEEDED
{*} HIGHLANDS OPPOSING DEVELOPMENT ON SANDY HOOK
{*} BLOOMSBURY DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETS RESISTANCE
{*} PRESERVING LAND EFFORT MET WITH SKEPTICISM
{*} FLORIO, PARTNERS BUYING POLLUTED SITE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE
{*} REPORT BUOYS TOWNSHIP'S HOPE OF MOVING MERCURY
{*} ARMY PLANS TO TEST VX DESTRUCTION PROCESS
{*} ACTION ALERT VX NERVE AGENT
{*} NJPIRG ASKS YOU TO SUPPORT ENERGY EFFICIENCY
{*} ENVIRONMENTAL, PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECTS GET GRANTS
{*} 2004 RAMAPO RIVER WATERSHED CONFERENCE - APR 23
{*} BUY GREEN AND SAVE GREEN PURCHASING CONFERENCE - JUN 11

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To date we have received $3,405.
We need $1,595 to meet our goal.
Deadline is May 31, 2004!
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NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Date: 3/24/2004
From: LGold...@aol.com

SOUND AND FURY...SIGNIFYING NOT VERY MUCH?

By Lewis Goldshore and Marsha Wolf
New Jersey Law Journal, 03-15-2004

On Feb. 18, 2004, Gov. James McGreevey demonstrated his
administration's commitment to environmental justice by signing an
executive order that was directed to achieving this elusive objective.
The question that now needs to be examined is whether this action was,
in effect, largely ceremonial in nature, or whether it will also have
substantive implications for the state's residents, businesses and
governmental entities.

The answer requires a review of environmental justice principles and
practices, as well as an analysis of the terms of the Governor's
recent pronouncement.

ORIGINS

The modern environmental protection movement had its origins and took
shape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Its appeal was not felt
equally across economic and racial divides.

When environmental issues first arrived on the scene, minority and
low-income communities were not generally overwrought with the onset
of silent springs, construction of roads through parks or saving snail
darters. They were worried whether their sons, overrepresented in the
military, would live to see the next spring, whether they would
receive equal accommodation in public parks and whether they would be
able to save enough to put food on the table and a roof over their
head.

For the most part, the environmental movement resonated more strongly
with those who had addressed the primary and more immediate concerns.
Its appeal was, and continues to be, to a predominantly white, middle
to upper class, and suburban and rural constituency. The more recent
focus on the urban environmental concerns seems almost like an
afterthought and not an especially neat fit with most of the more
traditional environmental issues.

In the 1970s, attention was directed to various categorical
environmental programs - air quality, water pollution, and solid and
hazardous wastes. As urban planners had already become aware, minority
communities tended to be disproportionately represented when it came
to the location and siting of polluting facilities. It was not an
historical accident that heavy industry, landfills and waste treatment
facilities, as well as their associated offsite impacts, were
concentrated in these areas. In time, this situation came to be
recognized as the environmental justice issue.

By the late 1970s, litigation, particularly suits challenging siting
disputes in minority communities, raising environmental racism or
environmental justice objections, started to trickle into the courts.
A series of studies confirmed what many suspected - minorities and
poor people were being impacted in a disparate fashion.

On Feb. 11, 1994, these issues received official federal recognition
as a result of President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 12898 (Federal
Actions To Address Environmental Justice In Minority Populations And
Low-Income Populations). Every federal agency was directed to develop
an environmental justice strategy "that identifies and addresses
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects of its programs, policies or activities on minority
populations."

Additional information concerning the Environmental Protection
Agency's historic and current environmental justice policies is
provided on the agency's Web site,
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/.

NEW JERSEY'S PRIOR EXPERIENCE

In New Jersey, both the Department of Environmental Protection and
the federal courts have had active roles in the environmental justice
debate. Judicial involvement resulted from the DEP's issuance of air
pollution control permits to the St. Lawrence Cement Company that
allowed it to construct and operate a cement-grinding facility in the
city of Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood.

Challenges by a community group and individual neighborhood residents
resulted in a series of significant federal court rulings that
addressed environmental justice claims. South Camden Citizens in
Action v. New Jersey Department of Envt'l Prot., 145 F.Supp.2d 466
(D.NJ 2001), mod. and supp. 145 F.Supp.2d 505 (D.NJ 2001), rev'd 274
F.3d 771 (3d Cir. 2001), cert. denied 536 U.S. 939 (2002), on rem. 254
F.Supp.2d 486 (D.NJ 2002).

Litigation involving the propriety of those permits and related
issues remains pending in the state and federal courts.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman's DEP took an active role in the
process but never seemed comfortable with the term environmental
justice, preferring instead the more neutral environmental equity. As
one of Commissioner Robert Shinn Jr.'s final acts in office,
reminiscent of the midnight judges appointment, he proposed the
adoption of Environmental Equity Rules for Expanded Community
Participation. The proposed rules were not published in the New Jersey
Register until after the change in administration had taken place.

Public hearings concerning the Whitman-Shinn proposal were held, but
it was clearly a nonstarter. The new administration opted to craft a
proposal consistent with its own perspective on the subject, which is
implemented in the executive order. Additional information concerning
DEP's current environmental justice program is available on the
department's Web site, http://www.nj.gov/dep/ej/.

THE EXECUTIVE ORDER

The executive order included a number of preliminary recitals that
recognized the importance of environmental justice. Its basic
rationale is that "communities of color and low-income communities
have historically been located in areas...having a higher density of
known contaminated sites...with the accompanying potential for
increased environmental and public health impacts."

The executive order also observed that the problems may be due to
"the cumulative impact of multiple sources of exposure to
environmental hazards," rather than attributable to a particular
stationary or mobile source.

In response, McGreevey indicated that interagency action would be
required. He directed that the DEP and the Departments of Community
Affairs, Health and Senior Services (DHSS), and Law and Public Safety,
work together and address environmental health and quality of life
issues in communities of color.

The executive order included a direction that state environmental
quality and public health agencies provide meaningful opportunities
for public involvement, that their programs meet the needs of low-
income and communities of color, and address disproportionate exposure
to environmental hazards. The DEP was instructed to use and consider
public health data in its compliance, enforcement, remediation, siting
and permitting activities.

The potential health effects due to fine particulates, a problem that
is present in some urban environments, received special attention. The
DEP and the Department of Transportation will develop a coordinated
strategy to reduce exposure to these air contaminants.

The executive order also addressed organizational concerns by
providing that DEP and the DHSS convene a multi-agency Environmental
Justice Task Force. The EJTF was authorized to make recommendations to
state agencies regarding environmental justice issues. Additionally,
the DEP's Environmental Justice Advisory Council was reconstituted to
advise the department and EJTF in implementing the executive order.

