GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 030129
Garden State EnviroNet
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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{*} GARDEN STATE LEGISLATIVE REPORT
{*} GERALDINE R. DODGE FOUNDATION AWARDS $5,920,000
{*} PA. FILES CHALLENGE TO CLEAN-AIR RULES
{*} PACE OF SUPERFUND WORK EVOKES QUESTION OF BIAS
{*} STUDY AIMS TO CREATE MEADOWLANDS PARK
{*} STATE SIGNS CONTRACT TO BUY HAMBURG MOUNTAIN
{*} MCGREEVEY TO DOUBLE NUMBER OF TRANSIT VILLAGES
{*} HUNTERDON 'SMART GROWTH' MEETINGS SET
{*} WINDY ACRES UPDATE - A CALL TO ACTION
{*} NRPA ANNUAL MEETING - FEB 6
{*} LAKE HOPATCONG COMMISSION AT FUNDING CROSSROADS
{*} LAKE MANAGEMENT TRAINING - FEB 7-8
{*} MARINE REGULATORS CONSIDER CLOSING AREAS TO FISHING
{*} PCBS IN FISH PROMPT A NEW HEALTH ALERT FROM NJ
{*} DESALINATION IN NEW JERSEY
{*} WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM
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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.
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GARDEN STATE LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Date: 030127
From: din...@gsenet.org
[Full report at: http://www.gsenet.org/legislate.php]
A1375 Provides for posting of radon testing results in public schools.
A2165/S1433 Revises process for governmental energy aggregation.
A3188/S2252 Allows counties, municipalities and school districts to
join with the State under certain circumstances for acquisition of
alternative electrical energy systems.
A3203 Allows credit against corporation business tax or gross income
tax for 50% of cost of constructing facilities for sale of certain
alternate fuels.
ACR153 Proposes Constitutional Amendment to authorize use of already
dedicated Corporation Business Tax Revenues for grants and loans for
remediation of hazardous substance discharges.
S563/A424 Requires applicant for open space preservation moneys to
provide statement concerning deer management on lands to be preserved
using those moneys.
S696/A2851 Appropriates $30 million from Hazardous Discharge Fund of
1986 to Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund for cleanup of
contaminated sites; cancels previous appropriation; replaces canceled
appropriation with $30 million from 1996 Environmental Cleanup Fund.
S1478/A1948 Requires humane treatment of calves raised for veal.
S1969/A2897 Requires DEP to find transport and disposal of
polychlorinated biphenyls contaminated material in coastal zone as
inconsistent with State's coastal management program.
S2250 Requires Division of Building and Construction to conduct
analysis of State buildings to determine energy and cost savings
through use of alternative electrical energy equipment or technology.
S2251 Establishes advisory council to study Sudden Oak Death.
SR107 Memorializes EPA to compel the GEMS Trust to construct on- site
wastewater treatment facility to remediate the GEMS landfill.
SR115 Memorializes Congress to enact Highlands Stewardship Act.
Primary Sponsor: Coniglio, Joseph
SR117 Expresses NJ's opposition to EPA's proposed changes to toxic air
emission standards by certain manufacturers.
For further information about any of this legislation or nominations,
please visit the New Jersey Legislature website at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/
- - -
Bambi Dingman - Associate Editor - din...@gsenet.org
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GERALDINE R. DODGE FOUNDATION AWARDS $5,920,000
Date: 030127
From: rpe...@grdodge.org
74 ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE RECIPIENTS,
MOST ARE IN NEW JERSEY
January 8, 2003
Morristown - The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation announced today the
awarding of $5,920,000 to 74 organizations in New Jersey and the
Northeast. This year's grants reflect the Foundation's deepening focus
on land-use and natural resource sustainability issues in the state. A
majority of the grants seek to improve the quality of life in the
region, and especially in the Garden State, by protecting open space,
helping municipalities plan for growth, and assisting our largest
cities with livability issues.
Robert Perry, who directs the Foundation's environmental grant
making, explained, "Our approach is to help a broad front of
organizations across the state that work to promote smart growth,
which, to paraphrase a description fashioned by the Natural Resources
Defense Council, consists of those efforts that reinvigorate our
cities, bring new development that is compact, walkable, and transit-
oriented, and preserves the best of our landscape for future
generations."
Christopher J. Elliman, the President of the Foundation's Board of
Trustees, emphasized a sense of urgency in this work. "New Jerseyans
have made it clear that they are concerned about the erosion of their
quality of life due to escalating sprawl and some of its most apparent
consequences: increasing road congestion, diminishing water quality
and supply, and shrinking areas of open space," he stated. "New Jersey
will be the first slate to reach full build-out, and that makes it
imperative to sensibly preserve open space now, and to protect
precious natural resources," he continued.
David Grant, the Foundation's Executive Director, affirmed, "New
Jersey is losing thousands of acres a year to development. A
significant portion of these grants, therefore, focuses on helping
municipalities improve their planning with expert technical
assistance. Most New Jersey towns will make the right decisions about
their long-term futures if provided with first-rate resources," he
said. In addition, most towns in the Garden State would likely benefit
over the long term by beginning to think more regionally. "The state's
environmental problems don't stop at each municipal border," added
Grant. Several of the Foundation's grants assist work embodying this
view.
The New Jersey offices of The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for
Public Land each received $250,000 in 2002, the second of three
payments as part of their special Strategic Partnership grants awarded
in 2001.
In addition to supporting anti-sprawl and smart growth measures
around the state, the Foundation also assisted groups that work to
protect the state's natural resources: air, water, forests and
wildlife. In addition, assistance went to several groups that inform
the public about environmental issues and solutions, as well as to a
few whose vision and research are creating the knowledge and
leadership that will help shape a sustainable future.
* * *
Contact:
Robert Perry, 973-540-8443 x102, rpe...@grdodge.org
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
163 Madison Avenue
Post Office Box 1239
Morristown, New Jersey 07962-1239
Telephone: 973-540-8442
Facsimile: 973-540-1211
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PA. FILES CHALLENGE TO CLEAN-AIR RULES
Date: 030128
From: http://www.philly.com/
IT IS THE FIRST BIG COAL STATE TO PETITION THE REGULATIONS, HEATEDLY
DEBATED IN THE U.S. SENATE.
By Tom Avril, Inquirer Staff Writer, Jan. 28, 2003
Pennsylvania filed a challenge yesterday to controversial new clean-
air regulations adopted by the Bush administration, joining nine
Northeastern states that did so last month.
The state filed its petition in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Washington, less than a week after Gov. Rendell took office.
Environmentalists hailed what they saw as a difference in philosophy
between Rendell and the former Republican administrations of Tom Ridge
and Mark Schweiker.
But the state Department of Environmental Protection took pains to
point out that David Hess, the agency's former secretary, already was
considering taking such action.
Pennsylvania became the first big coal state to challenge the rules,
which were the subject of a bitter partisan fight in the U.S. Senate
earlier this month.
At issue is a set of complex regulations called "new source review" -
viewed by clean-air advocates as the nation's chief tool for cracking
down on aging power plants, refineries and other industry. The rules
require industrial plants to adopt the latest pollution-control
technology whenever they undergo significant modifications.
