GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 030227
Garden State EnviroNet
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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{*} $35 MILLION TO RESTORE HABITATS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
{*} BUSH AIMS TO SLOW MERCURY REDUCTION EFFORTS
{*} EU DEMANDS CORPORATE ACCESS TO US PUBLIC SERVICES
{*} GOVERNOR SPEAKS AT ANNUAL NAIOP PUBLIC POLICY SYMPOSIUM
{*} MONTVILLE OKS TOUGH TOWACO AQUIFER ZONING
{*} BRANCHBURG FARM PURCHASE A WIN-WIN
{*} INSTITUTE PLANS TO DEVELOP LAND, DEFYING PRESERVATIONISTS
{*} STATE FINES SEA OAKS FOR EXCESS WATER USE
{*} U.S. COURT UPHOLDS EPA DRINKING WATER STANDARDS
{*} DIRECTOR EXPECTS LAKE HOPATCONG AGENCY TO FIRE HIM
{*} FOR ORGANIC FARMERS, A NEW TOOL TO SET PRICES
{*} U.S. ALLOWS SALE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CORN
{*} NJPIRG ASKS YOU TO HELP PROTECT OUR WILD FORESTS
{*} NJSSI: SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS UPDATE
{*} EPA/DEP LOW POLLUTING WATER CRAFT MOTORS - FEB 27
{*} ENVIRONMENTAL IDEA EXCHANGE - MAR 3
{*} WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING - MAR 10, 11
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contributions to today's issue.
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$35 MILLION TO RESTORE HABITATS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
Date: 030226
From: http://www.enn.com/
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT TO DISTRIBUTE $35 MILLION
TO RESTORE HABITATS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
Associated Press, February 26, 2003
Washington - A new Interior Department program will make available
$34.8 million in grants to states to encourage private landowners to
help restore habitats for endangered species.
Recipients of the money, such as state fish and wildlife agencies,
landowners, or nonprofit groups, must put up at least 25 percent of
the cost of an approved project.
Colorado wildlife officials, for example, are due to receive $1.74
million to help provide habitats for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse
in the Front Range, for the black-tailed prairie dog and birds in the
eastern short-grass prairie, and for sage grouse in the Gunnison area.
Hawaii's land managers are being given $1.73 million to build barrier
fences, remove feral pigs and goats, and create seed sources for more
than 60 wildlife and 248 plant species on five islands.
"For wildlife conservation to be successful, it must be a partnership
between the government and the people," Interior Secretary Gale Norton
said. "This is especially true with threatened and endangered species,
half of which depend on private lands for the majority of their
habitat."
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Copyright (c) 2003 Environmental News Network Inc.
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BUSH AIMS TO SLOW MERCURY REDUCTION EFFORTS
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}
By J.R. Pegg, Environment News Service, February 25, 2003
Washington, DC - The Bush administration intends to roll back efforts
to reduce mercury pollution despite increasing scientific evidence of
its health risks, according to public health and environmental
advocacy groups.
Critics contend the administration's Clear Skies initiative would
allow coal fired power plants, the leading U.S. source of mercury
pollution, to emit three times the amount of the toxic substance into
the atmosphere than allowed under existing law.
The administration's policy is "outrageous," former Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner told reporters at
a National Press Club briefing.
"It means more mercury in the air for longer," said Browner, who
served as EPA chief from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.
Carol Browner headed the U.S. EPA during the Clinton administration.
(Photo courtesy U. of St. Thomas) Under the Clean Air Act, Browner
explained, EPA must issue "maximum achievable control technology"
standards for coal-fired power plants, with compliance by the end of
2007. In December 2001, EPA said these standards could reduce mercury
emissions from power plants by about 90 percent, reducing the total to
some five tons by 2007.
But under the Clear Skies initiative, Browner said, mercury emissions
are capped at 26 tons in 2010 and capped at 15 tons by 2018.
"Mercury is the poster child for what is wrong with the President's
plan," said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of Clean Air Trust, a
nonprofit environmental group.
"The administration appears motivated by a desire to weaken and delay
controls of mercury," he said.
Current emissions of mercury add to the existing concentration, which
is continuously mobilized, deposited on land and water, and
remobilized.
The primary health risk from mercury occurs when airborne mercury
falls into surface waters where it can accumulate in streams and
oceans. Bacteria in the water transform mercury into methylmercury,
which fish absorb when they eat aquatic organisms. Humans absorb it
when they eat fish.
Scientists have shown that methylmercury can cause brain and nerve
damage, and studies indicate children and women of childbearing age
are at a disproportionate risk.
Yesterday EPA released its second annual report on environmental
factors affecting children's health, which found eight percent of
women of childbearing age have unsafe levels of mercury in their
bodies. This puts the number of babies at risk at about 300,000.
Coal fired plants are the nation's largest source of mercury
emissions, contributing some 33 percent of the U.S. total emissions
from industrial sources.
Currently these plants are exempt from clean air standards, but the
other two large sources of mercury, medical and municipal waste
incinerators, are tightly regulated.
Browner said that the EPA's success cutting mercury emissions from
these two sources demonstrates that the Clean Air Act is the proper
law to address reductions from power plants.
Municipal waste incinerators, or combustors, were responsible for
some 20 percent of the nation's mercury emissions in 1990. Regulations
finalized in 1995 have reduced emissions from these facilities by some
90 percent, according to EPA.
Medical waste incinerators were responsible for some 24 percent of
the total national mercury emissions in 1990. Emissions controls
finalized in 1997 are credited with cutting emissions from medical
waste incinerators by some 94 percent, the EPA says.
Yet the Bush administration, along with the coal fired power plant
industry, argues that the technology to cut mercury emissions is
unproven and too expensive to be forced upon the industry at this
time.
"EPA should first determine what levels of mercury reduction can be
gained as a result of controls on other air pollutants before pursuing
substantial additional reductions of mercury," said Scott Segal,
director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council (ERCC), a
lobbying group of power generating companies.
"At that time, EPA must carefully consider what levels of control are
technologically feasible before pressing on," said Segal.
Browner contends that technologies for reducing mercury emissions do
exist and adds that whenever EPA mandates any sort of pollution
reductions, market forces rapidly push forward improvements to
existing control technologies.
"No one in the industry can say with a straight face that there
aren't existing technologies to cut mercury emissions,"
Felice Stadler, national policy coordinator of the Clean the Air
Campaign for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) told reporters.
"We shouldn't even be having this debate." Segal says the ERCC is
concerned that Browner and other critics of the Clear Skies initiative
are supporting "draconian levels of mercury reduction" that are
scientifically unproven.
Still, there is rising evidence of the health and environmental risks
from mercury pollution beyond yesterday's new EPA report.
Last weekend, five of California's largest grocery retailers began
displaying signs cautioning consumers about the dangers of mercury in
fish.
Forty-four state governments now warn women and children to limit or
avoid eating some fish for fear of mercury contamination.
Browner criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for
its lack of action. Last July, an FDA food safety committee
recommended that pregnant women and children be warned to limit
consumption of canned tuna due to mercury. But the FDA has yet to act
on these recommendations.
"There is very little visibility about this problem," said Dr. Robert
Goyer, former chairman of National Academy of Sciences committee on
mercury. "There is a lack of public awareness."