The heart of the executive order provides for a petition and action
plan process to address environmental justice claims. On the basis of
the petitions, EJTF will select communities for inclusion in the
process. Public meetings may be convened to hear and consider the
claims.

After appropriate consultation, an action plan will be formulated to
address the selected communities' environmental, social and economic
factors that affect the health or environment. The plan will include
measures to reduce environmental burdens through the allocation of
resources, exercise of regulatory discretion, and development of new
standards and protections.

The EJTF will monitor the implementation of each action plan and make
recommendations to facilitate implementation. State agencies shall
implement the strategy to the fullest extent practicable in light of
statutory and resource constraints.

In addition, the DEP and DHSS were instructed to develop a strategy
to identify and reduce the most significant environmental and public
health risks facing the selected communities by means of chronic
health disease surveillance, health monitoring, data gathering,
community education and public participation.

The document also took pains to recite that it was not designed to
create a private right of action of enforcement. On the other hand,
the executive order also stated that it did not, as if it could,
diminish any existing legal rights or remedies.

While well-intended, the ultimate question will be whether the
executive order and the procedures it created will make any real
difference in the quality of life for residents in environmental
justice communities. There are reasons to have serious doubts.

The problems that the executive order identified are complex, well-
entrenched and include some of the most vexing that our society
confronts. No great progress should be expected until we are willing
to devote substantial additional funds to the undertaking and to make
fundamental changes in law and government policy.

COMMENTS/REACTIONS

McGreevey's press release that accompanied the signing of the
executive order predictably emphasized what he believed to be the
significance of his action:

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., declared: 'Injustice anywhere is a
threat to justice everywhere.' In New Jersey, we are seeking justice
to make every community safe, healthy and attractive places in which
to raise our families. From the food you eat, to the air you breathe,
to the parks your children play in, we are working to build a better
New Jersey.

The governor's views were echoed by DEP Commissioner Bradley
Campbell, whose department has broad ranging authority respecting the
siting and operation of polluting facilities. According to Campbell:

Too many low-income, underserved communities of color have suffered
from the negative impacts of New Jersey's economic and industrial
growth, while others have reaped the benefits. Our goal is to reduce
environmental health risks for everyone, but we must be especially
mindful of communities that to date have been disproportionately and
unfairly impacted by pollution.

Comments by Attorney General Peter Harvey were designed to send a
message that the administration's environmental justice initiative was
going to have more than rhetorical effects. The Attorney General
noted:

Our fight for environmental justice is about real change and
improvement in the lives of ordinary people...We will fight to ensure
that our urban neighborhoods are not dumping grounds and that their
residents are not the forgotten New Jerseyans.

But enthusiasm for the executive order was not shared by all of the
interested parties. In a Feb. 19, 2004, story in The Star-Ledger,
Michael Egenton, Assistant Vice-President of the New Jersey Chamber of
Commerce, expressed concern that the new process could serve as a
disincentive to urban redevelopment: "If we're [the business community
is] going to spend resources, time and capital to help rebuild the
cities, we want to make sure we have some certainty and know the rules
of the game ahead of time."

Olga Pomar, an attorney with South Jersey Legal Services - one of
plaintiffs' attorneys in the Camden environmental justice case -
questioned the efficacy of the governor's action. She was quoted in
the Ledger story as having opined: "Unfortunately, I don't see that
this executive order in and of itself would have made a difference."

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club,
also expressed some doubts in the Feb. 19, 2004, edition of the Asbury
Park Press: "Will the Task Force be able to stop a bad permit or help
a community deal with the health effects of pollution? There are no
standards in place - we have to wait and see what comes out of the
process."

* * *

Goldshore is a partner at Goldshore, Cash & Kalac of Lawrenceville.
His practice is devoted to environmental, land use and municipal law.
Goldshore and Wolf are co-authors of New Jersey Environmental Law,
(ICLE 2003), and Goldshore is a co-author of New Jersey Brownfields
Law, published by New Jersey Law Journal Law Books. Their column
appears regularly in the Law Journal. Goldshore represents one of the
third-party defendants named by St. Lawrence Cement Company discussed
herein.

* * *

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POLITICAL SHADES OF GREEN CLASH OVER POPULATION

Date: 040324
From: http://www.latimes.com/

THE BATTLE FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE SIERRA CLUB
REFLECTS A BROAD DISPUTE OVER IMMIGRATION

By Miguel Bustillo and Kenneth R. Weiss
LA Times Staff Writers, March 24, 2004

The bitter wrangle over immigration now threatening to topple the
leadership of the Sierra Club has exposed a rift in the nation's
environmental movement itself and placed prominent conservationists,
including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a
founder of Earth Day, in opposing camps.

At the dawn of the modern environmental movement four decades ago,
conservationists widely embraced the goal of global population
control. They still do. But as they confront the prospect of a 50%
increase in the U.S. population by mid-century - mostly composed of
immigrants and their children - they are bitterly divided over whether
to call for immigration restrictions. On one side of the debate are
Nelson and former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, who argue that it's not
enough for environmentalists to support worldwide population
stabilization. They believe the United States needs to set an example
by stabilizing its own population - in part, by taking a strong stand
against the flood of newcomers.

On the other side, movement leaders, including Sierra Club Executive
Director Carl Pope and Kennedy, head of Waterkeeper Alliance, say
taking a stand against immigration risks alienating Latino and Asian
immigrants who may represent the future of conservation.

Pope says that, although a global effort to control population is
desperately needed, a national campaign against immigration will
expose environmental groups to accusations of racism and xenophobia.

The issue is so sensitive that the leaders of some organizations,
such as the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense
Council, declined to venture opinions, while others admitted to being
thoroughly conflicted.

Stewart Udall, who served as Interior secretary under Presidents
Kennedy and Johnson and helped establish the nation's wilderness
system, was an early proponent of global population control. He
continues to hold those views, but worries about making immigration
into a cause celebre.

"I just don't flatly disagree with the idea of slowing immigration,"
said Udall, now 84 and living in New Mexico, "but making it a big
emotional issue is a mistake."

Leaders of the conservation movement have been warning about the
perils of unchecked population growth since the 1960s.

Udall was one of the first conservationists to draw attention to the
subject in his 1963 book "The Quiet Crisis." Former Stanford professor
Paul Ehrlich followed more provocatively with "The Population Bomb,"
which was co-published by the Sierra Club.

Today, environmentalists fear they are losing their fight to protect
natural resources. Unchecked human consumption, most environmentalists
are convinced, is the driving force behind climate change, atmospheric
pollution, loss of wildlife habitat and urban sprawl.

"You keep wondering if the places that you saved really will be
saved," Udall said.