An oft-cited analogy is building codes. That is, whenever owners make
significant renovations on an old house, they are typically required
to add electrical outlets or take other steps to bring it up to code.
Factory owners, meanwhile, can avoid having to install new pollution
controls if they show that their renovations consist of "routine
maintenance."
Critics contend the rule changes will worsen air pollution; EPA
administrator Christie Whitman denies that, saying the new rules are
simpler and will make it easier for business to comply.
Pennsylvania is in a unique position, as both the recipient of power-
plant pollution from the Midwest and the exporter of industrial
pollution to New Jersey and New York.
"We're at the crossroads of air pollution," said Charles McPhedran, a
former EPA attorney who handled new-source-review cases who now works
for the advocacy group PennFuture.
"New source review is one of the most important tools we have to
reduce air pollution...We need to be involved in this debate,"
McPhedran said.
Still to be seen is how aggressive a challenge Pennsylvania will
mount against the rules. The state filed its petition separately from
the other nine states, and thus will file separate briefs by a March 3
deadline, when the rules are to take effect.
"We'll have to see the details to see just how much of the
regulations they'll challenge, but the fact that they've brought the
challenge is significant good news," said Michael Fiorentino, chief
counsel of the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council.
Kathleen McGinty, nominated by Rendell to be DEP secretary, said the
state took a separate approach so it could best represent its
interests.
"While we share the same concerns other states have about EPA's rule
changes, we want our own seat at the table to help resolve these
issues," she said in a news release.
Among her concerns are "that Pennsylvania businesses could be
responsible for the clean-up of pollution carrying into the
commonwealth from other upwind states, placing such businesses at a
competitive disadvantage."
* * *
Contact staff writer Tom Avril at 215-854-2430 or
tav...@phillynews.com
(c)1995-2002 Knight Ridder Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.
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PACE OF SUPERFUND WORK EVOKES QUESTION OF BIAS
Date: 28 Jan 2003
From: "Jim Young" {jfy...@erols.com}
SOME IN CAMDEN FEAR THAT A GLOUCESTER CITY SITE HAS PRIORITY.
THE EPA DEFENDED ITS METHODS.
By Kaitlin Gurney, Inquirer Suburban Staff, Jan. 28, 2003
It is a tale of two cities, one Superfund site, but two cleanups.
In Gloucester City, dozens of environmental workers are busy at a
craterlike site in the shadow of the Walt Whitman Bridge, where
employees of the Welsbach Co. gas mantle factory once dipped lantern
wicks in thorium - a radioactive element - to make them glow more
brightly. The cleanup to extract the tainted dirt has consumed a block
of homes along Essex Street and the community swimming pool where
children played last summer.
In Camden, a little more than a mile away, the fenced-in grounds of
the old General Gas Mantle factory and the boarded-up homes along
Arlington Street lie dormant, waiting for Environmental Protection
Agency workers to return. Frustrated city officials and residents of
the beleaguered Waterfront South neighborhood say they wonder whether
that will ever happen.
The last time the EPA did work at the Camden site was more than a
year ago, when a wrecking ball demolished the factory. Since then, the
federal Superfund budget has been slashed, and the Gloucester City
project is taking more time - and money - than EPA officials
projected.
The project, once estimated to cost $34 million, ballooned to $50
million, in part because EPA scientists discovered that the thorium
traveled far into the Newton Creek bed. The two gas mantle plants,
which opened in the 1890s, closed in 1941, by the time electricity
powered most homes and streetlights. Their cleanup was combined into
one Superfund project in 1996.
"We fully appreciate the desire to do the right thing by Gloucester,
but our concern is when the EPA will do the right thing by Camden,"
Camden city planner Charles Lyons said.
"Right across city limits, there are other folk who are being
helped," Lyons said. "And the fact that folks in Camden are poor,
black and Hispanic and the folk in Gloucester are working-class and
white may be coincidental. But others say maybe it's not."
EPA spokesman Rich Cahill said the agency had no intention of halting
the cleanup in either city.
"We started the action in Camden because we go first to the highest-
risk portion of a site, and that was the facility there," he said.
"Once we demolished the building, we went to the next-highest risk,
which was in Gloucester City."
Cahill said the EPA hesitated to set a firm date for workers to
return to Camden and remove the thorium on the factory grounds and in
the backyards and alleyways of boarded-up houses along nearby
Arlington Street. But this week, EPA workers will fence in the
contaminated soil in the backyards to keep it from spreading, he said.
Camden officials have secured money from the state Department of
Community Affairs to raze the Arlington Street homes, where squatters
and prostitutes still slip in to sleep at night, but that project has
been stalled by radioactive hot spots in the alleyways.
"They've neglected us," said Pat Mulligan of the Heart of Camden, a
housing advocacy group. "They've focused on Gloucester, which is
needed. But Arlington Street is our entryway, and if it's blocked off,
it stymies any redevelopment project for South Camden."
But on the border of the construction site in Gloucester City,
residents say they wish the EPA wasn't showering them with so much
attention.
John Hezlep, a night-shift shipper at the Wonder Bread Co. in
Bellmawr, lives just a house away from the cleanup on Essex Street,
and he struggles to sleep as cranes and trucks drive in and out of the
site.
The EPA has purchased five of his neighbors' homes and demolished
several in the cleanup.
The father of three said he was not sure whether to believe the
scientists who say the radioactivity stopped just short of his
basement. Officials had always given assurances that the community
swimming pool across the street was safe, but Hezlep said an EPA
worker had told him privately that he would not have allowed his
children to swim there.
"There's a big tarp attached to the house next door. It's truly
incredible," Hezlep said. "They say it stops before it gets here, but
I want to know how they're sure.
"Sometimes I feel like they should have just left it all alone. All
these years it just sat there underneath us, and everyone was fine."
Gloucester City officials hasten to assure residents that the EPA is
taking good care of them. This is the last of several federally funded
cleanups to take place in the working-class shipping town, emergency
management coordinator Bob Saunders said.
Camden is prepared to start some cleanup on its own, Lyons said. The
state contractor who will demolish the Arlington Street houses could
scrape the alleyways clean and bring the contaminated soil to
Gloucester City, if the EPA would accept and transport it, he said.
* * *
Contact staff writer Kaitlin Gurney at 856-779-3910 or
kgu...@phillynews.com.
(c)1995-2002 Knight Ridder Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.
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STUDY AIMS TO CREATE MEADOWLANDS PARK
Date: 030128
From: http://www.nj.com/
OFFICIALS HOPE TO STITCH TOGETHER SEPARATE PARCELS
TO CREATE 8,400-ACRE OASIS OF OPEN SPACE
By Ana M. Alaya, Star-Ledger Staff, January 28, 2003
Hoping to halt development on the dwindling open marshes of the
Hackensack Meadowlands, federal and state officials kicked off a $5
million wetlands restoration study yesterday.
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman said the study will guide development of an
8,400-acre park in the remaining open spaces of the Meadowlands,
creating an urban wildlife and nature preserve 10 times the size of
New York's Central Park.