The EPA report on children's health released yesterday provides
additional evidence that the agency's regulatory efforts can protect
public health, Browner said.
The report, "America's Children and the Environment," shows a decline
in the number of children with elevated blood levels and a reduction
in children's exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Both reductions
were prompted by agency regulatory action.
The report cites mercury as an "emerging issue," but offers little
specific guidance for future agency efforts to reduce mercury
pollution.
"The administration should follow the law on the books," Browner
said. "The science is there, the technology is there and so is the
law. We now how to solve this problem."
Criticism of the Bush administration's policies on mercury extends to
its international efforts, which many contend are designed to impede
strong action to address the issue on a global scale.
In early February, the Governing Council of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed to crack down on sources of
mercury emissions around the globe.
"Mercury is a huge problem, a traveler without a passport, that
spreads around the world in air and water," said Klaus T pfer,
executive director of UNEP. "Action is necessary. We have to reduce
drastically and as soon as possible the risk it poses to a lot of
people."
But objections from the U.S. delegation prevented the Governing
Council from adopting binding limits on emissions from power plants
and other major mercury sources.
Several members of Congress, including Democratic Senator Patrick
Leahy of Vermont and Representative Henry Waxman of California, also a
Democrat, sent a joint letter yesterday to the President and key
administration officials expressing concern about the U.S. positions
during these negotiations.
The letter details a confidential U.S. negotiating document that
revealed the administration's strategy to "oppose efforts" to develop
a binding international agreement on mercury.
"Under previous administrations, the United States had a well
deserved reputation as a world leader on the environment," the letter
says. "The series of decisions you are making diminishes that
reputation."
"Even more importantly, it threatens incalculable harm to the
environment and the health of our children."
The EPA's report on children's health can be viewed at:
http://www.epa.gov/envirohealth/children/
* * *
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003. All Rights Reserved.
# # #
Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org
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EU DEMANDS CORPORATE ACCESS TO US PUBLIC SERVICES
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: Steffan Spencer {sspe...@citizen.org}
EU DEMANDS CORPORATE ACCESS TO U.S. POSTAL AND MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEMS
Feb. 25, 2003
Washington, D.C. - The national consumer group Public Citizen joined
civil society groups around the globe today in a coordinated release
of secret negotiating documents that have been leaked from the World
Trade Organization's (WTO) service-sector negotiations. The documents
expose the threat that the closed-door "GATS 2000" talks pose to
essential public services upon which people worldwide rely daily.
The documents reveal the sweeping scope of issues now on the
negotiating table. The issues include the privatization and
deregulation of public energy and water utilities, postal services,
higher education and alcohol distribution systems; the right for
foreign firms to obtain U.S. government small-business loans; and
extreme deregulation of private-sector service industries such as
insurance, banking, mutual funds and securities.
"The good news is that this leak means the end to the Bush
administration's attempts to dodge Congress and the public by saying
that there's nothing going on at these WTO negotiations," said Lori
Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "The bad
news is that everything from your town's municipal drinking water to
the local electricity utility to the U.S. postman are headed for sale
on some Geneva 'trade' negotiating table, and the public and our
elected officials at every level have been kept in the dark."
Many of the services listed in the leaked documents are regulated in
the U.S. at the local or state level, yet state and municipal
officials are excluded from these closed-door negotiations. The leaked
documents are European Union (EU) demands on other countries to
privatize public services and deregulate service sectors as part of
the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The documents, which many describe as the "smoking gun" evidence
after months of speculation and concern about the secretive GATS
talks, have prompted civil society groups worldwide to call for a
moratorium on talks and a public process involving state and local
officials. All WTO member nations, including the U.S., are expected to
respond to the European demands within weeks, starting March 31, 2003.
Europe's requests of the U.S. are available at
http://www.tradewatch.org. Europe's complete requests to more than 100
WTO member nations are being released today by the Polaris Institute
of Canada at http://www.polarisinstitute.org.
"These documents demonstrate that a sweeping array of basic consumer
and environmental safeguards at all levels of government here in the
United States are being placed on a chopping block in a closed,
secretive venue," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook.
Added David Waskow, trade specialist for Friends of the Earth, "The
attempt by the European Union to liberalize what the WTO calls
'environmental services' is in fact an attack on public services for
water and wastewater. The EU request appears to be completely at odds
with environmental protection."
Public Citizen recently wrote state and local officials about the
ongoing GATS negotiations because in the past - for instance when the
WTO was formed - U.S. trade negotiators made binding commitments
regarding state and local regulatory authority without formally
consulting state legislatures and other local officials. In a February
3, 2003, letter to state attorneys general, Public Citizen warned:
"State and local authority could be curtailed profoundly and the
constitutional balances of federalism irreversibly biased if states do
not act now to protect their interests during these ongoing
negotiations."
"The USTR should not be making any commitments with regard to service
sectors regulated by the states without a comprehensive consultation
process with governors and state legislatures," said Minnesota State
Senator Sandra Pappas. "We make the laws, we don't want them undone in
a global trade agreement few of us have even heard about."
The GATS was first established in 1994 as one of the Uruguay Round
Agreements enforced by the WTO. The global services "trade pact" has
little to do with traditional notions of trade, but rather creates new
rights for foreign corporations to establish service businesses within
another country's borders or to send employees into other countries to
perform services. It also sets strict constraints on government
regulation in the service sector - even when those policies treat
domestic and foreign services the same. GATS promotes privatization of
public services and requires governments to offer compensation to
other WTO countries if they take a privatized service back into the
public realm. All signatories to the WTO are required to change their
federal, state and local laws to conform to the WTO's rules.
Since 2000, negotiators from the 100-plus WTO member countries have
been engaged in closed-door negotiations in Geneva to further expand
the scope of the GATS. Called "GATS 2000," these talks are being
pushed by the United States and the EU on behalf of major
multinational service-sector conglomerates. The negotiations are aimed
at seeking "progressive liberalization" of services, in part by
bringing all service sectors under the disciplines of the GATS rules.
Since GATS is geared toward market access for foreign competitors, the
agreement is hostile to regulation in general and in particular to the
diversity of domestic regulations in the U.S. that vary from state to
state. GATS allows federal, state and local regulations to be
challenged as barriers to trade if they are not designed in the least
trade restrictive manner.
- - -
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy
organization. For more information, go to http://www.citizen.org. To
view a fact sheet on the EU's demands, go to
http://www.citizen.org/documents/gtw5-fact%20sheet.pdf.
Steffan A. Spencer
National Field Organizer
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(P) 202-454-5129 (F) 202-547-7392
sspe...@citizen.org
http://www.citizen.org
* * *
This is the FAIR TRADE list, a moderated listserv of Public Citizen's
Global Trade Watch for Fair Trade issues locally, nationally and
worldwide.
For more information on current Fair Trade issues please visit
http://www.tradewatch.org. To be added to the Fair Trade list send an
email to list...@listserver.citizen.org with the text "subscribe
fairtrade" in the body of the message.