The U.S. population, now at 292.8 million, is expected to surge by
50% over the next 50 years, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau
projections.

About 40% to 45% of the projected growth will come from immigration,
said Gregory Spencer, chief of the bureau's population projection
branch. Add the children of immigrants who are born as U.S. citizens,
and the percentage will jump to 60% to 65%, he said.

The United States has the highest birth rate and highest rate of
teenage pregnancy of any wealthy industrialized nation. Although the
club advocates family planning to stabilize birth rates, its efforts
are aimed primarily at developing nations.

So far, its leaders have not wanted to spar with anti-abortion groups
over programs to promote birth control and sex education in the United
States.

Americans make up less than 5% of the world's population. But they
consume roughly 25% of the world's oil and other natural resources,
and are responsible for 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions that
scientists say are contributing to global warming, a disparity that
has angered other nations.

Many environmental leaders insist that the problem is not an
overabundance of people, but a stubborn refusal of an affluent society
to live within its means. The alternative to pulling up the drawbridge
on immigrants, they say, is smarter urban planning and increased
emphasis on conserving resources and reducing pollution.

"We can't escape into Eden," said Roger Kennedy, former national
parks director under President Clinton. "We have to continue to have
restrictions on immigration, but that is less important than the
question of how we humans live with nature. This other issue is a
distraction."

Immigration has reemerged as a flashpoint of debate among
conservationists because of an insurgent campaign to take over the
leadership of the 112-year-old Sierra Club, one of the nation's most
influential environmental groups.

A slate of candidates for five available seats on the club's 15-
member board wants the group to push for stronger limits on
immigration.

The election battle has brought cries of immigrant bashing and
counter-claims of politically correct demagoguery, attracting national
attention and spurring a fresh round of soul searching among
environmental leaders.

Nelson, the former Wisconsin senator, now 88, has endorsed one of the
candidates running on an immigration-control slate, Cornell professor
David Pimentel; Robert Kennedy Jr. is supporting efforts by the club's
current leaders to defeat the dissidents. The outcome of the election,
which has begun via mail and the Internet, will be decided next month.

The club won't continue to be an effective advocate of conservation
if it refuses to take a stand on immigration, say Lamm and like-minded
challengers of the status quo.

"Certainly, the ecosystem cannot stand a half a billion consuming
Americans," said Lamm, who is running for the club's board.

"The best thing for the United States to do is to show by example
what a sustainable society could be," he said. "Any ecology textbook
you pick up brings up population as part of the equation. We are going
to lose our soul in the environmental movement if we back down from
this debate simply because it is controversial."

The other side argues that, given the environmental movement's
reputation as largely white and well-off - the Sierra Club remains
more than 90% white, despite efforts to diversify its ranks -
conservation groups cannot afford to be portrayed as nativists.

"The environmental movement didn't invent racism, but it's not immune
from racism," Pope said. He has called on the group's membership to
"rise above" the immigration debate, which already has attracted
interest from anti-immigrant and even white supremacist groups.
Otherwise, he said, "If we are saying the human footprint is just too
large, they will suspect that we are saying the human footprint is
just too dark."

State Sen. Martha Escutia, a Whittier Democrat known for sponsoring
environmental protection measures, echoes Pope's concerns.

"When all things go wrong in politics, there is always this human
reaction to blame the immigrants," Escutia said. "If the economy is
bad, blame the immigrants. Terrorism, blame the immigrants. To me, it
just seems to be part of a continuum of thought that blames immigrants
for the problems of America."

The 757,000-member Sierra Club since 1994 has sought to expand its
membership to reflect the States' multiethnic mosaic. It has sent
staff members to the Detroit ghetto to fight against a recycling plant
accepting toxic waste. In Arizona, the club has joined a Native
American effort to protect sacred sites. It runs volunteer programs to
take inner-city children into the wilderness to sleep under the stars.

"The people who have been working to broaden the Sierra Club's base -
and make it look less white and upper-middle class and more like the
rest of America - see the push to restrict immigration as a threat to
all of the work that they have done," Pope said.

In 1996, the club's board decided to take an official "neutral"
stance on immigration - a decision ratified 60% to 39% by the club's
members two years later. The vote led to the resignations of about
1,000 members.

Supporters of the current dissident campaign, who include three
current Sierra Club board members, say recent leaders have been too
timid to tackle the bigger problems besetting the planet. Some of the
candidates also want to place a greater emphasis on another
potentially divisive issue: animal rights.

"I am not sitting on this board to represent people; I am on this
board to represent endangered species," said one of the dissident
board members, Paul Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society. "You want to talk about migration? Let's talk about migration
of birds and wolves. They are running out of habitat. We have a
responsibility to defend nature."

* * *

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NJ DOT: ON THE ROAD TO PROMOTING SMART GROWTH

Date: 040324
From: http://www.tstc.org/

Mobilizing the Region, Issue 451, March 22, 2004

Certain decisions and project designs that have been unveiled in the
past year indicate that innovative planning and "multi-modal" thinking
may be taking root within the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
If transportation commissioner Jack Lettiere and Governor McGreevey
are able to systematize some of these approaches and ensure they are
considered routinely when congestion, access and other issues arise,
it could provide one of the most profound long-term impacts of the
McGreevey campaign to foster "smart growth."

One of the most successful examples of the NJ DOT's recent work to
shake its "road warrior" past was its decision in 2003 to abandon a
proposed Route 18 highway extension in favor of a 20-mile bike and
pedestrian path. The proposed path's functionality and cost-
effectiveness was praised by both advocacy groups and elected
officials. One highly noteworthy aspect of the decision was the
removal of a road project that had taken years to work its way into
the project pipeline. That may not seem like huge cause for
celebration, but in fact many road projects are carried out under a
type of inertial bureaucratic auto-pilot - once in motion, never
stopped. Commissioner Lettiere's intervention to stop and unneeded and
unwanted project and replace it with a community-friendly facility
that was desired showed that more thought and control is being applied
to the DOT program. This type of continual program and project review
must be routinized.

DOT has also scrapped the Millstone Bypass proposal, which would have
built a sprawl-inducing highway east of Princeton, in favor of a low-
cost project that builds a small connector road and improves
intersections in the area. In late January, DOT officials announced
that the proposed bypass, which threatened add traffic, contaminate
drinking water and run through historic sites in West Windsor
Township, would be nixed. The new project promises to improve traffic
flow in the area with little environmental impact and little capacity
to induce new car trips.

Other projects have also been reassessed in light of smart growth
priorities. DOT officials delayed the Hillsborough Bypass in the
winter of 2002 after deciding that its frequent interchanges would
have promoted sprawl. The highway - which will split from Route 206 to
create a four-mile bypass in Somerset County - has since been
redesigned. Two interchanges and a connector road were eliminated, and
the road will narrow to one lane in each direction for an additional
half-mile than originally planned. Depending on financial constraints,
construction on the redesigned project could commence in 2007.