The Meadowlands park, which ultimately could cost between $200
million and $300 million, would actually patch together and connect
existing wildlife habitat preserves, nature trails and riverside
parks, many of which abut existing warehouses and buildings, and would
require toxic waste remediation at some sites.
"This is an historic day," Rothman said after a hearing on the study
at the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission yesterday.
"The federal, state and local governments have locked in our 8,400-
acre environmental park and set it on an inevitable road to becoming
reality," he said. "We're not just tilting at windmills. This is
really going to happen."
The new study dovetails with the commission's soon-to-be- released
master plan revision, which bars development on the 8,400 acres, which
includes the Hackensack River and smaller waterways.
The envisioned park also would include the 600-acre Empire tract in
Carlstadt, where the Virginia-based Mills Corp. once proposed to
develop a mega-mall with offices and hotels. Now the company is
bidding on redeveloping the Continental Arena site in East Rutherford
instead.
A lawyer for Mills said that if the company is shut out of the
Continental site, it would continue with plans to build in Carlstadt.
But Rothman said the company won't get too far.
"We expect that the Empire tract will be owned by the New Jersey
Meadowlands Commission in a handful of years, either with a land swap,
or through the willing buying and selling of the land, or through the
condemnation process," Rothman said yesterday.
The wetlands restoration study, to be conducted by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will focus
on determining which sites can be remediated and propose which sites
are suitable for recreational use.
Of the 8,400 acres, 3,300 are under the control of the commission, in
addition to 1,600 acres of waterways.
Environmentalists said the park plan would be an ideal way to take
advantage of the existing patchwork of marshes, tidal creeks and open
spaces in the 32-square-mile Meadowlands region, covering parts of 14
municipalities in Bergen and Hudson counties.
"Most of the area is operating at a very high level biologically,"
said Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, who runs boat tours
through the Meadowlands.
Robert Ceberio, the commission's executive director, said land
preservation would be balanced with new building projects in 12 to 15
uplands redevelopment areas, including one plan to regreen abandoned
dumps with golf courses.
"The most important thing is to have redevelopment areas where
infrastructure already exists. The emphasis is on smart growth,"
Ceberio said.
Officials admit, however, that it may not be economically feasible to
turn all the remaining parcels of open space into public space, and
they anticipate the possibility of condemning land or fighting legal
battles with private property owners.
Ceberio said the commission already has offered $10,200 per acre to
some of the owners, a price that some property owners claim is
ridiculously low. One owner, whom Ceberio declined to identify, said
his land is worth $50,000 an acre.
Tom Bruinooge, a lawyer who represents several developers and
landowners in the Meadowlands, said property owners are at a
disadvantage because the commission is negotiating land deals at the
same time it is changing the master plan to bar development of
wetlands, thereby making the land less valuable. He said some wetlands
parcels adjacent to dry land might be worth up to $500,000 an acre if
they were filled.
"Property rights are severely affected when an arm of the government
is able to destroy some of that bundle of rights," Bruinooge said.
* * *
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.
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STATE SIGNS CONTRACT TO BUY HAMBURG MOUNTAIN
Date: 030128
From: http://www.nj.com/
$7.1M DEAL SAVES VERNON TRACT FROM LARGE-SCALE SKI RESORT DEVELOPMENT
By Jim Lockwood, Star-Ledger Staff, January 28, 2003
A contract for New Jersey's $7.1 million acquisition of Hamburg
Mountain in Vernon to spare it from a large-scale ski resort
development has finally been signed, seven months after it was
announced by Gov. James E. McGreevey, officials said yesterday.
The transaction was unveiled June 3 by McGreevey during a ceremony in
Vernon but a contract was actually signed on Jan. 21, due to months of
behind-the-scenes haggling over the agreement's fine print, said
Bradley Campbell, commissioner of the Department of Environmental
Protection.
Under the deal, the state's Green Acres program is acquiring 1,849
acres of mountaintop from Intrawest Corp. The land had been approved
by Vernon for condos, townhouses and a golf course as part of the
firm's plans to convert its Mountain Creek ski resort into a world-
class tourist destination.
The contract has New Jersey buying 451 acres from Intrawest and the
resort donating to the state an adjacent 1,398 acres, most of which
was previously owned by the state and sold to a prior resort owner in
1986 with deed restrictions to keep the land undeveloped.
Now, the mountaintop will remain a forest - with no golf course or
housing - and will be managed by the state Division of Parks and
Forest, Campbell said.
In turn, Intrawest gets millions of dollars to proceed with the rest
of its plans for an upscale tourist village at the base of the
mountain along Route 94, and an end to legal battles from
environmental groups that opposed development atop the mountain.
"I think it's both a tribute to the commitment the governor made to
preserve Hamburg Mountain" and his goal of saving the Highlands as
outlined in his recent State of the State Address, Campbell said.
Intrawest representatives could not be reached for comment.
Environmentalists praised the deal as one that reverses the 1986 sale
of state land to the former ski resort owner.
An environmental coalition, including the New Jersey Conservation
Foundation, Audubon Club and Association of Environmental Commissions,
the Sierra Club of New Jersey and Environmental Defense, filed several
lawsuits against the resort and had argued, with some success in
court, that the deed-restricted land could not be developed.
"We're very pleased on a number of fronts," said Michelle Byers of
the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "Ultimately, the deed
restrictions on top of the mountain were upheld. That was a major
victory we had. This acquisition is the culmination of a long battle
to preserve Hamburg Mountain, and now that land is going back into the
public trust."
Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club of New Jersey said, "The most
important thing is we get back the mountain and land that should have
never been given away."
Much of the delay on the transaction involved spelling out
Intrawest's reserve rights to continue using the mountaintop for
skiing operations, they said. The resort will be allowed to expand ski
trails by some 73 acres, but will need state DEP approval, Campbell
said.
Intrawest also wanted the environmental groups to forsake any future
"third-party" legal challenges and wanted to solely manage the
mountaintop, Tittel said. But the environmentalists rejected both
points and prevailed, he said.
"Those were the big stumbling blocks that have been worked out,"
Tittel said.
Technically, the state did not need the approval of the environmental
groups to acquire the land, but their approval was sought in exchange
for ending the lawsuits, which now will be settled or become moot
under the contract.
"It's good that the environmentalists are happy with the outcome,"
said state Sen. Robert Littell (R-Sussex), a key architect of the
transaction. "It's a great thing for Sussex County and Vernon. It's
going to be a world-class tourist attraction."
The state also has indicated it intends to spend some $4 million over
several years upgrading Route 94 to accommodate the resort's expansion
plans, though this goal was not formalized in the contract.
After the prior owner of Vernon Valley/Great Gorge ski resort and
Action Park waterpark went bankrupt in the late 1990s, Vancouver-based
Intrawest acquired the resort in 1998 and renamed it Mountain Creek.
Vernon Township then approved a massive development at the resort,
that called for a golf course on the deed-restricted land and housing
next to it, as well as villages along Route 94 and in the valley.
