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GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 030123

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Garden State EnviroNet

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Jan 23, 2003, 12:33:49 AM1/23/03

030123

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} US SENATE REJECTS DELAY OF BUSH POLLUTION RULES
{*} ENVIRONMENTALISM IN CRISIS
{*} FAITH-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS
{*} TOWNS MAY GET GRIP ON LAND USE
{*} ROUTE 92 OPPOSITION LIKES ANTI-SPRAWL TALK
{*} SPRAWL-FIGHTING COOPERATION IS NOTHING NEW
{*} MOLD GRIPES GROWING
{*} HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP LOOKING TO PROTECT STREAMS
{*} LAKE HOPATCONG COMMISSION FUNDING SINKS
{*} CLEANUP COSTS GROW AT FORMER A.C. LAUNDRY SITE
{*} NJ LEGISLATURE BACK IN SESSION
{*} SIXTH ANNUAL GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
{*} EARTHWATCH FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR NEW JERSEY EDUCATORS

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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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US SENATE REJECTS DELAY OF BUSH POLLUTION RULES

Date: 030122
From: http://www.planetark.org/

By Chris Baltimore, Reuters News Service, January 22, 2003

Washington - The U.S. Senate Wednesday rejected a Democratic attempt
to delay a Bush administration plan to relax costly air pollution
rules that apply when utilities, refineries and other industrial
plants are repaired or expanded.

In the first environmental showdown of the new legislative session,
Democrats sought to delay the Environmental Protection Agency's so-
called "New Source Review" rules for six months until the National
Academy of Sciences completed an analysis of how it would affect
children and adults suffering from asthma and other breathing
ailments.

Instead, the Republican-controlled Senate sided with the White House
and voted 51-45 for an alternative plan ordering the National Academy
of Sciences to study the public health impacts after the new rules are
implemented.

Democrat and presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards of North
Carolina unsuccessfully tried to attach a postponement to an
unfinished federal budget bill.

Environmentalists and many Democratic lawmakers complain the new
rules will mean more pollution from power plants that harm the public
health.

U.S. utilities say the administration plan would allow them to
enlarge or upgrade a plant without installing costly equipment to
control smog, acid rain and soot.

Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican who is the new head of the
Senate Environment Committee, agreed to a National Academy of Sciences
study - but only if the rules went into effect as scheduled.

"We've delayed already for 10 years. We need reforms now," Inhofe
said.

Edwards called for a delay, citing studies showing the rules would
cause greater air pollution and respiratory ailments among children
and the elderly.

"Let's look before we leap," Edwards said.

The changes unveiled by the EPA for the New Source Review program -
which is part of the Clean Air Act - were 10 years in the making. They
followed bitter court fights by some utilities over Clinton
administration attempts to enforce the rules.

Foes of Edwards' plan - including the National Association of
Manufacturers and a coalition of labor unions, lobbied hard against it
this week. EPA Administrator Christine Whitman also called Republican
senators to rally them against the measure, environmental sources
said. The EPA had no comment.

Environmentalists say the most odious of the EPA's proposals were new
definitions of routine maintenance that would give utilities
significant leeway to upgrade the oldest, dirtiest plants that hold
protections grandfathered by the Clean Air Act.

Utility lobbyists applauded Wednesday's vote.

"We feel the Senate has chosen clean air and energy efficiency over
presidential politics," said Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the
Electric Reliability Coordinating Council. (additional reporting by
Tom Doggett and Andrew Clark).

* * *

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ENVIRONMENTALISM IN CRISIS

Date: 030110
From: http://www.sfgate.com/

By Michael Graf, San Fransisco Chronicle, January 10, 2003

These are rough times for environmentalists. Terrorism and the
possibility of war in the Middle East have grabbed the public's
attention. The White House is occupied by the most anti-environmental
administration in recent memory and there is the real possibility,
with the new Republican majority in Congress, that major anti-
environmental initiatives will be passed into law. In today's
Washington, the entire concept of environmental regulation is no
longer vogue.

The general public, which ostensibly favors environmental protection,
should be outraged, but apparently is not, at least not according to
the latest election results. America has come full circle from when
the government did not regulate the environmental impacts of our
activities, as chronicled by Rachel Carson in "Silent Spring," to
today when one needs a permit for everything from subdividing land to
trimming a tree. We have rescued the bald eagle from extinction and
cleaned the sewage that once polluted our rivers. In short, we've made
some progress. Has the environmental "movement" simply run its course?

The complex science of today's environmental issues can make this
question difficult to answer. What are the long-term impacts of
climate change? Phrases used in assessing the risk of toxic exposure,
such as "chronic no observed effect level," mean little to the public.
Industry exploits this murkiness by broadcasting a simpler and easier-
to- digest message that companies "care" about the environment but
that more study is needed before we take any "rash" action. In the
ambiguity, the public is easily distracted by more straightforward and
exciting issues, such as whether or not to drop bombs on Iraq.

An even bigger problem for environmentalists is their failure to
define themselves. What does it mean, exactly, to be an
environmentalist? The marketing engine of corporate America paints a
tempting vision of "nature" as either resources to exploit or a
recreational playground in which the Hummer 2 is as much a part of the
natural landscape as the barrel cactus. Environmentalists have not
presented an equally compelling vision that takes into account the
reality that we, like any species, are constrained by the ecological
limits of the Earth.