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GOVERNOR SPEAKS AT ANNUAL NAIOP PUBLIC POLICY SYMPOSIUM
Date: 030226
From: http://www.state.nj.us/
MCGREEVEY: NJ MUST PROMOTE `RIGHT TYPE' OF DEVELOPMENT
February 26, 2003
East Brunswick - The need for New Jersey to promote and encourage
development in urban areas, older suburbs and rural communities is
just as important as the state's efforts to curb sprawl and
overdevelopment, Governor James E. McGreevey said today.
"We must devote equal energy and vision to promoting development and
redevelopment in the right places," McGreevey told members of New
Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office
Properties (NAIOP) at the group's Annual Public Policy Symposium.
McGreevey said New Jersey can become a national model for smart
growth development if the state and the private sector work in
partnership to protect the environment and promote the right type of
development.
"We need to clearly identify where growth is appropriate and where it
is not - and establish new rules to reflect those priorities," he
said.
The need to curb sprawl and overdevelopment was one of the major
priorities the Governor identified in his State of the State Address
in January.
"While we must focus on encouraging business expansion, we must also
recognize that our quality of life is an important selling point," he
said at today's symposium. "The fact that so many people are eager to
live in New Jersey is a competitive advantage that we must preserve."
McGreevey said overdevelopment and poor land planning are threatening
the quality of life New Jerseyans enjoy.
"We have built and grown as if there were an endless supply of open
space and farmland," he said. "Every day we lose nearly 50 acres of
farmland and pristine open space to development. This threatens our
environment, our water supplies, increases traffic and congestion,
drives up property taxes - and most importantly slowly destroys our
quality of life."
McGreevey said new brownfields initiatives that provide greater
funding opportunities and less cumbersome government bureaucracy
illustrate New Jersey's commitment to working with the private sector
to promote development in appropriate areas of the state.
In his budget address, the Governor included a proposal to
consolidate all brownfields financing programs into the New Jersey
Economic Development Authority (EDA). The development community
contends that having brownfield financing programs split among several
agencies is confusing and inefficient.
McGreevey also has supported and signed legislation expanding the
reimbursement provisions of current law to make residential
redevelopments eligible for funding.
"We now need to take this one step further and pass legislation
introduced by Senators Codey and Bennett to redirect the current
surpluses in the constitutionally dedicated underground storage tank
cleanup fund to brownfields remediation," he said. "This initiative
could provide up to $82 million for brownfield cleanup and
redevelopment grants."
In addition, the EDA has created a special $10 million smart growth
pre- development funding program to close a financing gap in pre-
development funding for brownfields. Under this new program, below-
market loans up to $1 million will be available for pre-development
site preparation costs in smart growth areas.
EDA has created a second program known as the Brownfields
Redevelopment Loan Program that will provide up to $750,000 in
interim, below-market financing to developers who sign a brownfields
reimbursement agreement with the State.
The Governor said regulatory reform also is needed to provide greater
predictability, flexibility and faster decision in brownfields and
other smart growth areas.
To help meet this goal, McGreevey has issued an Executive Order
ordering reforms across state departments to more effectively promote
needed development and redevelopment efforts.
Also, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has clarified
rules concerning liability and broadened the availability of "no
further action" letters. DEP has also changed its policies so
uncertainty regarding groundwater contamination does not needlessly
bring unrelated aspects of redevelopment to a halt.
* * *
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
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MONTVILLE OKS TOUGH TOWACO AQUIFER ZONING
Date: 030226
From: http://www.dailyrecord.com/
STRICTER PRESERVATION LAWS INCREASE LOT SIZE FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT
By Rob Seman, Daily Record, 02/26/03
Montville - The township committee on Tuesday approved an expansion
of the boundaries of the Towaco Valley Aquifer's critical areas,
putting the land under stricter preservation laws.
The total area of the aquifer's critical water resource district
under the amendments approved Tuesday will expand about 30 percent to
about 4.4 square miles and will encompass more than 1,000 homes, said
Thomas Mazzaccaro, director of the township water and sewer
department.
The amendments approved by the township increased minimum lot-size
requirements to make it harder to develop lands in the Towaco area.
The committee added language to the ordinance specifying that the new
requirements in the critical zone would not affect existing homes but
would apply to new development.
The critical zone is made up of the prime aquifer area, where
saturated soils allow water to seep into the ground, inside a
restricted area, from which water flows into the aquifer.
The zone overlies the R-20 and R-27 zones, where minimum lot sizes
were 20,000 square feet and 27,000 square feet respectively.
The minimum lot size for the R-27 zone will increase to 43,750 square
feet - about an acre - in the restricted area and 80,000 square feet -
nearly two acres - in the prime aquifer area.
In the R-20 zone, the minimum lot size will go to 43,750 square feet
in the prime aquifer area and 27,000 square feet in the restricted
area.
No new commercial or private wells, only individual private wells,
are allowed in the prime aquifer area.
The change is the result of findings in a 1998 study of the aquifer
by Vincent Uhl Associates. Both the prime and restricted areas are
equally environmentally sensitive, Mazzaccaro said.
"If you protect one without the other, then there's no protection,"
Mazzaccaro said. The change will help protect the aquifer from the
loss of more groundwater, he said.
David Virkler, a resident of Rathbun Road, said that the ordinance
could have gone even farther. "My only regret is that it's not larger
than it is," Virkler said.
"We've lived there since 1961, and it's drying up there
significantly," Virkler said. "Any building that would be built there
should be given careful scrutiny."
Jeff Weinflash, the Valhalla Civic Association's liaison to the
township committee, questioned why the changes were not applied to
zones that allow larger minimum-lot sizes. Township committee members
said that most of the larger zones in that area included steep slopes
and could not be easily developed.
"There's really not much left there that can be subdivided," said
Mayor John Rosellini Jr., who noted that the township had purchased
most of the remaining open space in the area.
* * *
Rob Seman can be reached at rse...@gannett.com or 973-428-6631.
Copyright 2003 Daily Record.
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BRANCHBURG FARM PURCHASE A WIN-WIN
Date: 030226
From: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/
TOWNSHIP PRESERVES PRIME ACRES AND OWNER REAPS FAIR MARKET VALUE
By Peter N. Spencer, Star-Ledger Staff, February 26, 2003
Officials and preservationists are hailing Branchburg Township's
purchase this week of the 186-acre River-Lea farm as a success in land
preservation.
Not only was the township able to keep the unique character of the
town by preserving the land, but the owner received a fair market
price for the property, officials said.
The purchase is "a tremendous success story for towns that are trying
to hold on to their cultural resources," said township Planner Frank
Banisch, whose firm Banisch & Associates works with several Somerset
County communities.
Bill Rawlyk, senior land acquisition specialist at D&R Greenway, an
organization that has helped preserve more than 5,000 acres in central
New Jersey over the past 12 years, said the property was difficult to
preserve because it is a prime location for development, with access
to sewage and water lines.
The sale, Rawlyk said, "sends a message to other communities that
it's not impossible to preserve these types of properties."
Mayor Tom Sanford said keeping the land from being developed involved
a large community effort and the resources of many consultants and
experts. He said it is indicative of the new atmosphere of open
competition for farmland between municipalities and developers.
"The days of acquiring land for less than market value are over," he
said.
Former property owner David Kanach, who is president of the State
Board of Agriculture, was happy that Branchburg found a way to
preserve the farmland without taking away his equity.