Those initial plans called for 1,600 units of townhouses, condominiums
and hotels, a mountaintop golf course and up to 200,000 square feet of
retail space in three villages at the 2,145-acre resort.
Intrawest has since constructed the Black Creek townhouses at the
bottom of the mountain. The firm now plans to proceed with building
"The Appalachian Lodge," a 105-unit, four-story hotel with a
restaurant, retail shops, conference facility and a 90-space
underground parking garage on 17 acres on Route 94, according to a
recent planning board application that referenced settling one of the
environmental lawsuits.
* * *
Jim Lockwood covers Sussex County. He can be reached at
jloc...@starledger.com or (973) 383-0516.
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.
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MCGREEVEY TO DOUBLE NUMBER OF TRANSIT VILLAGES
Date: 030128
From: http://www.state.nj.us/
GOVERNOR, ACTING COMMISSIONER CALL METUCHEN TRANSIT VILLAGE A MODEL
FOR SMART GROWTH; PRESENT BOROUGH WITH $600,000 FOR UPGRADES
January 27, 2003
Metuchen - Reinforcing his commitment to smart growth planning,
Governor James E. McGreevey and Acting Transportation Commissioner
Jack Lettiere today announced that the State will seek to double the
amount of transit villages over the next year. They also presented the
Borough of Metuchen with a $600,000 check for improvements to its
transit village.
"In order to improve our quality of life and to combat sprawl, we
must implement smart growth planning that includes the expansion of
transit villages," said McGreevey. "Over the next year, our goal will
be to double the number of transit villages in New Jersey from seven
to fourteen, with Metuchen being our first step."
"We're very pleased to present this check to the Borough of
Metuchen," said Lettiere. "Mayor O'Brien and Borough officials have
not only made a strong commitment to the betterment of their
community, but also to relieving congestion on our roads and improving
safety for pedestrians. Transit Villages, like Metuchen's, are an
integral component for the Governor's Smart Growth initiative."
"Governor McGreevey's visit to Metuchen to announce upgrades to our
Transit Village status is greatly appreciated," said Metuchen Mayor Ed
O'Brien. "It will add to our efforts to promote our transportation hub
not only for the people of Metuchen but for a large portion of Central
Jersey who use our station."
"As a former councilwoman and long-time resident of Metuchen, I've
participated in promoting the township's long-standing commitment to
ensuring pedestrian safety and promoting alternative means of
transportation," said Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex. "Metuchen
has done much to make environmentally friendly modes of transportation
like walking and bicycling viable choices for its citizens, and the
money spent today by the state confirms that offering alternatives to
automobile traffic benefits a municipality in so many ways."
"Residents in this small, commuter community already rely upon the
train station to get to and from work," said Barnes, D-Middlesex.
"Creating a transit village around the existing Metuchen Train Station
will increase residents' access to the station and increase train
ridership. Like most of Middlesex County, Metuchen struggles with
traffic congestion on a daily basis. Encouraging residents to use
public transportation would get cars off the road but help people
travel to work, to school, or to visit friends and family."
"Metuchen's charm lies within its historic houses and quaint downtown
district," said Diegnan, D-Middlesex. "Once created, the transit
village would preserve the town's historic ambiance while addressing
its traffic congestion problem. This generous state grant will help
move construction of the transit village along without placing any
additional burden on Metuchen commuters or residents. It is a win-win
situation for the town and those who call it home."
THE STATE'S TRANSIT VILLAGE PROGRAM:
The State's Transit Village program partners communities with 10
State agencies to help implement redevelopment and smart growth goals.
The $600,000 awarded to the Borough today will fund the follow
measures: flashing pedestrian crosswalk signals; traffic calming
improvements for Central Avenue; bike lanes; pedestrian bridge for
Myrtle Park; three new bus shelters; and new bike racks.
The Transit Village program is designed to spur economic development,
urban revitalization and private-sector investment around passenger
rail stations. A designated Transit Village is a community with a bus,
train, light rail or ferry station that has developed a plan to
achieve its goals.
A municipality must demonstrate a commitment to smart growth planning
and transit-oriented development, as well as a commitment to maintain
the architectural history of the area, and create housing, cultural
and commercial opportunities within walking distance of the facility.
Metuchen joins seven other municipalities that have the Transit
Village designation. The other municipalities are Morristown,
Pleasantville, Rutherford, South Amboy, South Orange, Riverside and
Rahway.
The Transit Village initiative seeks to provide much-needed
congestion relief on New Jersey roadways through the promotion of
public transit expansion and partnerships with the private sector.
Municipalities designated as Transit Villages will be given priority
consideration for funding and technical assistance by the
participating agencies.
Other participating agencies include, the NJ Commerce and Economic
Growth Commission, NJ Department of Community Affairs, NJ
Redevelopment Authority, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, NJ
State Council on the Arts, NJ Economic Development Authority, NJ
Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and the NJ Office of Smart Growth.
The Governor's Commitment to Combating Sprawl: In his State of the
State address, Governor McGreevey outlined ways the State can help
target new development to urban centers and older suburbs, control
sprawl, and protect the State's most valuable natural resources,
including:
Preserving 20,000 acres of farmland a year to preserve rural areas.
Creating or upgrading 200 local parks and adding at least two state
parks in the next three years and planting 100,000 new trees across
the Garden State. Devoting at least an additional $100 million over
the next three years - a 15 percent increase - to open space
protection in areas such as the Highlands. Creating an incentive for
conservation by implementing a limited time capital gains tax waiver
for landowners who sell their property to the State's open space
program.
The Governor also stated his unequivocal commitment to combating
over-development and sprawl by giving local governments the power they
need to fight developers and protect their residents, including:
Empowering towns with the legal and zoning tools to control and
manage future development. Allowing municipalities to impose a one-
year building moratorium. Establishing impact fees so that developers,
not taxpayers, bear the burdens for the cost of new roads and schools.
Making county and regional planning authorities more effective and
professional since the negative impacts of development are not limited
to the boundaries of individual towns.
* * *
Contact: Micah Rasmussen 609-777-2600
State of New Jersey Governor's Office
PO Box 004
Trenton, NJ 08625
Copyright (c) State of New Jersey, 2002
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
HUNTERDON 'SMART GROWTH' MEETINGS SET
Date: 030128
From: http://www.nj.com/
By Jean Mansur, Star-Ledger Staff, January 28, 2003
The Hunterdon County Planning Board is holding two open meetings this
week in Raritan Township as part of its "smart growth" initiative to
guide future development.
A meeting today concerns natural resources, and a session Thursday
will focus on land use. Both are scheduled for 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the
meeting room of the Hunterdon County Administration Building, on Route
12.
The meetings, part of the county's effort to develop a new regional
growth management plan, are open to municipal officials and the
public.
The county has received a $144,000 grant from the state to revise the
growth plan it produced in 1986.
At the meeting of the Smart Growth Natural Resources Committee this
afternoon, the planning board staff plans to unveil a computer-based
model that rates areas of the county in terms of their environmental
sensitivity.
The computer program incorporates information and maps showing stream
corridors, groundwater recharge areas, underground water supplies and
habitats for threatened species, said Caroline Armstrong, principal
planner for the county.