The Flemington Bypass - designed to take through-traffic off of Route
31 in Hunterdon County - is the latest road plan to undergo a smart
growth reassessment, delaying the release of a draft EIS this year. At
present, we do not know what sort of alterations and options NJ DOT is
considering for this project.

Meanwhile, the administration is also working to reduce the number of
trucks - a major cause of the bypass clamor - on NJ's roads. About a
year ago, the McGreevey Administration announced an $80 million
investment to increase rail freight capacity in the Port
Newark/Elizabeth and Meadowlands area. The initiative would improve
service by fixing a grade crossing at Norfolk Southern's Croxton Yard
in Secaucus and adding capacity to a 10-mile stretch of the Lehigh
Valley line. Commissioner Lettiere has been actively working with
communities to mitigate any local impacts the rail projects may have.

* * *

Tri-State Transportation Campaign
350 West 31st St #802
New York, NY 10001

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BUSH BLASTED FOR BACKING OFF WETLANDS PROTECTION

Date: 040324
From: http://www.ens-newswire.com/

AmeriScan, March 24, 2004

Washington, DC - The Rio Grande, the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Erie are
only a few of the critically important waters across the nation
threatened with more pollution due to the policies and regulations of
the Bush administration, environmentalists say.

The statement, issued Tuesday by several national environmental
groups and more than 50 clean water advocate groups in some 31 states,
takes particular aim at the impacts of a decision by the White House
to ease federal wetlands protections.

In January 2003 the Bush administration issued new guidance ordering
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers not to require permits under the
Clean Water Act for the pollution or destruction of wetlands that are
located within a single state and are not associated with any
navigable waterway.

The Bush administration said the guidance was in line with a 2001
Supreme Court decision known as the SWANCC (Solid Waste Agency of
Northern Cook County) ruling, which held that the Army Corps could not
protect intrastate, isolated, non-navigable ponds solely based on
their use by migratory birds.

A plan by the administration to use SWANCC as the basis for further
easing federal wetlands protections was withdrawn last December in the
wake of strong opposition from states, environmental groups as well as
fishing and bird enthusiasts.

Critics of the administration say there is ample evidence, however,
that the federal agencies are ignoring parts of existing Clean Water
Act rules, and failing to enforce federal pollution limits over many
wetlands, small streams and other waters.

The environmental groups cite a letter from the Corps that
accompanied a recent General Accounting Office report to Congress that
they say shows how the administration is acting as if Clean Water Act
regulations have been changed.

In the letter, Assistant Secretary of the Army John Paul Woodley
states, "Following the SWANCC decision, it may generally be said that
a water (and associated aquatic resources) will be subject to Clean
Water Act jurisdiction if the water is either a territorial sea, a
traditional navigable water, a tributary to a traditional navigable
water, or an adjacent wetland."

The groups say this definition excludes the vast and diverse category
of other waters - such as lakes, bogs, freshwater marshes, forested
wetlands and even seasonal streams - that perform essential chemical,
physical and biological functions within stream and river networks.

"The Bush administration's rhetorical commitment to "no net loss" of
wetlands and protection of the nations' streams is only window
dressing," said Daniel Rosenberg, an attorney with the Natural
Resources Defense Council. "The truth is they are pushing an industry
backed agenda that places the health of our waters and the public at
risk."

* * *

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FIGHT AGAINST OCEAN DRILLING RENEWED

Date: 040324
From: http://www.app.com/

By Bill Bowman, Asbury Park Press Coastal Monmouth Bureau, 3/24/04

With a blue-green Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop and the 15th
anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill as inspiration, a group of
environmentalists gathered in Belmar yesterday to renew their
commitment in the fight against ocean drilling off the Jersey Shore.

Representatives from Clean Ocean Action, the New Jersey Environmental
Federation, the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and the
Alaska Federation gathered behind the Taylor Pavilion and called upon
state and federal legislators to continue their opposition to offshore
oil and gas drilling off the New Jersey coast.

"We want to make sure that the New Jersey coastline remains safe,
pristine and clean," NJPIRG spokeswoman Emily Rusch said.

Early in the morning on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker
spilled nearly 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound
after grounding on a reef. David Rossini of the Alaska Coalition said
the effects of that accident still are being felt today.

A similar spill would devastate the environment and the economy,
Rossini said.

"We still haven't gotten the technology to make oil exploration
safe," he said. "And we haven't gotten the technology to clean up
after accidents happen."

Clean Ocean Action's Kari Jermansen pointed to the mini oil spill
that washed up on some Shore beaches in early February as a reason why
opposition to offshore oil drilling should be stepped up.

"Last month we had a reminder that oil and water don't mix," she
said. The spill was "a wake-up call that must be answered by a
continuing moratorium of drilling off our coastline."

Spills such as what occurred in February "affect tourism, coastal
businesses and recreation" along the shore, she said.

Jenny Vickers, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Environmental
Federation, said offshore drilling "could be an ecological disaster to
this vibrant marine environment as well as an economic disaster to New
Jersey's tourist and fishing industry.

"Marking the anniversary of the Valdez reminds us that steps can be
taken to prevent harm in the future, to take a different path that is
ecologically and environmentally sound, and does not leave us in the
dark," she said.

* * *

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SAVE BARNEGAT BAY SAYS $3M FROM FEDERAL BUDGET NEEDED

Date: 040324
From: http://www.app.com/

By Don Bennett, Ocean County Observer Staff Writer, 03/23/04

Toms River - Congress needs to include at least $3 million in its
2005 budget to preserve land in Lacey and Little Egg Harbor townships,
according to William deCamp, the leader of Save Barnegat Bay.

DeCamp urged people to write to members of Congress urging them to
provide the money for land and water conservation projects.

He said the land would be added to the Forsythe National Wildlife
Refuge, named for the late congressman who represented Ocean County.

The refuge includes 43,000 acres in Ocean, Burlington, and Atlantic
counties.

"Last year Forsythe was overlooked for land and water conservation
funding, notwithstanding a backlog of properties under contract,"
deCamp said.

He said if Congress provides the money, these properties could be
acquired immediately:

85 acres off Radio Road at Mystic Island in Little Egg Harbor.

20 acres south of Laurel Boulevard and east of Route 9 in Lanoka
Harbor.

The third phase of the purchase of the Forked River Game Farm between
Route 9 and the bay in Lacey Township.

Rep. Jim Saxton, R-3rd, said $1.5 million has been included in the
2005 budget to acquire the Little Egg Harbor tract.