"It worked out for the town, and for us as well," he said.
The final purchase price of $16 million was almost $4 million more
than the original appraisal price, according to former Mayor Tom
Young. To help pay for the land, the township applied for a $7.5
million grant from the Department of Environmental Protection's Green
Acres program and plans on tapping into other funding sources, Sanford
said.
Many of the attendees at the township meeting on Monday night
expressed their gratitude for preserving the farm, which they feel is
important to the identity of the town.
Developer Toll Brothers, which originally had an option to purchase
the farm, filed a lawsuit against the township last November demanding
the courts grant it the right to build up to 750 low- to moderate-
income houses on the site. That same month, Branchburg residents voted
to increase their property tax from 3 cents to 5 cents per $100 of
assessed property value in order to provide more money to preserve
open space.
When Toll Brothers dropped the suit in January, it paved the way for
the township to negotiate for the purchase of the property, Sanford
said. Town officials have said the land may be used for recreation or
remain open space.
With increased growth, the demand for land is not expected to
subside. Somerset County has grown nearly 24 percent from 1990 to
2000, and has the highest growth rate in the state, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau. Banisch does not see this growth slowing much in
the next 10 years.
"Demand is there. Growth is simply not going to stop," he said.
He said the only options currently available to municipalities are to
"zone it or buy it," referring to the strategies of larger-lot zoning,
also called downzoning, and purchasing land for preservation as a
means to combat sprawl.
Banisch said another strategy called "transferring development
rights" has been used with great success in Chesterfield Township in
Burlington County. Chesterfield, wanting to preserve a unique tract of
land, transferred the developer's purchase option to a similar size
lot in another part of town that was more suitable for development,
Banisch said.
* * *
Peter Spencer works in the Somerset County bureau. He can be reached
at pspe...@starledger.com or 908-429-9925.
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.
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INSTITUTE PLANS TO DEVELOP LAND, DEFYING PRESERVATIONISTS
Date: 030226
From: http://www.zwire.com/
MAJOR PARCELS HAVE ALREADY BEEN PRESERVED, PLANNING BOARD IS TOLD.
By David Campbell, Staff Writer, Packet Online, 02/25/2003
An attorney for the Institute for Advanced Study told the Princeton
Regional Planning Board Thursday night the institute has already
conserved a significant portion of its lands and has no intention of
selling a remaining parcel that Revolutionary War enthusiasts and a
state official would like to see conserved as part of Princeton
Battlefield State Park.
"The institute's intention is to develop what little land it has left
as faculty housing," attorney Christopher Tarr told the board on
Thursday.
Mr. Tarr made his comments after Jerald Hurwitz of the Princeton
Battlefield Area Preservation Society and others told the board the
land was "hallowed ground" where American soldiers fought at the
Battle of Princeton and should not be developed.
Officials with the institute presented the Planning Board with a
concept plan to build 15 single-family residences for faculty and
emeritus professors on 24 acres adjacent to the battlefield park, to
the west of the institute.
The institute's preliminary proposal complies with all zoning
requirements, which permit residential housing on the site, according
to the township's zoning office.
In a letter last week to the institute, Alvin Payne, acting director
of the state Division of Parks and Forestry, called on the institute
to work with the state's Green Acres program and allow the state to
purchase the land.
"This proposed development...would irreversibly destroy the
archaeological resources of the site," Mr. Payne said in the letter.
"I know the institute is looking to the future, however, we must never
forget our past."
Mr. Hurwitz likened the institute's proposed development to "building
vacation houses on Omaha Beach." He asked the institute "in its good
will" to postpone its application to give his group time to raise
money to purchase the land.
"It's ground on which American patriots fought and died," said Mr.
Hurwitz, a Plainsboro Township resident. "We want to preserve this
land for the American community and for the Princeton community."
But Mr. Tarr told the Planning Board that the institute has set aside
significant portions of its land to conservation already and needs to
use what little developable land remains for needed faculty housing.
According to institute spokeswoman Georgia Whidden, of the
approximately 800 acres the institute owns, 589 acres are already
protected under a permanent preservation agreement.
The institute acts as steward of the 589-acre Institute Woods, but it
cannot use the land for development, Ms. Whidden said.
The institute sold an additional 32 acres of its land to the state in
1973, land which comprises around 38 percent of the 85-acre Princeton
Battlefield State Park, the spokeswoman said.
Ms. Whidden said the institute has conserved almost 75 percent of its
property, and said that at the time the battlefield park was created
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was never any mention of
including the parcel now under discussion.
The institute's remaining 211 acres are taken up by its campus or by
wetlands or other undevelopable space, the spokeswoman said.
Mr. Hurwitz said Thursday that a portion of the land the institute
sold to the state as parkland in 1973 - around 13 acres where parking
for the historic Clarke House is located today - was slated for new
faculty housing by the institute, a project he said his group helped
stop.
The proposed new housing by architectural firm The Hillier Group
would be used for some of the 25 faculty members and 13 emeritus
faculty at the institute, Ms. Whidden said.
"The issue of providing housing for our faculty is an issue we've
been concerned about for several decades," the spokeswoman said.
Access to the new houses would be provided by a new loop road that
would extend Stone House Drive into the proposed development.
John Mills, curator of the park, said the development site played a
pivotal role in George Washington's victory over the British on Jan.
3, 1777.
Massachusetts Continental troops and Pennsylvania riflemen helped
Gen. Washington reverse a rout by the British by forming a right flank
on the property to Washington's left flank that drove the British
troops into retreat, Mr. Mills said.
* * *
(c) Packet Online 2003
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
STATE FINES SEA OAKS FOR EXCESS WATER USE
Date: 030226
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/ocean/
By Jim Mcelhatton, Staff Writer, 609-978-2015
Press of Atlantic City, February 26, 2003
Little Egg Harbor Township - The Sea Oaks Country Club pumped five
times more water from the ground than what state law allows during the
peak of last summer's drought, according to state environmental
regulators.
Earlier this month, Sea Oaks agreed to pay the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection $40,000 to settle charges that the country
club violated the state Water Supply Management Act.
The settlement came after state water reports showed the club used an
average of 8.6 million gallons of water per month in the two years
before last summer's drought. The club's water permit allowed for only
3 million gallons per month, according to DEP spokeswoman Amy Cradic.
During the summer drought, the DEP allowed 1.5 million gallons per
month in the first half of the summer, and 2.4 million gallons per
month in the second half.
The club exceeded those limits, too, according to DEP water use
reports. In June, the club pumped 9.6 million gallons from the ground.
The club used a total of 12.6 million gallons each in July and
August, according to the water reports.
Sea Oaks officials reached on Tuesday had no comment.
The club is applying for permits that would allow it to use about 21
million gallons per month, Cradic said.
But people in Parkertown are leery.
Last year, Parkertown residents lobbied local government and state
officials for help when their wells began running dry. They blamed the
country club.
Sea Oaks officials held hearings in April to end speculation that the
golf course drew water from nearby homeowners' wells. Consultants and
county health officials said the Cohansey aquifer, which feeds local
streams and rivers, was overflowing.
The officials also said residents' wells were often too old and
shallow.
Although county officials agreed the course wasn't to blame, several
Parkertown residents plan to lobby the state against letting the
country club use more water.