The information can be used by local planning boards and
environmental commissions to analyze the natural resources in their
communities and decide how to protect them, she said.
On Thursday, the Smart Growth Land Use Committee will review a set of
goals developed by the planning board for its new growth management
plan, Armstrong said. The goals include protecting natural resources,
enhancing community character and ensuring efficient development
patterns.
* * *
Jean Mansur covers Hunterdon County. She can be reached at jman
s...@starledger.com or (908) 782-8326.
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WINDY ACRES UPDATE - A CALL TO ACTION
Date: 28 Jan 2003
From: "The Clinton Township Community Coalition" {jdo...@eclipse.net}
========================
CTCC: Windy Acres UPDATE
------------------------
A Call to Action
========================
Right now, the fate of Windy Acres rests in the hands of Governor
McGreevey and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. We can
all help to get the Governor and DEP to do the right thing. Here's
how.
Some time ago our attorney, Tom Borden, filed an application with the
NJ DEP to upgrade the "clean water classification" of South Branch
Rockaway Creek, which runs through Windy Acres. This is the so-called
"Category 1 Rule" that you have been reading about in the newspapers.
DEP has proposed this Rule and will implement it after a period of
public comment. If the builders' lobby has its way, the Category 1
Rule will be stopped. If we can convince the Governor and DEP to stand
firm and MAKE THE RULE LAW, this will protect the stream. The Category
1 classification will make it very difficult to build the sewer plant
required by Windy Acres. This plant is inappropriate because it would
seriously degrade the quality of water in the Creek, which is part of
the natural system that provides water to millions of New Jerseyans.
- - -
YOU CAN HELP by encouraging NJ DEP, the Governor, and your legislators
to MAKE THE RULE LAW.
This web site, produced by the Sierra Club, makes it easy to tell
your government that you support the Category 1 Rule:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/cleanwater
Please visit the site and fill out the form to send your letter to
the Governor, as well as to DEP and your legislators.
The form allows you to modify the letter by pasting (or typing) in
additional text. We urge you to add these lines to make it more
specific to our local situation:
- - -
Furthermore, until the Category 1 Rule goes into effect, we urge you
NOT to grant any sewer discharge permit for the proposed Clinton
East/Windy Acres Sewer Treatment Plant. To issue such a permit before
you make the Category 1 Rule a law would violate your promise to
protect the South Branch Rockaway Creek.
As Governor, you have the RESPONSIBILTY of protecting ALL NEW
JERSEYANS, and you have the DISCRETION to ensure that an historical
law like Category 1 is put before the interests of a single sewer
plant and a single developer.
You promised to make the Category 1 Rule a law within nine months of
your Earth Day announcement in April, 2002. I urge you to keep that
promise - please make it a law before the next Earth Day rolls around
in 2003!
****PLEASE go to the web site and fill out the form NOW, before you
forget! It will take only a couple of minutes.
- - -
Thanks for your support!
****PLEASE copy and distribute this email to your friends and
neighbors!
Best regards,
Your neighbors at
THE CLINTON TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY COALITION (CTCC)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NRPA ANNUAL MEETING - FEB 6
Date: 25 Jan 2003
From: "Jim Kelly" {savt...@aol.com}
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING
Thursday, February 6th, 7:30 PM
Richmond County Yacht Club
142 Mansion Avenue
Great Kills
Staten Island
NRPA's yearly update on the marine environment of the Port of New
York. Speakers: Jim Scarcella - NRPA President- M.C. Ida Sanoff, NRPA
Brooklyn Vice President on Jamaica Bay, Kerry Sullivan- NRPA Chairman
on Marine Fisheries, Andy Willner. NY/NJ Baykeeper on marine access.
Oyster Bed Restoration Tony Rose - S.I. Sports Divers - North Shore
Waterfront Pete Glissman S.I. Baymen's Association on the estuaries
shellfish industry, Catherine Manzi-Greene - South Beach Pond Park
Perserve - Freshwater Wetlands. Jim Kelly - Save The Bay, Keansburg
NJ- Bayshore Alliance Cindy Zipf - Clean Ocean Action
- - -
* Richmond County Yacht Club is located in the Great Kills section of
Staten Island.
From Brooklyn - Verrazano Bridge To First Exit Off Bridge (Stay Right)
"Hylan Blvd." take left at third light. Follow Hylan Blvd. For Approx.
7 miles to Cleveland Avenue in Great Kills Take Left To Mansion Avenue
(1 mile after Gateway National Park Great Kills Unit).
From Northern New Jersey- Goethals Bridge to Staten Island Expressway
Exit 13 "Hylan Blvd." Follow Service Road to 4th Light, Take Right.
Second Light (Hylan Blvd) Take Right. Follow Same Directions As
Brooklyn.)
From Outerbridge Crossing - Straight to Richmond Parkway (Stay In Left
Lanes), Follow Richmond Parkway to Last Exit, Richmond Avenue SOUTH,
Take Right on Richmond Avenue, Follow to Hylan Blvd. Take Left. Go
Approx. Three Lights, Take Right Turn on Cleveland Avenue. One Block
to Mansion Avenue, Richmond CountyYacht Club is located at 142 Mansion
Avenue.)
Call (718) 987-6037 or contact Kerry Sullivan at: kerr...@aol.com
for more info. and/or directions to Richmond County Yacht Club, 142
Mansion Avenue. Great Kills. Yahoo! Maps - 142 Mansion Ave, Staten
Island, NY 10308-3523
2003 - 25th Year Anniversary of NRPA!
http://www.nrpa.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
LAKE HOPATCONG COMMISSION AT FUNDING CROSSROADS
Date: 030128
From: http://www.dailyrecord.com/
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record, 01/28/03
With its political fortunes dimming and funding in danger of drying
up, the Lake Hopatcong Commission's executive director is hoping a
Hail Mary pass in the form of a grass-roots lobbying campaign will
bring in some money.
But one commission member is already dismissing further politicking
as a waste of time, following the state Department of Environmental
Protection's rejection, for a second straight year, of the
commission's entire budget request.
Commissioner Richard Hodson said he will urge his colleagues at a
meeting on Wednesday to postpone several projects, including
construction of a $377,000 storage facility for weed harvesters and
other equipment.
A scaling back of operations - and, possibly, a reduction in staff -
would keep the commission afloat at least through the end of weed-
harvesting season in September, Hodson said.
"If we are able to restructure and hang on, I think that sends a
message to the state that we're willing to work with the governmental
structure," Hodson said.
But the commission's executive director, Donald Feliciano, said that
any budget restructuring would "send a message : that (we) have money
to play with."
"Every penny is going to something," Feliciano said.
Feliciano said Wednesday's meeting, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. in
Roxbury town hall, would attempt to answer the question, "What do we
do now?" The public's perspective will be sought, he added.
"You tell us what you want us to do," he said. "That could mean
retooling with (our) budget, or it could be a public relations
campaign to raise hell."
Feliciano, one of the commission's 10 full-time employees, made it
clear that his preference is for the latter. He said he hoped that
"60,000 letters and phone calls descend on Trenton and embarrass them
into doing the right thing."