"The purchase of land for conservation is the very best method of
protecting the environment of the Jersey Shore," deCamp said.

The Forsythe Refuge protects 43,000 acres, much of it saltwater
marshes.

* * *

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

HIGHLANDS OPPOSING DEVELOPMENT ON SANDY HOOK

Date: 040324
From: http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/

FAIR HAVEN WILL NOT JOIN LIST OF TOWNS
ON RECORD OPPOSING FORT PROJECT

By Gloria Stravelli, Alanticville Staff Writer, March 24, 2004

The Borough of Highlands this week became the latest area town to
pass a resolution opposing a planned commercial development in its
front yard.

In a unanimous vote, the Highlands Borough Council passed a
resolution supporting the efforts of a grassroots group to block
private development on Sandy Hook.

"Sandy Hook is one of our area's best natural resources," said
Council President John Urbanski on Tuesday. "With all the development
going on in the surrounding towns we feel it's really unnecessary to
develop it. It's a national attraction on its own."

Approved at the March 17 council meeting, the resolution supports the
efforts of Save Sandy Hook, a grassroots group opposed to the National
Park Service's decision to award a 60-year historic lease to private
developer Sandy Hook Partners, LLC for the rehabilitation and
releasing of historic buildings at Fort Hancock.

Modeled after a similar resolution passed by Holmdel Township in
February, the resolution also calls for municipalities to be consulted
on proposals to develop public lands including Sandy Hook, supports
public hearings, full disclosure and independent, expert analysis of
the impacts of proposals to develop public lands before granting of
approvals and seeks continued, unrestricted public access to public
lands.

"With all the talk in the state about stopping sprawl and
overdevelopment, what are they thinking?," asked Urbanski. "I think we
should keep it as it is."

According to Urbanski, the planned development on Sandy Hook is
likely to add traffic to local roadways and could have an adverse
economic impact on his town.

"If they have the same things to offer on Sandy Hook, it might
detract from us," he said.

Ticking off a list of development stretching from Long Branch to the
hills overlooking the bay in his own borough, Urbanski questioned
whether any area will remain off limits.

"If you're going to develop the Hook, what isn't going to be
developed?" he asked.

Highlands and Holmdel may be on board in Save Sandy Hook's efforts to
block privatization of Sandy Hook, but the Borough of Fair Haven won't
be joining them after all, according to Mayor Joseph Szostak.

Szostak had proposed such action at the Feb. 9 Borough Council
meeting and asked the borough clerk to draw up a resolution.

However, Szostak said Tuesday that he discussed the resolution with
council members at Monday's meeting and the council declined to get
involved.

"It's not going to happen," he said. "I approached the council last
night, and they didn't want to take a position."

Szostak was one of three newly elected mayors, Rumson's John Ekdahl
and Sea Bright's Joanne Kalaka-Adams were the others, who have
publicly voiced their opposition to the development.

In response, Wassel and Sandy Hook Acting Superintendent Richard
Wells said they would reach out to the mayors to correct what they
said was misinformation about the project.

Szostak said Tuesday he met with Wassel last week for an 1 1/2 hours
and got "a complete rundown of what he's proposing and has done so
far."

"I was quite impressed with it, but I'm still not won over," he said.

According to Szostak, Wassel explained that the development will
support educational and research entities already on Sandy Hook such
as Rutgers University and Brookdale Community College.

He said the head of Sandy Hook Partners told him plans for bed-and-
breakfasts have been scuttled and that the project will include
lodging only for visiting lecturers and professionals attached to the
existing users. Szostak also said he was told that the proposed
pub/restaurant would be open to the public but primarily serve those
who live and work on Sandy Hook.

Still, Szostak said, he would prefer that the development be carried
out by the Park Service and he plans to try to lobby for expanded
funds for national parks.

"I think of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir, people who provided us
with these beautiful parks," he said.

Szostak said he plans to visit the Presidio, San Francisco, and
Yosemite to gauge the results of privatization during an upcoming
trip.

He is a member of the Two River Council of Mayors - a group of about
a dozen area mayors who meet informally to discuss regional issues -
which will revisit support of the project in deference to several new
mayors who joined the group after a decision was made to support the
development.

"I want to get the whole picture," Szostak explained. "I originally
objected because I was being counted among the mayors that voted to
support the project. I wasn't a member then, and I want a recount.

* * *

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

BLOOMSBURY DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETS RESISTANCE

Date: 040324
From: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/

By Armando Diana, Star-Ledger, March 24, 2004

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 130 people attended the
Bloomsbury Planning Board meeting Monday night to protest a 987-home
development planned for a 156-acre tract along the Musconetcong River,
spanning Bethlehem Township and Bloomsbury.

After a year-long study, American Properties Developers came before
the planning board to present an informal conceptual plan on the
proposed community consisting of condominiums, townhouse villas and
single-family detached houses.

Creigh Rahenkamp, a professional planner, said the project, which
would include age-restricted housing, is at least one to two years
away from starting. He said certain areas require a zoning change and
that the master plan would need to be amended before an application
for the development can be submitted.

"We are a year into studying this," Rahenkamp said. "It's not an
application, and we have a long way to go before it becomes an
application."

But the vocal throng on Monday let the board know they strongly
oppose the planned development, saying it would almost double the size
of the borough's population of 886.

"I don't know what made you think the scale of this development in
relation to this town will be palatable to us (residents)," said Brian
Boyle.

"It's a matter of perspective," replied Rahenkamp. "The property is
currently zoned for more homes and we're only doing half and can't
understand why you're (the public) not happy."

Some residents shouted out to "cut your losses and leave now," while
others questioned the impact of the development on the roads, schools
and the borough's infrastructure.

Rahenkamp said the next phase would include traffic- and school-
impact studies.

Jay Troutman, a traffic engineer hired by American Properties, told
the crowd the development would affect traffic along Route 173, and he
was going to conduct traffic counts. He stressed the group will work
closely with the residents to minimize the impact.

According to Andy Stockton, the site engineer, the development will
have five retention basins to manage the storm water runoff and a
wastewater treatment plant with the capacity to handle the entire
borough. In addition, American Properties will lay sewer lines in the
borough.

Rahenkamp said new wastewater-management state mandates would force
the borough to review its current practice. Borough residents use
septic tanks, and Rahenkamp said the lot size now allowed was too
small and did not conform to the new regulations. According to
Rahenkamp, the development will bring fiscal stability to the borough,
generating $6.4 million in new revenue. He said the borough will net
about $232,000 in profit after paying for costs incurred by the new
residents.

He also said preliminary figures show an increase of 139
schoolchildren - 20 of whom will be in high school. Rahenkamp said he
has yet to speak to the school board to determine its needs but
planned to meet with the board in the near future. He said the school
would collect close to $1.9 million in taxes from families moving into
the development.