"It's no coincidence that all these wells started running dry after
the course opened," said resident John Blando.
"We were fine for ten years and all of the sudden the golf course
opens and I'm spending $5,000 for a new well," Blando said.
The DEP's settlement with Sea Oaks isn't the first time the state
pursued charges against a golf course over water use.
The state fined seven golf courses in Sept. 2002 for either using too
much water during the drought or not having proper permits, including
Cohanzick Country Club in Cumberland County and the Buena Vista
Country Club in Atlantic County.
Among those seven golf courses, only one, Shore Oaks Golf Club in
Howell Township, was fined more than Sea Oaks.
Shore Oaks was fined $50,000 for operating without a water use
permit.
* * *
To email Jim McElhatton at The Press: JMcel...@pressofac.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
U.S. COURT UPHOLDS EPA DRINKING WATER STANDARDS
Date: 030226
From: http://yosemite1.epa.gov/
02/25/2003
Washington - The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld EPA's
rule setting limits on the permissible level of radionuclides in
drinking water. The regulation retains the existing standards for the
radionuclides radium-226, radium-228, and certain beta/photon
emitters, and establishes standards for uranium for the first time.
"This ruling upholds EPA's strong commitment to public health
protection, public involvement, and sound science in undertaking any
regulatory action," said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water G.
Tracy Mehan III. "By reducing the public's exposure to radionuclides
in drinking water, this administration is taking a major step toward
protecting American's health."
"Today's decision is a victory in our efforts to protect the nation's
drinking water supplies," said Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney
General of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources
Division. "The court's opinion affirms the Administration's commitment
to employing the best available science to protect the public from the
dangerous health effects of radioactivity."
The court rejected all arguments raised by the petitioners (two trade
associations and several municipal water systems), including claims
that the drinking water standards set by EPA were not based upon the
best available science. The court also rejected claims that EPA failed
to perform required cost-benefit analyses for the drinking water
standards and failed to adequately respond to comments submitted
during the rulemaking process.
The rule requires that public water systems continue to treat
drinking water to meet longstanding standards for radium-226, radium-
228, and certain beta/photon emitters, and establishes a standard for
uranium for the first time. The standards are established to protect
the public from the potential adverse health effects of radionuclides.
Radionuclides emit "ionizing radiation," a known human carcinogen, as
they decay. Long-term exposure to radionuclides in drinking water may
cause cancer.
In addition to the standards themselves, the rule sets forth
monitoring, reporting, and public notification requirements for
radionuclides. EPA estimates that the rule will provide improved
health protection for 420,000 persons through monitoring improvements
for the combined radium-226/-228 standard (a carcinogen) and for an
additional 620,000 persons through the new standard for uranium (a
kidney toxin and carcinogen) in drinking water. The rule will be
effective December 8, 2003.
The decision is captioned City of Waukesha v. EPA, and the court's
opinion is available at:
http://
pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200302/01-1028a.pdf
* * *
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.USDOJ.GOV
ENRD (202) 514-2007
EPA (202) 564-7842
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DIRECTOR EXPECTS LAKE HOPATCONG AGENCY TO FIRE HIM
Date: 030226
From: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/sussex/
HOPATCONG GROUP WILL DISCUSS ITS FINANCIAL TROUBLES TOMORROW
By Al Frank, Star-Ledger Staff, February 26, 2003
The executive director of the financially strapped Lake Hopatcong
Commission said he expects to lose his job tomorrow night as the
regional group takes steps to economize.
"I think it's a done deal," said Donald Feliciano, who took the
$80,000 job a year ago. He said only one commissioner has contacted
him in the week since the blizzard postponed a meeting called to
announce steps to deal with the commission's shrinking checkbook.
"I'm supposed to be running day-to-day operations," Feliciano said
yesterday. "Since they're not asking for my input, I have to assume
I'm already off the table."
Anthony Albanese, who chairs the 11- member commission, declined to
speculate about Feliciano's future. "I don't think it's appropriate,"
he said. "We haven't taken any type of vote."
The meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at borough
hall at 419 Howard Blvd. in Mount Arlington.
Although snow is again in the forecast, Albanese said he is anxious
for a resolution to the question about layoffs among the commission's
10 full-time employees.
"Snow or no, we have to move forward," Albanese said.
The commissioners previously identified ways of saving more than
$200,000 "without touching staff. But the purpose of last Tuesday's
(postponed) meeting was to address issues of staff," Albanese said.
The 11-member commission was created by state law in 2001 to manage
and protect the natural resources of New Jersey's largest lake, which
straddles Morris and Sussex counties and is bordered by four towns.
The commission received $3 million in start-up funds but got nothing
for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. It faces the same
situation for the coming year due to the state budget gap.
After spending $1.2 million last year on a fleet of weed- harvesting
equipment, the commission has about $800,000 left.
"We've got to be realistic," Albanese said. "If the state has a $5
billion deficit you have to assume everybody is facing a pinch as we
are."
But Feliciano said he is the only employee with environmental degrees
and wondered how, "if you want to tout yourself as an environmental
organization and remove the environmental guy?"
Feliciano's future had been openly discussed at a meeting a month
ago.
"Everything's on the table," Albanese said. "It's unfortunate but
we're trying to move forward in keeping this ship afloat."
Whatever decisions commissioners make, they will likely prompt a
reorganization. Albanese said informal discussions include having
commissioners taking on more responsibilities.
To be sure, he said the chief task will not change: removing weeds
that grow from the bed, choking the life out of the 2,700-acre lake
and snagging boat propellers.
Feliciano said the new equipment made two sweeps of the 9-mile lake
and removed 5 million pounds of weeds last year, or more than double
that taken by contractors in prior years under the commission's
predecessor, the Lake Hopatcong Regional Planning Authority.
* * *
Al Frank works in the Morris County bureau. He can be reached at
afr...@starledger.com or 973-539-7910.
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
FOR ORGANIC FARMERS, A NEW TOOL TO SET PRICES
Date: 030226
From: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
AN INDEX ON A NONPROFIT'S WEB SITE OFFERS A GUIDE SO THEY'RE NOT
SELLING BLINDLY. SHOPPERS CAN VIEW IT TO SEE RETAIL MARKUPS.
By Kaitlin Gurney, Inquirer Staff Writer, Feb. 26, 2003
The organic-food movement is getting organized. Local grocery stores
have organic-food aisles, and menus in restaurants all over the
Philadelphia region include chemical-free salad greens.
But fledgling organic farmers such as Gloucester County's Bob Muth
have been unsure about how to set prices for their produce.
"Growers who are new tend to underprice their stuff," Muth said.
"Farmers operating in the dark tend to make bad decisions."
In response to queries from farmers such as Muth, the Rodale
Institute in Kutztown, Pa., launched the agriculture world's first
organic price index yesterday.
Modeled after the Chicago Board of Trade's price index for
conventionally grown produce, the table on the Rodale Web site is
designed as a price guide to help farmers market their products
competitively, Rodale officials say.
"If you are just getting into organic farming, there's no way to
gauge the going price," said Anthony Rodale, chairman of the nonprofit
farming research organization. "We want farmers to be profitable, not
to go out of business. Farmer after farmer would call us up and ask
for information about organic prices - it really was the missing
link."