He acknowledged the likelihood that many residents would not be
motivated because people tend not to focus on the lake's ecology in
mid-winter.
"If, on June 30, we go out of business, in the middle of the weed
harvesting season, they'll go nuts - but it'll be too late then,"
Feliciano said.
Lake Hopatcong, the largest in New Jersey, borders Mount Arlington,
Roxbury and Jefferson in Morris County, and Hopatcong in Sussex
County.
Approximately $850,000 of $3 million in start-up funds allotted in
January 2001 remain in the bank. Feliciano maintained that the
commission is locked into using most of the money for existing
commitments such as rent, utilities, salaries and insurance.
Without new funding in the 2004 state budget, Feliciano said the
commission would be forced to close its doors when the fiscal year
ends June 30.
Hodson disagreed. "There may be a reduction in manpower, but that's
not the same as going out of business. We will definitely survive. We
owe it to the region," Hodson said.
In a recent letter to state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Boonton, who
sponsored legislation creating the commission, DEP Commissioner
Bradley Campbell said that the commission's budget request, which
included $472,000 for renovating its office in Roxbury, could not be
justified in light of the state's fiscal crisis.
The commission had sought nearly $2 million, roughly the same amount
that was rejected in its entirety by Campbell last year.
Hodson, who has been critical of Feliciano, said he doubted further
lobbying would be productive. "I don't think there'll be 60,000
letters," he said.
When posed a question two months ago at a town hall meeting in
Randolph, Gov. James McGreevey cited New Jersey's budgetary woes in
refusing to commit to additional commission funding.
"If you look at it from the governor's perspective, they're staring
at a $5 billion shortfall. They're saying that if you have some money
left, you should rearrange your priorities," Hodson said. "If we delay
the storage building, that'll be enough to carry us through the weed-
harvesting season."
Factors unrelated to the fiscal crisis have contributed to the
commission's problems, including a lawsuit filed by its former
secretary and vocal dissention from the Knee Deep Club, a fishing and
boating club that pushed for the commission's creation but
subsequently feuded with Feliciano and several commissioners before
cutting all ties.
Bill Wiedeman, a Knee Deep Club member, said he wasn't about to offer
the commission any assistance.
"Now that we've withdrawn our support from the commission, we have no
intention of championing anything for them," said Wiedeman, who
predicted a low turnout at Wednesday's meeting.
Tim Clancy, another Knee Deep Club member, contended that the
commission could survive for a time without additional funding.
"There'll be some pain, but I think they can manage for a year. After
that, if there's still no money, then I'd say it's over," Clancy said.
Feliciano is opting for a blunt approach. "The DEP has done nothing
in general for lakes in this state," he said.
"The squeaky wheel is the best way to go, in my mind," he added. "I
and nine other people are going to be out of work in five months, and
if they think I'm going to be quiet about it, they're crazy."
But Feliciano is also being practical. "I've told staffers to apply
for other jobs," he acknowledged. "Their families come first."
* * *
Rob Jennings can be reached at rjen...@gannett.com or
(973) 989- 0652.
Copyright 2003 Daily Record.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
LAKE MANAGEMENT TRAINING - FEB 7-8
Date: 28 Jan 2003
From: Megan Lipman {g...@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU}
LAKE MANAGEMENT TRAINING
February 7 -8, 2003
Cook College, New Brunswick, New Jersey
$195 for EnviroNews Readers
If you manage a lake or pond, or if you're involved with watershed
management, this popular two-day course is for you. Regardless of
whether your lake is used for water supply, recreational or aesthetic
reasons, you need a firm understanding of lake management concerns and
how they fit within broader watershed management issues.
You will be introduced to lake ecology and the utility of common lake
rehabilitation measures. Lake management professionals will guide you
through the pros and cons of different management options and explain
the state permits that may be required. To address dam safety
compliance and enforcement, this seminar will review dam safety
inspection, maintenance and record keeping.
This program has been submitted for NJLA and GCSAA continuing
education credits and recertification credits for certified pesticide
applicators from New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
For more information or to register, please contact the Cook College
Office of Continuing Professional Education at 732-932-9271 or
g...@aesop.rutgers.edu or visit us on the web at
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MARINE REGULATORS CONSIDER CLOSING AREAS TO FISHING
Date: 030128
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/
MARINE REGULATORS CONSIDER CLOSING AREAS OFF COAST TO FISHING
By Jack Kaskey, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7213
Press of Atlantic City, January 28, 2003
Atlantic City - Regulators are considering closing some areas off the
New Jersey coast to fishing, part of an effort to revive depleted fish
populations by placing critical ocean habitats off-limits to human
disturbance.
The closures under consideration are aimed at commercial boats, but
some worry that the closures could lead to recreational closures, too.
"It has the potential to affect everything," said Gary Caputi, a
recreational fishing advocate and a New Jersey representative on the
Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council.
Congress required fisheries regulators to identify and protect
essential fish habitats for every federally managed species when the
Magnuson-Stevens Act was re-authorized in 1996.
Regional councils only now are beginning to consider which fish
habitats are important enough to be off-limits to the dredges and
trawls that scour the sea floor in search of clams, scallops and all
manner of fin fish, from flounder to pollock.
The New England Fishery Management Council took the first step this
month, proposing a dozen areas that could be closed year-round to
scallop dredges, including a large area adjacent to Monmouth County.
The council also is developing another set of areas for potential
closure aimed at helping New England groundfish recover.
Groundfish include some of New England's most lucrative species, such
as cod, haddock, several flounder species and hakes.
Patricia Fiorelli, spokesman for the New England council, said it is
premature to discuss what areas are being considered for closure.
"I can't say what the proposal is at this point," Fiorelli said.
But Caputi and others who have seen maps of the proposed groundfish
closures say they also extend into New Jersey waters.
Depending on how broadly the groundfish closures are written, they
could shut out boats looking for other bottom-dwelling species, such
as summer flounder, also known as fluke.
"If you get into habitat issues, you could very well look at closing
some areas to all bottom-disturbing gear," said Dennis Spiterbergen, a
North Carolina representative on the Mid-Atlantic council.
The Mid-Atlantic council also must consider whether to close
essential fish habitats for the 12 species it manages, including
fluke, scup, sea bass, surfclams, ocean quahogs, squid, mackerel and
butterfish, Spiterbergen said.
So, he said, next week representatives from the two councils, the
commercial industry, and environmental groups will convene at the New
England council's offices in Massachusetts to discuss combining
proposed closed areas for dozens of fish species.
"It needs to be a cooperative effort between both councils,"
Spiterbergen said.
Without coordination, the results could be disastrous for the
commercial fishing industry, said Danny Cohen, president of the Cape
May Seafood Association and a technical adviser on the scallop
management plan.
"If they take each plan separately, they could end up cumulatively
blacking out large portions of the ocean," Cohen said. "We should
probably close some parts of the ocean. The question, is where and how
big?"
Preserving essential fish habitat would help rebuild fish stocks,
provide jobs for fishermen and processors, and make more protein
available for people to eat, he said.