The proposed development includes 266 age-restricted condominium,
apartment, townhouse and single-family units. The non-age-restricted
portion will have 250 condominium, apartment, townhouse and single-
family units.

* * *

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

PRESERVING LAND EFFORT MET WITH SKEPTICISM

Date: 040324
From: http://www.app.com/

By Pamela Kropf, Asbury Park Press, 3/23/04

Trenton - Some New Jersey farmers expressed reservations about
Highlands Task Force recommendations, telling a joint hearing of the
Senate and Assembly environment committees yesterday that the plan
creates confusing, overlapping rules.

The Highlands Task Force released its report 10 days ago on plans to
protect the swath of northern New Jersey that includes parts of 90
municipalities in Hunterdon, Somerset, Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic
and Bergen counties and supplies drinking water to more than 4 million
Garden State residents.

The report includes plans to identify a preservation area of 350,000
to 390,000 acres to protect the most sensitive land and enhance
environmental protections by having the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection develop regulatory standards and limits for
land and natural resource uses.

"The Task Force has hit a home run in protecting the critical land
that provides clean and plentiful water to half the state's
residents," Gov. McGreevey said in a prepared statement.

Ed Wengryn, policy spokesman for the New Jersey Farm Bureau, said
farmers already have a regulatory infrastructure, however.

"In granting DEP enhanced environmental protections, it would create
a second set of standards," Wengryn said. "And that would be confusing
to the farming community."

Other farmers said the recommendations will protect the most land.

Mark Canright, 46, who is currently moving his 7-acre organic
vegetable farm from Somerset County to a 38-acre farm in the Highlands
in Hunterdon County said suburban growth around him has caused him to
relocate.

"I'm absolutely in favor of the report, having seen what sprawl can
do to farming," Canright said. "I strongly support legislation that
will protect the maximum acreage possible in the Highlands and manage
it with the maximum authority possible. The Highlands is what's left."

* * *

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

FLORIO, PARTNERS BUYING POLLUTED SITE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE

Date: 040324
From: http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/

Associated Press, 3/24/04

Jersey City - A polluted 13-acre industrial tract will be sold at a
discounted price to a partnership group that includes former Gov. Jim
Florio and former Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Christopher Daggett.

The publicly owned land, now appraised at $2.9 million, will be sold
for $1.1 million under an agreement recently reached by the group, the
Jersey City Redevelopment Agency and the Hampshire Redevelopment Co.
An earlier agreement called for the group to pay $1 for the land,
which is contaminated with chromium and other toxins, but the agency
scrapped that plan after a newly hired director raised concerns about
the deal.

The original polluters - PPG Industries Inc. and Public Service
Electric & Gas - have accepted full responsibility, and cleanup work
is now under way at the site, which is bordered by the new Hudson-
Bergen Light Rail line and is near the New Jersey Turnpike and the
Holland Tunnel. The partnership group, which also owns three adjacent
acres, will not take title to the property until the DEP certifies it
as clean.

While some critics have voiced concerns about whether the partnership
group is getting a "sweetheart deal" for the site, Florio defended the
sale. The group plans to put big-box retail stores or warehouses on
the site, but final decision has not been made.

"If there's an interest in getting properties back on the tax rolls,
and it's property nobody wants because everybody's concerned about
being in the chain of title, and you're talking about fairly
substantial costs to clean it up, conceivably you can get it for
below-market price," Florio told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

The developers and redevelopment officials agreed, saying a variety
of factors led to the reduced price, and they also noted that the land
likely will remain contaminated even after the cleanup is completed,
with the toxic soil sealed under a cap of asphalt and other
substances. Jersey City acquired the site after its owner fell behind
on property taxes.

And while the partnership will not pay for the cleanup, it will
closely monitor the process to ensure that the work is done properly.

"I'm staying on top of it to make sure the cleanup is done right when
it's done," said Daggett, the principal of Chadwick Partners, a
consulting company that specializes in the redevelopment of
contaminated sites. "If I add value by the work I do, I should get the
benefit of that."

* * *

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

REPORT BUOYS TOWNSHIP'S HOPE OF MOVING MERCURY

Date: 040324
From: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/

OFFICIALS DON'T EXPECT HILLSBOROUGH TO BE
NAMED SOLE FEDERAL STORAGE SITE

By Cathy Bugman, Star-Ledger Staff, March 24, 2004

Hillsborough officials heartily embraced a federal report released
yesterday stating that the nation's stockpile of toxic mercury - more
than half of which is stored in the township - be consolidated in one
location.

What they said pleased them most is they had reason to believe the
one location would not be Hillsborough, based on prior years of
discussion with environmental officials and state and federal
politicians.

Yesterday's report - a two-volume, 1,000-plus-page tome that
represents the final version of the environmental impact statement -
concludes what officials already were told to expect: That the
consolidation option is the federal government's "preferred
alternative."

The other alternative is to do nothing and keep the 2,883 tons of
mercury just where it has been since the end of World War II, at the
federal depot property on Route 206, or sell it.

At this point, local officials see the consolidation option as
favorable, but they are waiting for the other shoe to drop at the end
of the year, when officials decide where that consolidation site might
be.

"I'm confident it will not be Hillsborough," Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-
7th Dist.) said yesterday in releasing the report, which will be
published Friday in the Federal Register. "I think we made a very
strong case that Hillsborough is not the place to store it. Other
locations - Utah and Nebraska - want the mercury stored there."

He was referring to the interest expressed by the site operators of a
former Utah industrial depot in Tooele and the Hawthorne Army Depot in
Hawthorne, Nev.

Written by officials of the Defense Logistics Agency, an arm of the
Pentagon that manages the Hillsborough site, the report reflects more
than 600 comments from community leaders who have been pushing for the
mercury's removal for four years and answers residents' specific
comments. It also analyzes in detail how it came to find consolidation
as the preferred way to handle the stockpile, citing a combination of
environmental and economic factors.

"It would simplify storage operations and result in economies of
scale (fewer resources would be required to maintain the mercury
inventory)," the report stated.

Aside from Hillsborough, the Defense Department has mercury
stockpiles in Warren, Ohio; New Haven, Ind.; and Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Since the Tennessee location is on property used by the Federal
Department of Energy, that site has been withdrawn from consideration
as a future stockpile location, said John Reinders, who works in the
public affairs office of the Defense Logistics Agency.

The entire report is available to the public on the Web site
http://www.mercuryeis.com.

What happens next is that an announcement will be made at the end of
April indicating whether consolidation is indeed the best way to
handle the nation's stockpile of nearly 5,000 tons of the toxic metal.
Then comes the decision in December on where the consolidation site
will be.