The price index is not expected to affect consumer prices at grocery
stores, Rodale said. Shoppers can visit the Rodale Web site to gain a
better idea of the retail markup from wholesale prices, he said.
The price index tracks wholesale prices on the East and West Coasts
for 40 products divided into categories of produce, grains, dairy and
meats. Rodale said the group would add additional items as information
became available.
"We're already getting calls from farmers asking if we could add
watercress," he said.
The index will be updated on Tuesday of each week and represents
prices for products gathered on Monday of the same week.
This week, the index says that a dozen brown organic eggs are $2.27,
compared with $1.34 for conventional eggs. A bushel of organic corn is
$4.25, compared with $2.49 for conventional corn.
Muth, who had six acres of his 80-acre farm in Monroe Township
certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as organic last year,
said he wished the price index had been available when he began
farming organically. Instead, he pored over information fellow farmers
sent him from New England.
But Ken Muckenfuss, a Medford organic farmer, said that while
Rodale's innovation was well-meaning, it was part of a movement
reducing profitability for organic wholesalers. Once average prices
are widely available, there is a danger they could become the ceiling,
he said.
"The organic market is going to be destroyed just like the
conventional market was," said Muckenfuss, who has more than 300 acres
certified as organic. "We used to get $20 for organic soybeans, but
now it's down to $10. And on the West Coast, it's even lower."
HAILED AS IMPORTANT STEP
Organic food advocacy groups hailed the Rodale Institute's price
index yesterday as an important step to help legitimize organic
farming. Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming
Research Group, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture had neglected
the industry and its needs.
"Rodale is setting the framework for something the federal government
should ultimately do," Scowcroft said. "We're now one and a half
percent of the food market. We deserve one and a half percent of their
resources.
"If you're out in Iowa and you hear that soybeans are selling fast,
you can check out the Chicago Board of Trade if you're a conventional
farmer. If you're an organic grower, you have to call five neighbors."
A spokeswoman for the USDA said yesterday that the agency had no
plans and no funding for an organic price index. In October, the USDA
began issuing a green-and-white label certifying food grown or
processed without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers as organic.
Karen Anderson, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New Jersey, said she was impressed that Rodale included
price indices for organic markets on both U.S. coasts. East Coast
organic farmers have access to major cities but face more pressure
from development than their West Coast counterparts, she said.
'WORKING IN A VACUUM'
"It's nice to have a national player like Rodale located in the
Northeast because sometimes organic farming here can feel sort of
thankless," she said. "Organic growers often undervalue their produce
because they're working in a vacuum. The market has been waiting for
someone to step in and provide this."
The number of certified organic farms in New Jersey has grown from 12
in 1990 to 56, according to the state Department of Agriculture. There
are about 10,000 organic farms in the country, a figure that the USDA
says grows about 25 percent a year.
Because so few farmers can make a living from organic farming in the
Mid-Atlantic region, the price index may be of limited value, said
Burlington County agricultural agent Ray Samulis. Most organic farms
in New Jersey are the size of "large gardens," lacking the sales
volume needed to create reliable pricing statistics, he said.
But Anthony Rodale, who oversees 300 acres of organic crops at the
institute's headquarters on his family's farm, says this area is
ideally suited to organic farming. The industry is a way to make
farming profitable for cash-strapped growers in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Maryland, he said.
"Farming has been a traditional part of this tri-state area, and we
want to see it survive," Rodale said. "This is the perfect area for
organic farming, with suitable landscape, medium-size farms, and
access to two-thirds of the American public. Farmers just need the
right tools - and price information is one of them."
* * *
Contact staff writer Kaitlin Gurney at 856-779-3910 or
kgu...@phillynews.com.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
U.S. ALLOWS SALE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CORN
Date: 030226
From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
IN KEY TEST, U.S. ALLOWS SALE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CORN
By Justin Gillis, Washington Post Staff Writer, February 26, 2003
Monsanto Co. won government approval yesterday to sell genetically
altered corn designed to combat the most significant pest in the
largest crop grown in the United States, setting up a major test of
whether the plant biotechnology industry can deliver on its long-
standing promise to reduce the use of chemical pesticides.
The new corn is genetically engineered to resist corn rootworm
disease. That problem, which plagues farmers nationwide, is the
biggest single reason they apply toxic pesticides to their fields.
Monsanto, of St. Louis, estimates that the corn could eventually be
grown on 12 million acres, or 15 percent of the nation's cornfields.
In granting permission, the Environmental Protection Agency
acknowledged that some environmental questions remain but declared
that on balance the corn appears to offer more benefits than risks.
"What this decision means is that the environment will have literally
millions of pounds of very toxic pesticides not being used," said
Stephen Johnson, the assistant EPA administrator in charge of
pesticide regulation.
People would be unlikely to eat much, if any, of the new corn. Like
most corn grown in North America, the new crop is likely to be used
overwhelmingly as animal feed, so people would eat it only
indirectly - as poultry, beef or other meat. But a small amount might
be turned into products such as corn syrup, a sweetener.
The approval is a victory for Monsanto, a company struggling to gain
public acceptance of gene-altered crops. "This is a new tool to help
farmers fight insects," said Robb Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology
officer. "But the real beneficiary is the public, which is getting a
more sustainable agricultural system. This will allow growers to be
better stewards of the land."
For years, the backers of agricultural biotechnology, which involves
inserting new genes into plants to confer traits such as improved
insect or weed resistance, have claimed that their techniques hold the
potential to replace toxic herbicides and insecticides with more
benign control methods.
But big reductions in chemical use have been achieved only with gene-
altered cotton. For genetically engineered crops grown as human food
or animal feed, the data have been far murkier. Corn rootworm,
nicknamed the "billion-dollar bug" because it costs farmers nearly $1
billion a year in lost yields and control expenses, is such a huge
agricultural problem that the new gene-altered corn is likely to
serve as the definitive test of whether big chemical reductions can be
achieved in a food crop.
"This is a blockbuster," said Gregory Jaffe, director of
biotechnology programs at the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a Washington consumer group that favors the use of
agricultural biotechnology under tightly regulated conditions. "It's
the first product to come down the line in a while that really could
cut insecticide use and help the environment."
Jaffe and representatives of some other watchdog groups, however,
expressed disappointment that the EPA had yielded to Monsanto on one
key issue.
Most members of a scientific advisory panel had urged the EPA to
require farmers to plant sizable "refuges," or strips of conventional
corn, around the genetically altered crops to provide food for the
rootworm and slow the pests' ability to develop a resistance to the
new corn variety. Panel members wanted the EPA to require that 50
percent of a farmer's cornfield be planted as refuges, while Monsanto
pushed for 20 percent, similar to requirements already in place for
other crops. The EPA sided with Monsanto.
"What we have here is companies doing as they usually do: profiting
in the short term" even if it shortens the life of the product, said
Jane Rissler, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned
Scientists, a Washington group.
Johnson, of the EPA, rejected criticism on the issue, noting that the
20 percent requirement will be in effect for only three years while
the resistance issue is studied further. New plans may be put in place
if resistance proves to be a problem, Johnson said.