The closures could be temporary or permanent, limited to certain
types of gear or applicable to all activities, including mining and
recreational fishing, he said.
"I think there is a real benefit to having some small areas that are
banned to all uses," Cohen said. "Other areas could be open to
recreational fishing, but closed to bottom gear."
Totally closed areas are called marine protected areas.
The movement to create them got a boost when President Clinton,
during his last months in office, signed an executive order directing
the federal government to create a system of marine protected areas
similar to the national park system.
As a result of Clinton's order, the National Marine Fisheries
Service, or NMFS, which oversees the regional councils, must seriously
consider suggestions to create marine protected areas, said Caputi,
the recreational fishing advocate.
Marine protected areas recently created off California and Florida
have hurt recreational fishermen, because they put the most easily
accessible fishing grounds off-limits, he said.
"They may work to protect critical habitat, but it's not a way to
make up for failed fisheries-management policy," Caputi said.
Christopher Zeman, a lawyer for Oceana, said his marine conservation
group has not asked the New England council to create any marine
protected areas.
"Using essential fish habitat as a way to get no-take zones would
hurt fishermen who use habitat-friendly gear," Zeman said. "Hook and
line gear has minimal impact on bottom habitat."
Oceana simply wants the regulators to properly identify essential
fish habitats and take steps to prevent damage to them, as the law
requires, he said. Oceana has sued NMFS to get the process moving.
The process of deciding on closed areas to protect New England
groundfish habitat is expected to stretch into next year, the
council's Fiorelli said.
* * *
To email Jack Kaskey at The Press: JKa...@pressofac.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PCBS IN FISH PROMPT A NEW HEALTH ALERT FROM NJ
Date: 030128
From: http://www.app.com/
By Todd B. Bates and Kirk Moore, Staff Writers
Asbury Park Press, 1/28/03
New Jersey today will issue new, more-protective health advisories on
eating 13 species of fish and crustaceans contaminated with toxic
polychlorinated biphenyls, including striped bass, bluefish and
American eel, officials said yesterday.
New statewide consumption advisories for American eel, bluefish and
striped bass will range from limiting eating - such as four meals per
year - to recommending "high-risk" individuals not eat them, according
to the state.
The advisories will include recommendations on eating American eel
from coastal rivers in Monmouth and Ocean counties, including the
Navesink, Shrewsbury, Shark, Toms and Mullica.
The first fish consumption advisories, issued years ago, focused on
urban estuaries such as the Newark Bay-Passaic River complex. But
marine species with elevated PCB levels can range widely along the
coast.
State guidelines for several fish species were last issued for PCBs
by the DEP in 1989. The new advisories inform the public of a range of
risks based on fish sizes and meal frequencies.
The range reflects a person's risk of getting cancer, estimated at 1
in 10,000 and 1 in 100,000, from regularly eating PCB-contaminated
fish over a lifetime.
The advisories are more stringent for high-risk individuals,
including infants, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and women
of childbearing age, who may be more sensitive to other harmful
effects of PCBs.
The statewide advisory for American lobster established in 1996 did
not change. The state recommends that people avoid eating the green
glands in lobsters.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
In developing the advisories, state officials worked to "reduce the
potential adverse impact on our commercial and recreational fisheries"
because of their critical importance to the economy and communities,
said Bradley M. Campbell, commissioner of the state Department of
Environmental Protection.
"We think we can provide full information to the public about the
potential risks (of eating fish and crabs) and still have a vibrant
commercial and recreational fishing industry, and we think that's
precisely what we are doing here," Campbell said.
Clifton R. Lacy, commissioner of the state Department of Health and
Senior Services, said in a statement, "These new advisories provide
the public greater protection than previous consumption guidelines.
People can continue to reap the nutritional benefits provided by
eating fish and significantly reduce their exposure to harmful
chemicals."
The new advisories are the latest effort to warn the public about the
risks of eating certain kinds of fish caught in New Jersey waters. The
state last year issued advisories warning people about elevated
mercury levels in 21 species of freshwater fish from water bodies
around the state.
The new advisories were prompted by a DEP-commissioned study on PCBs,
organic pesticides and mercury in marine and freshwater fish. The
study, conducted by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia
and completed in 2000, was released to the public in July.
Concentrations of PCBs and chlordanes - the latter are pesticides -
in most species tested and in most regions of the state have
"decreased markedly" compared with studies done a decade ago,
according to the 2000 study.
But consistent with the new mercury-in-fish advisories, the new PCB
guidelines reflect more updated data and a more protective approach
based solely on human health risks, according to the state. The new
advisories are 20 to 200 times more stringent than the previous U.S.
Food and Drug Administration-based consumption guidelines.
PCBS WIDESPREAD
PCBs first were used in transformers and other electrical equipment
and later were used in such products as printing inks, paints and
pesticides. The manufacturing of PCBs stopped in 1979, according to a
state statement.
PCBs have been detected in soil, surface water, air, sediment, plants
and animal tissue all over the planet, according to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. They are long-lasting in the
environment and accumulate in the fat of fish and other animals.
In the region, PCBs are found in sediments in the Hudson River, which
is a spawning ground for striped bass, in the New York Harbor area and
in the ocean.
Also, location-specific advisories have been revised for blue crab,
white perch, white catfish, channel catfish, common carp, large-mouth
bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, brown bullhead, bluegill sunfish and
redbreast sunfish.
In addition to following the new consumption guidelines, people can
reduce their exposure to PCBs by about 50 percent by properly cleaning
and cooking fish, according to the state.
The size of the fish consumed and the variety of fish a person eats
over time also affect exposure risks.
Cynthia A. Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a Sandy
Hook-based anti-pollution coalition, said, "It's critical that the
advisory be clear and be pro-tective of human health."
* * *
Copyright (c) 1997-2003 IN Jersey.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DESALINATION IN NEW JERSEY
Date: 28 Jan 2003
From: "Avril, Tom" {tav...@phillynews.com}
SO LONG, SALTY WATER
THE NEWEST WAVE IN WATER TREATMENT - DESALINATION - IS SATISFYING CAPE
MAY'S THIRST. BUT ENVIRONMENTALISTS FIND THE SOLUTION HARD TO SWALLOW.
By Tom Avril, Inquirer Staff Writer, Jan. 27, 2003
Cape May - The sea began its invasion slowly.
Cape May's Wells 1 and 2 went salty in the early 1960s, after decades
of providing fresh drinking water to the summertime crowds.
Then, Well 3 went bad a few years later, almost as soon as it was
drilled. These days, the seaside resort leans heavily on its newest
wells, numbers 6 and 7 - each brackish from the moment it was dug five
years ago.
Except now, it's no problem. Got salt? The city has a way to get rid
of it.
The answer is a desalination plant - a $5 million array of shiny
metal tubes that can purify up to two million gallons a day. Built in
1998, it is believed to be the only such plant used for drinking water
in the northeastern United States.