"My only question to them now is: How quickly do the trucks back up?"
Hillsborough Committeeman Anthony Gwiazdowski asked.

Mayor Steven Sireci said he was pleased the process was moving
forward to get the mercury out of the township.

"It's a good sign they're on schedule," he said.

Township Administrator Kevin Davis said he forwarded the report to
township Health Officer Glen Belnay for his review.

* * *

Cathy Bugman works in the Somerset County bureau. She can be reached
at cbu...@starledger.com or at (908) 429-9925.
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger.

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

ARMY PLANS TO TEST VX DESTRUCTION PROCESS

Date: 040324
From: http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/

Associated Press, 3/24/04

Newport, IN - The Army will send samples of VX to laboratories in
Illinois and Maryland to test the process it intends to use to destroy
the deadly nerve agent, officials said.

The tests will determine whether the wastewater resulting from the
nerve agent's destruction is safe to transport from the Newport
Chemical Depot to a final disposal site along the Delaware River in
New Jersey, military officials said.

"Testing these samples is critical to ensuring that we are prepared
to safely destroy the VX at Newport," depot commander Lt. Col. Joseph
Marquart said in a news release Tuesday.

Technicians will extract samples of VX from its carbon steel
containers, the news release said. The samples will be packaged and
escorted to Army laboratories in Edgewood, Md., and contractor
laboratories in Illinois, Marquart said.

The Army will ensure safe transport of the samples, the news release
said.

The VX will be neutralized at the labs and the byproduct will be
tested, the Army said. The hydrolysate would not be allowed to leave
Indiana unless the concentration of VX is no more than 20 parts per
billion.

The military safely shipped VX in 1995 when some containers were
checked to ensure the nerve agent was pure, said Army spokeswoman
Terry Arthur.

A single drop of liquid VX can cause paralysis and death within
minutes. About 1,269 tons of the Cold War-era nerve agent are stored
at the depot north of Terre Haute. The VX was scheduled to be
destroyed by April 2007 under the Chemical Weapons Convention
international treaty.

The Army plans to begin neutralizing the VX at Newport this summer by
mixing it with hot water and sodium hydroxide. The resulting chemical
would be hydrolysate, which scientists compare to liquid drain
cleaner.

Under the Army proposal, the hydrolysate would be shipped to DuPont's
Secure Environmental Treatment facility in Deepwater, NJ, located at
the foot of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. DuPont would break down the
chemicals in the wastewater and dump effluent containing some chemical
byproducts into the Delaware River.

The Army estimates the entire process would take about two years.

More than 500 citizens attended informational sessions conducted last
week by the Army in New Jersey and Delaware and expressed opposition
to the plan, fearing the chemical would pollute the river or might
even reform into VX.

The Army dropped a previous plan to ship the hydrolysate to Dayton,
Ohio, after similar opposition developed there.

"Ohio took a stand and won, and our citizens don't want the Delaware
River further polluted," said John Kearney, spokesman for the Delaware
Clean Air Council. "We don't want VX waste transported across the
country to our community."

* * *

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

ACTION ALERT VX NERVE AGENT

Date: 24 Mar 2004
From: "Delaware Riverkeeper Network" {cla...@delawareriverkeeper.org}

WRITE THE ARMY NOW!

VX NERVE AGENT BYPRODUCT (HYDROLYSATE) IS COMING FROM INDIANA ACROSS
OHIO THROUGH PENNSYLVANIA TO NEW JERSEY in tank trucks on our public
highways via Route 80 through the Delaware Water Gap and North Jersey
to Route 280 to the NJ Turnpike at Newark, through Central Jersey,
skirting the Pinelands, to the Dupont Chemical Company at Deepwater in
Salem County. There Dupont plans to treat the hydrolysate further and
dump it into the Delaware River, threatening the residents of
Delaware, Pennsylvania, and south Jersey and all life in the River and
Bay (and ultimately, the Ocean) to the effects of the dangerous and
little-understood breakdown components.

THIS DISPOSAL PROCESS AMOUNTS TO A SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT THAT WILL
EXPOSE PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO UNNECESSARY RISK. A plan to
destroy the VX Nerve Agent on site, at the Newport, Indiana Chemical
Agent Disposal Facility has been studied and accepted by the community
there as the safest option. This option also avoids the dangers that
accompany a long transport of VX hydrolysate which contains dangerous
constituents and can contain any amount under 20 ppb of VX nerve
agent.

To review new Dupont studies released on the proposal go to
http://www.set.dupont.com. (click on SET-U.S. Dept. of Defense
Initiatives)

WRITE THE ARMY NOW TO PROTEST THE DUPONT PLAN, tell them to destroy
these weapons on site and avoid further risk and pollution:

Newport Chemical Stockpile Office
POB 279
Newport, Indiana 47966
Fax: 765-492-4475

Letters are due April 19

Please copy:

Delaware Riverkeeper Network,
POB 326
Washington Crossing, PA 18977

More information: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/action.html

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

NJPIRG ASKS YOU TO SUPPORT ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Date: 24 Mar 2004
From: "Dena Mottola, NJPIRG Executive Director" {De...@njpirg.org}

Dear NJPIRG supporter,

NJPIRG is working to reduce unhealthy power plant pollution, slow the
rising costs of electricity bills, and help protect our state from
blackouts by passing statewide energy efficiency standards. The state
legislature is currently considering a bill that would set minimum
levels of efficiency for common products sold in our state, making use
of existing technologies like those in Energy Star products.

Please take a moment to thank Assemblywoman Watson-Coleman for
sponsoring the Energy Efficiency Standards Act, which would save
consumers more than $1.6 billion dollars and avoid thousands of tons
of power plant pollution. Then, ask your friends and family to help by
forwarding this email to them.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=348&id4=ES

BACKGROUND

Energy efficiency is the quickest, cheapest and cleanest way to
reduce power plant pollution, stop our electricity bills from going
through the roof, and avoid blackouts. The legislation would set
minimum levels of efficiency for common products sold in our state,
making use of existing technologies like those in Energy Star
products.

The bill sets statewide standards for ten new products that are
widely used but do not currently have standards, thereby taking the
most wasteful products off the market. The products included are:
traffic signals, exit signs, digital cable boxes, torchiere lamps,
unit and duct heaters, commercial clothes washers, packaged air
conditioners, commercial refrigerators and freezers, and dry type
transformers.

All of the products have a wide variety of efficient models on the
marketplace that already meet the standard, and all the efficient
products will save customers money over the life of the product.

Energy efficiency standards will specifically help New Jersey by:

* Increasing reliability: By 2010, the standards would reduce peak
electricity demand by 240MW, the demand of roughly 240,000 households.
Reducing demand on the electrical grid avoids costly upgrades and
increases reliability.