Corn rootworm is the common name for the larval stage of four species
of beetles that grow in fields throughout the United States. The
immature beetles feed on the roots of corn plants, sometimes damaging
them so much that the plants blow over in storms or yield little corn.
To create resistant corn, Monsanto, through molecular engineering,
inserted a gene that contains instructions for making a protein toxic
to most varieties of the worms, but one that can be easily digested by
people or other mammals. The new crop does pose theoretical risks to
some other species, including beneficial insects, and the EPA said it
would monitor that issue.
Monsanto hopes to put limited supplies of the new corn on the market
for the 2003 growing season, but the corn is not expected to gain wide
use until 2004, when additional seed becomes available. The company
intends to cross the new corn with an older gene-altered corn designed
to resist a lesser worm, the European corn borer. And, in a first,
Monsanto will create a variety with three genetic modifications: the
two anti-worm proteins plus a gene that helps farmers fight weeds.
This latter variety, designed to solve virtually all common problems
that farmers confront in growing corn, may serve as the first real
test of whether large-scale, industrialized agriculture is possible in
the United States without significant use of toxic chemicals.
* * *
(c) 2003 The Washington Post Company
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NJPIRG ASKS YOU TO HELP PROTECT OUR WILD FORESTS
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: "Dena Mottola, NJPIRG Acting Director" {De...@njpirg.org}
Dear NJPIRG supporter,
I want to let you know the result of our efforts to keep anti-
environmental amendments out of the recently passed Omnibus budget
bill. With the help of your emails and calls, we managed to convince
Congress to remove the amendment that would have exempted the Tongass
and the Chugach forests from the roadless rule. This means that
roadless areas in Alaska's rainforests should be protected - at least
for now. Unfortunately, an amendment did pass that could allow more
logging in our nation's forests by allowing the Forest Service to
enter into unlimited contracts with the timber industry.
What's more, the Forest Service is currently holding a public comment
period on another Bush administration proposal that would change the
way our national forests are managed and could lead to even more
logging in our last wild forests.
Please take a moment to let Forest Service Chief Bosworth know that
you object to proposed changes to the National Forest Management Act.
Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can email Chief
Bosworth.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=11&id4=ES
BACKGROUND
The majority of Americans stand united behind strong protections for
our environment, but the Bush administration and some members of
Congress are helping powerful interests like the timber industry
undermine forest protections.
On December 6, 2002, the Bush administration announced a proposed
rule that would radically change the way our national forests are
managed. This proposed rule could lead to increased logging of our
last wild forests.
At issue are new regulations for the National Forest Management Act
(NFMA), the law that requires that each of America's 155 national
forests to have a management plan in place. These plans are used to
determine which lands are used for logging, mining and other
commercial activity and which are preserved for other values like
wildlife habitat or recreation. The regulations on which these forest
management plans are based were strengthened in 2000 after much public
and scientific input to better reflect ecologically sustainable forest
management.
However, in May 2001, the Bush administration suspended the 2000
regulations under pressure from the timber industry. They announced
their proposed regulations on December 6th and are now taking public
comment on them.
Current law requires the Forest Service to consider environmental
impacts and public input before moving ahead with public land
management decisions. Incredibly, the proposed regulations attempt to
exempt entire forest plans from these requirements by allowing actions
with so-called minimal impact to be excluded from environmental
analysis. In addition, they would eliminate the existing requirement
to maintain native wildlife species in national forests. The effect of
these regulations would be to weaken environmental and wildlife
protections and to limit the public's ability to participate in
decisions that affect our national forests.
Sincerely,
Dena Mottola, NJPIRG Acting Director
De...@njpirg.org
http://www.NJPIRG.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NJSSI: SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS UPDATE
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: NJ Sustainability Events Update {njssi...@njssi.net}
Sustainability Events Update is sent out once a week, and contains a
chronological listing of all the events in the NJSSI calendar for the
next three weeks.
+ To check the calendar on the web, or to search for events related to
a specific subject, please visit http://www.njssi.net/calendar.php.
+ To submit an event to the calendar, please visit
http://www.njssi.net/submit_event.php.
. . .
February 28, 2003 9:00 a.m to 5:15 p.m. Symposium: Examining the
Future of Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies Journal of
International Economic Law Levy Conference Center University of
Pennsylvania Law School Contact Information:
http://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/jiel/symposium.htm
. . .
March 01, 2003 Open to the public from 9:00am to 12:00pm, Closed
Sessions for watershed associations from 1:00 pm - 3:30 The Watershed
Forum on Stormwater Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
Trenton War Memorial, Lafayette Street, Trenton, NJ Contact
Information: Laura Alex, Program Coordinator 609.737.3735
la...@thewatershed.org http://www.thewatershedinstitute.org
. . .
March 01, 2003 9:00am - 5:15pm Fourth Annual Joint Conference on
Applied and Urban Ethics Rutgers University-Newark Public Health
Research Institute's International Center for Public Health, 225
Warren St., Newark, NJ Contact Information: Carla Capizzi 973-353-5262
cap...@andromeda.rutgers.edu
http://tecn.rutgers.edu/philosophy/environment.htm
. . .
March 03, 2003 8:00 pm - 9:30 Environmental Idea Exchange St. Peter
Claver Church, 56 Elmwood Avenue off Elm Street, Montclair Contact
Information: Pat Kenschaft kens...@pegasus.montclair.edu
. . .
March 04, 2003 5:00pm - 8:00pm Key Elements of US International Energy
Policy The Energy Forum c/o NYU School of Continuing and Professional
Studies New York University, Ben Snow Room, Bobst Library, 12th Floor,
70 Washington Square South Contact Information: SCPS General
Information Line: (212) 998-7200 http://www.scps.nyu.edu/
. . .
March 04, 2003 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Economics of Energy
Conservation Jersey Central Power and Light JCP&L's Morristown, NJ
Office at 300 Madison Avenue Contact Information: Karen Paine
973-401-8544
. . .
March 04, 2003 Statewide Meeting NJ Work Environmental Council (WEC)
Contact us for event location Contact Information: Valorie Caffee
(609) 695-7100 http://www.njwec.org
. . .
March 04, 2003 12:00 - 3:30pm Clean Energy Seminar Jersey Shore
Nuclear Watch Fine Arts Theatre in Ocean County College, Toms River
Campus Contact Information: 732-255-8044
. . .
March 05, 2003 9:00am - 4:00pm Using GIS and EDD for Environmental
Protection Cook College Office of Continuing Professional Education
Cook Campus Center, Room 202 B-C, Biel Rd., New Brunswick, NJ Contact
Information: http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
. . .
March 06, 2003 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Recycling Non-Traditional Items
(formerly The "New" Recyclables) Office of Continuing Professional
Education - Cook College TBA Contact Information: 732-932-9271
OC...@aesop.rutgers.edu http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
. . .
March 08, 2003 10:00am Don't Tread on Me NJ Meadowlands Commission
Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst, NJ
Contact Information: (201) 460-8300
http://www.meadowlands.state.nj.us/
. . .
March 10, 2003 7:00pm Meeting: Living Resources The American Littoral
Society Ocean County College, College Center Contact Information: 609-
294-3111 http://www.littoralsociety.org/events.htm
. . .