Desalination isn't cheap, and some plants are opposed by
environmental groups, yet they are hailed by many as an ingenious way
to solve the growing problem of dwindling freshwater supplies. Such
plants are used to purify brackish groundwater in New Mexico and
Arizona and increasingly to purify raw seawater in California and
Florida.
Early next month, the nation's largest "desal" plant is slated to
open in the Tampa Bay region, capable of purifying 25 million gallons
a day.
Wells have been going salty in New Jersey for decades, primarily on
the Shore, and as far north as Middlesex County. In Cape May County
alone, more than 120 supply wells have been abandoned since 1940
because of saltwater contamination, according to Pierre Lacombe, a
hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's New Jersey office.
South Jersey is a peninsula, so saltwater intrudes both from the
ocean and Delaware Bay sides because of overpumping and rising sea
levels. Saltwater intrusion also can come from beneath - a problem
known as "upconing." This is a possible threat in some fast-growing
areas of Gloucester County, according to the state Department of
Environmental Protection.
When wells go salty, the usual course of action in New Jersey is to
drill elsewhere - a method followed in the past by Wildwood and Stone
Harbor, among others.
That wasn't an option any more for Cape May, with salt advancing
rapidly in the Cohansey aquifer, the underground body of water that
fed Wells 1 through 5.
Local officials opted instead to drill Wells 6 and 7 into the deeper
Atlantic City aquifer, where the water is about twice as salty as
federal guidelines recommend.
These new wells feed the desalination plant, which forces the water
through plastic membranes and into the water mains that supply the
city's gaily painted Victorian houses and customers in nearby West
Cape May and Cape May Point.
The water isn't cheap. In the summer, it costs about $7.50 per 1,000
gallons in Cape May, compared with $5 or less in some nearby Shore
communities.
In some parts of the country, including Philadelphia, water consumers
pay as little as $2 per 1,000 gallons, according to the American Water
Works Association. (The average U.S. family of four uses about 10,000
gallons a month.)
In 1999, the Congressional Research Service estimated that treating
brackish water is about twice as costly as regular water treatment,
and treating seawater is at least three times more expensive than
brackish-water treatment.
The International Desalination Association, a trade group, disputes
these estimates, saying that desal costs have come down since then,
and that comparisons with "regular" (often subsidized) water treatment
do not take into account the true costs to the environment.
"People say, well, it's too expensive, but really what's the
alternative?" said Michael Shouvlin, a coleader of the advisory
commission that recommended the desalination approach.
The alternative, say environmentalists, is to stop the relentless
march of development along the Jersey Shore.
Some warn that because the Cape May plant has excess capacity, it -
or others like it - could merely encourage more development, further
taxing water supplies and endangering wildlife habitats.
"The reason they need the desalination plant is because they
overdeveloped that area," said David Pringle, campaign director for
the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "Desalination is like
bloodletting - they think it's like the cure, but it actually
exacerbates the problem."
Pringle said unchecked development was a twofold drain on water
supplies. More people are there to drink the water, while the added
driveways and parking lots prevent rainwater from seeping into the
aquifers.
The Cape May plant operates on a principle called reverse osmosis. It
has two banks of 52 metal cylinders, each of which contains a tightly
wrapped coil of membranes.
The membranes are semipermeable, meaning they let in water but not
salt. With saltwater on one side and freshwater on the other, the
freshwater would ordinarily flow through such a membrane to dilute the
salty water and establish equilibrium - a process called osmosis.
The Cape May plant reverses that natural process, pumping the
brackish water through the membranes at a pressure of 195 pounds per
square inch. Only freshwater gets through.
The leftover salty concentrate is run through a membrane once again
to force out even more freshwater. Then, the remaining concentrate is
discharged to Cape Island Creek - a process carefully monitored to
ensure that the creek, which is already brackish, isn't harmed.
Even during the winter, when Cape May's population drops from 43,000
to 6,800, the plant's operator, Carl Behrens, continues to run the
system at nearly half of capacity to take advantage of off-season
electric rates - which are up to two-thirds lower, depending on time
of day.
But where to store the excess water?
Right back underground, where it came from.
The plant generates about an extra 300,000 gallons a day during the
off-season, which is funneled down into Well 4, one of several that
were threatened by saltwater intrusion.
The wintertime infusions keep the salt at bay in that part of the
Cohansey aquifer where Well 4 is located, and the water stays there
until summer, when up to 90 percent of it can be pumped out again,
said David Carrick, superintendent of the city's water utility. The
other 10 percent is lost.
On a hot day, when the city uses up to 2.7 million gallons, about
half comes directly from the desalination plant. A quarter comes from
Well 5, which has not started to go salty, and the balance comes from
Well 4, which contains the water that was purified during the winter.
The contribution from Well 4 could climb even higher this summer.
The city has been tweaking the system during its first few years of
operation. This year, officials anticipate their first full usage of
"aquifer storage and recovery," with up to 50 million gallons of
"winter water" from Well 4 usable during the summer.
"It's exciting," said an enthusiastic Behrens, whose role as plant
operator includes giving tours to elementary schools, engineering
students and others. "I want to make as much water in the winter as I
can. That'll help us a lot through the summer, through those hot
days."
* * *
Contact staff writer Tom Avril at 215-854-2430 or
tav...@phillynews.com
(c)1995-2002 Knight Ridder Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.
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WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM
Date: 27 Jan 2003
From: {FWL...@dep.state.nj.us}
NJ DEP/DFW PARTNERS WITH USDA WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES
PROGRAM TO HELP WILDLIFE ON PRIVATE LAND
Landowners can sign up from now through March 14th, 2003 for the
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), a voluntary program for
wildlife habitat enhancement, administered by the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS). The USDA program provides up to 75% cost
sharing for wildlife habitat improvement practices, as well as
technical assistance to implement the practices on private lands.
NRCS and partners in New Jersey have developed a state plan to
provide WHIP financial and technical assistance to targeted areas.
Lower Cape May has been targeted as a priority wildlife habitat area,
and the federally threatened bog turtle, which is found on farms in
open sedge meadows throughout the state, has been targeted as a
priority species. Statewide important habitats and practices that will
be encouraged through WHIP include early successional habitat,
riparian habitat, school site habitat development and invasive exotic
vegetation control.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, begun in 1998, has
benefitted 175 New Jersey landowners who have implemented WHIP
practices on over 7500 acres to date.
WHIP applications are ranked according to environmental benefits and
cost effectiveness. The highest-ranking receive funding to implement a
5 to 10-year wildlife habitat development plan. Local NRCS
conservationists provide planning assistance, with help from an NRCS
biologist and fish and wildlife biologists from partner organizations
including the NJ DEP Division of Fish & Wildlife. The wildlife habitat
development plan will describe the landowner's wildlife habitat goals,
list the habitat improvement practices desired, and include a schedule
of implementation.
To sign up for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program through the
Natural Resources Conservation Service, or for more information on
WHIP priority categories and benefits, landowners can contact any USDA
Service Center. USDA Service Centers are listed in the telephone book
under the US Department of Agriculture. You can also visit the NRCS-NJ
website at http://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov for more information on WHIP
and local service center contacts and office locations.
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Tina Bologna - Editor - bol...@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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