* Saving us money: By 2020, the standards would save New Jersey homes
and businesses over $1.5 billion by reducing their monthly electricity
bills.

* Reducing power plant pollution: By 2020, the efficiency standards
would reduce global warming pollution from power plants by 240,000
tons, the equivalent to removing almost 190,000 cars off the road.

* * *

Dena Mottola
NJPIRG Executive Director
De...@njpirg.org
http://www.NJPIRG.org

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

ENVIRONMENTAL, PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECTS GET GRANTS

Date: 040324
From: http://www.app.com/

By Kirk Moore, Asbury Park Press Staff Writer, 3/23/04

Dover Township - Seven environmental and public education projects,
ranging from nature trails to teacher-training programs, will receive
"mini grants" totaling $29,465 from the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program.

The annual grant program, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, was created to involve more people in protecting Barnegat Bay
and its adjoining watershed area, which covers almost all of Ocean
County and parts of southern Monmouth County.

Scientists say water quality in the 42-mile-long bay is directly
affected by human activity on land in the watershed, where stormwater
runoff carries pollution into streams that flow to the bay. While some
projects funded by the grants are at the water's edge, others focus on
educating people about the potential impacts of everyday activity on
land.

The grant recipients are:

- The Long Beach Island-based group Alliance for a Living Ocean and
its "Eco Tour of a Barrier Island" program that stresses how
individuals can help protect islands and the marine environment.

- Dianne M. Nast and Anastasia Nast Roda for their brochure, "It's
More Than a Vacation Spot," to educate visitors about the Barnegat
Bay estuary and how they can help protect it.

- Save Barnegat Bay and the group's restoration and conservation
programs at Island Beach State Park. The group sponsors dune grass
plantings, osprey nesting studies and nest platforms and surveys of
eelgrass beds and encroaching macroalgae in nearby bay waters.

- The Ocean County Vocational-Technical School MATES program's
Barnegat Bay watershed teacher-researcher project, which teaches
educators to integrate ongoing scientific research into classroom
curriculum.

- New Jersey Society of American Foresters to design and build a
"watershed friendly" demonstration garden at the state Forest
Resource Education Center in Jackson. The garden will show how
gardeners and homeowners can use native plant species and "best
management practices" to benefit wildlife and prevent storm water
pollution runoff and erosion.

- Ocean County Soil Conservation District to sponsor the annual
Environmental Educators Roundtable again in 2005. Held in several
workshops around Ocean County, the program shows teachers how they
can use environmental science, history and folklore from the
Barnegat Bay region as teaching tools in their classrooms.

- Natural Resource Education Foundation of New Jersey, to refurbish
trails and install interpretive signs and educational displays and
improve disabled accessibility at the Lighthouse Center in
Waretown.

* * *

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

2004 RAMAPO RIVER WATERSHED CONFERENCE - APR 23

Date: 24 Mar 2004
From: Geoff Welch {gwe...@optonline.net}

The Ninth Annual

RAMAPO RIVER WATERSHED CONFERENCE

Friday April 23, at Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Rd, Mahwah NJ, Room SC 136

1) 9:30: Coffee

2) 10:00: Greetings, Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland County Executive

4) 10:20: Christopher P. St. Lawrence, Town of Ramapo Supervisor:
Ramapo River Intermunicipal Council

5) 10:40: Dr. Nicholas Christie-Blick, Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory: Tree Ring History of Local Precipitation

6) 11:15: Sue Scher, Ramapo College: A History of Camps and Lakes in
Harriman State Park

7) 11:45: Dr. John Roebig, LMS: Wetland and Riparian Restoration
Techniques

8) 12:10: Chuck Stead, Ramapo College & Geoff Welch, Ramapo River
Committee- Report on Nakoma Brook

9) 12:30: LUNCH BREAK

10) 1:30: Guy Robinson, Paleontologist: Why did Mastodons Become
Extinct?

11) 2:00: Caroline R. Phillipuk, GIS Coordinator Center for Remote
Sensing and Spatial Analysis, Rutgers: Highland's Map Server

12) 2:30: Jeff Tittel, Sierra Club: Ramapo River Reclassification

13) 2:50: Jason Shea, US Army Corps of Engineers: Watershed Ecological
Restoration Projects

14) 3:20: Tom Gilbert, Highlands Coalition: New Jersey Highlands Task
Force Action Plan Update

15) 3:40: Don Distante: United Water Update-not confirmed

16) 3:30: Roundtable: Development and Sewage in the Ramapo Watershed

17) 4:30 Wine and Cheese Reception

Registration requested. For information, email: gwe...@optonline.net

Presented by The Ramapo River Committee
and
The Institute for Environmental Studies at Ramapo College

Kindly Sponsored by:
George F. Becker Jr. MD CDF
The Rockland County Conservation Association
The Sterling Forest Partnership
Town of Ramapo
Village of Suffern
Village of Sloatsburg

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

BUY GREEN AND SAVE GREEN PURCHASING CONFERENCE - JUN 11

Date: 24 Mar 2004
From: "Jeffrey Brown" {glj...@verizon.net}

The NJ Sustainable Schools Network is one of the sponsors of this
conference, is serving on the planning committee, and is organizing a
schools-based panel:

"BUY GREEN AND SAVE GREEN: PURCHASING STRATEGIES FOR
NEW JERSEY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS."

To be held at:
Rutgers University Busch Campus Center
Piscataway, NJ
Friday, June 11, 2004, 8:00am-3:45pm

Join us for the Buy Green and Save Green 2004 Purchasing Conference
for New Jersey Local Governments and School Districts, June 11, 2004,
at the Busch Campus Student Center of Rutgers University. The
Conference will feature: more than 15 New Jersey presenters from local
governments and school districts who are leading the way, and will
review cost savings and contract specifications; vendors showcasing
technologies, services and products in related fields; time to learn
and share; and a raffle of products and services. Sign up for a
lunchtime tour of the Rutgers Dining Services food recycling system.
CEU's are available, and a specially developed Resource Guide will be
distributed as well.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) is defined as:
"Purchasing products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect
on human health and the environment when compared with competing
products or services that serve the same purpose. The product or
service comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production,
manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance,
or disposal (Federal EO 13101, Section 201)." EPP includes purchase of
items ranging from toner cartridges to furniture to landscaping
material; to energy, building design and maintenance. Major EPP
benefits include reduced economic, health and legal consequences.

OUR CONFERENCE GOALS are to explain and review what Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing is, why it's important, and how it can be easily
integrated into routine decision making in local governments and
school districts.

To register and for more information:
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~envpurchase/eppconf/