March 10, 2003 7 PM What's Funny About Climate Change? NJHEPS NJIT
Newark Hazell Ballroom Contact Information: Herb Simmens 973-642-4881
njh...@njheps.org http://njheps.org
. . .
March 11, 2003 7 PM What's Funny About Climate Change? NJHEPS NJIT
Hazell Ballroom Contact Information: Herb Simmens 973-642-4881
njh...@njheps.org http://www.njheps.org
. . .
March 12, 2003 7:30pm "Splendid Scarabs" NJ Sierra Club (Loantaka
Group) Library of the Chathams, 214 Main St. (Route 124), Chatham, NJ
Contact Information: 908-771-9676 or 973-895-2143
http://njsierra.enviroweb.org/njs_groups/loa.htm
. . .
March 13, 2003 8:30 am - 3:45 pm Drinking Water Treatment Technologies
Office of Continuing Professional Education - Cook College Cook Campus
Center, Multi-Purpose Room B, Biel Rd. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Contact
Information: 732-932-9271 OC...@aesop.rutgers.edu
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
. . .
March 13, 2003 7:30pm Bayshore Regional Watershed Council Monthly
Meeting Bayshore Regional Watershed Council Aberdeen Township
Municipal Building, Aberdeen, NJ Contact Information: Joe Reynolds
sosa...@comcast.net
. . .
March 13, 2003 8:30am - 1:30pm Technology for Land Use Planning
Workshop The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve
(JCNERR) NERR Environmental Center, Tuckerton, NJ Contact Information:
http://marine.rutgers.edu/cousteau/coastal_management/ctp_workshops.htm
. . .
March 16, 2003 "Environment and Your Health, Making the Connection"
Morristown Unitarian Fellowship 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown,
NJ Contact Information: Fred Mayer 973-540-1177
cfm...@optonline.net
http://www.muuf.org/committees/GreenSanctuary.html
. . .
March 17, 2003 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm Design & Management of Spatial
Database Office of Continuing Professional Education - Cook College
Civic Square Building,3rd Floor Lab, Corner of Livingston Ave & New
St. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Contact Information: 732-932-9271
OC...@aesop.rutgers.edu http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
. . .
March 18, 2003 7:00pm Hackensack Riverkeeper's 'RiverFilms': "Drumbeat
for Mother Earth" Hackensack Riverkeeper Puffin Cultural Forum, 20
East Oakdene Avenue, Teaneck, NJ Contact Information: Kathy Urffer
201-968-0808 kat...@hackensackriverkeeper.org
http://www.hackensackriverkeeper.org
. . .
March 18, 2003 9:00am - 4:30pm Freshwater Wetlands Seminar Cook
College Office of Continuing Professional Education Cook Campus Center
Multi-Purpose Room A-B-C, Biel Rd., New Brunswick, NJ Contact
Information: http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
. . .
March 18, 2003 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm Using Geomatics for Environ Site
Evaluations Office of Continuing Professional Education - Cook College
Civic Square Building,3rd Floor Lab, Corner of Livingston Ave & New
St. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Contact Information: 732-932-9271
OC...@aesop.rutgers.edu http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~ocpe/
* * *
If you would like to subscribe to Sustainability Events Update,
please click on the link at the end of this email, or visit
http://www.njssi.net/calendar_list.htm.
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EPA/DEP LOW POLLUTING WATER CRAFT MOTORS - FEB 27
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: Delly...@epamail.epa.gov
EPA, NEW JERSEY DEP AND MARINE INDUSTRY LEADERS AGREE TO
CLEANER OUTBOARD ENGINES ON NEW JERSEY SHORES
February 26, 2003
New York, NY - On Thursday, February 27, at 12:15 PM, Environmental
Protection Agency Region 2 Administrator Jane M. Kenny in cooperation
with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell will join with Paul Terzian, of the Marine Trades
Association of New Jersey, Kelly Bobek of the National Marine
Manufacturers Association, a representative of the Marine Retailers
Association of America, and Tom Fote of the Barnegat Bay Estuary
Program and participating marine engine retailers to announce a new
agreement to promote the use of low polluting water craft motors and
engines. With more than 225,000 registered personal water craft and
boats with outboard motors in New Jersey, this agreement will have
tremendous environmental benefits for New Jersey shores and waterways.
The event will be held at the 16th Annual Spring New Jersey Boat
Show, in the New Jersey Convention Center, Raritan Center, 97 Sunfield
Ave., Edison, NJ.
WHEN: Thursday, February 27 at 12:15 PM
WHERE: The NJ Convention Center showroom, Booth 114, New Jersey
Convention Center, Raritan Center, 97 Sunfield Ave., Edison, NJ
WHO: EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny, NJDEP Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell, Paul Terzian, from the Marine Trades Association
of New Jersey, Kelly Bobek of the National Marine Manufacturers
Association, a representative of the Marine Retailers Association of
America, Tom Fote of the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program Policy
Committee, and representatives of the marine industry.
WHAT: Agreement promoting cleaner boat engines in New Jersey
PHOTO OP: Boats, cleaner engines on display; signing of agreement;
presentation of certificates and ceremonial Barnegat Bay flags to
several New Jersey marine retailers
DIRECTIONS: From the NJ Turnpike - Take exit 10. Through the toll
follow Route 514 West to Raritan Center. Take the first exit marked
Raritan Center and follow signs to the Expo Hall.
* * *
Contact:
Teresa Ippolito, EPA (212) 637-3671
Patricia Cabrera, NJDEP (609) 984-1795
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 2
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
290 Broadway - New York, New York 10007-1866
http://www.epa.gov/region2
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ENVIRONMENTAL IDEA EXCHANGE - MAR 3
Date: 25 Feb 2003
From: Pat Kenschaft {kens...@pegasus.montclair.edu}
Montclair's ENVIRONMENTAL IDEA EXCHANGE meets the first Monday of
each month from 8:00 to 9:30 PM at St. Peter Claver Church on Elmwood
Avenue, three blocks south of Bloomfield Avenue off Elm Street.
Anyone in the Montclair area concerned about any aspect of the
environment is welcome. Each person can have at least ten minutes to
present their ideas, glean support, and recruit others to join them in
action. Others are welcome to simply come listen and give support.
This coming Monday, March 3, the EIE will meet as usual. Parking is
easy behind the church. The meetings are pleasant and satisfying. See
you there!
Pat Kenschaft
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WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING - MAR 10, 11
Date: 26 Feb 2003
From: HSim...@aol.com
I'd like to invite you all to a production of 'What's so funny about
Global Warming' to be presented at no charge on March 10th at the
Student Center at NJIT and March 11th at the Stockton College "A" wing
auditorium. Both performances start at 7 PM and will be followed by a
panel discussion.
The performances will be given by Human Nature, a nationally known
California based theater group. Reviews have called the production
'Hysterically funny and engaging."
No registration is required. For directions or other information
please contact me.
* * *
Herb Simmens
Executive Director
New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability
c/o York Center
NJIT
138 Warren Street
University Heights
Newark, New Jersey
07102
973-642-4881
973-642-7170 fax
hsim...@aol.com
http://www.njheps.org
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tina Bologna - Editor - bol...@gsenet.org
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Back issues of the Garden State EnviroNews are available at
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