Environmentalists have been wary of directly confronting the anti-
environmental values of a consumer society. For example, in his 1990
book, "Earth in the Balance," Al Gore described our modern
civilization as "dysfunctional" yet never mentioned the issue or the
book on the 2000 campaign trail. Environmental groups can typically
make more short-term progress by focusing on specific issues rather
than preaching a vision of future society.

In the price-driven marketplace, it is unlikely that environmental
values, such as the ability to drink water from a stream or know that
the migrating geese will return year after year, will survive in the
long term. Indeed, our interaction with the world around us is already
moving toward artifice, from the onslaught of virtual reality to
mechanized "wilderness" interpreted by a speaker at the front of a
tour bus. Environmentalists have reason to fear the replacement of the
natural by the virtual since, over time, fewer and fewer people will
be able to tell the difference, much less be motivated to act.

At this time, environmentalists have not crafted a coherent vision
that can compete with that of industrial society. Maybe now is the
time to do so. It may be tough in the short term, but a movement has
to start somewhere.

* * *

Michael Graf is an environmental attorney in San Francisco.
(c)2003 San Francisco Chronicle

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FAITH-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS

Date: 030113
From: http://www.crosswalk.com/

WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS PLAN FOR FAITH-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS

Marc Morano, Senior Staff Writer
Cybercast News Service, Jan. 13, 2003

Already under attack from the Left and increasingly from the Right,
the White House is defending a plan to expand its Faith Based
Initiative in order to fund religious groups dedicated to
environmental causes like "global warming."

Jerry Lawson, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's
Energy Star program, recently advocated the expansion of President
Bush's program while speaking to a group of environmentalists in
Washington. See Earlier Story.

Some conservatives immediately complained that Lawson was proposing
to take the Faith Based Initiative in a direction not originally
intended by the president. One critic of the idea called it "tragic."

But, in a Thursday interview with CNSNews.com , David Kuo, deputy
director of the White House Office of Faith Based and Community
Initiatives, called the EPA's efforts to include religious groups that
advocate green causes a "great" idea.

"We are seeking to expand the initiative across the government
because we think the involvement of faith based and community groups
is important," Kuo said.

"If EPA or the Department of Veterans Affairs or any other
organization wants to involve faith and community based groups, that
is great, and we are fully supportive of that," Kuo added.

CRITICS FROM THE LEFT AND RIGHT

Even before the recent conservative backlash, the Bush Faith-Based
Initiative was under attack from liberals for allegedly violating the
Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits
government from establishing religion.

President Bush believes the faith based plan is necessary to
eliminate the barriers now hindering religious-affiliated groups from
participating in government-funded community and welfare services.

But groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State
oppose the idea.

"It will be interesting to see whether this will be as popular with
some of his political allies as the other aspects of the program have
been," said Joe Conn, spokesman for Americans United.

Conn believes the proposal to include environmental causes in the
awarding of grants under the Faith Based Initiative is the "logical
outgrowth of the kind of agenda [Bush] has been promoting."

"The Bush administration seems to think that religion is the answer
to every social ill and now they are expanding the initiative to
environmental problems as well," Conn said. "It is one area that does
point up some of the contradiction in this whole Faith Based
Initiative movement."

A free market environmental watchdog group also assailed the White
House and the green movement for seeking to expand the mission of the
Faith Based Initiative.

"It's tragic. Unfortunately, all too often, as is the case with
various federal programs, they come into existence and essentially
take on a life of their own," said Dave Riggs, executive director
Greenwatch.

"Despite Bush's lauded intentions, the bureaucracy is taking this as
opportunity to further fund liberal green causes," Riggs added. "There
has always been a very cozy relationship between the federal
environmental bureaucracy and the big green groups...the EPA alone
doles out millions and millions of dollars every year to green
causes."

Riggs said he is not surprised by the recent events, especially with
former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman currently administering
the EPA.

"Whitman has a strong track record of working with big green
environmental groups, sometimes against the president's agenda," Riggs
said. "It does not surprise me that this idea is it coming out of her
EPA," he added.

As director of the EPA's Energy Star program, Lawson helps small
business and religious institutions improve their energy efficiency.

When he met with environmental and religious groups Dec. 19, Lawson
said he was seeking ideas about how religious groups might be able to
promote green causes like climate change and pollution control through
use of the White House Faith-Based Initiative.

"A couple of days ago, one of the higher-ups at EPA called me, and we
talked about grants. This person said to me...'look if you hear of
good ideas of faith-based groups that are environmental proposals, let
me know,'" Lawson told the gathering.

"So, I would like to offer myself as a conduit," he told the
participants at the Worldwatch Institute symposium entitled, "Invoking
the Spirit: Religion and Spirituality in the Quest for a Sustainable
World."

'ARMIES OF COMPASSION'

President Bush, in a Dec. 12 speech announcing a series of executive
orders on faith based initiatives, said the program was necessary to
"help clear away a legacy of discrimination against faith-based
charities" in order to "rally and encourage the armies of compassion."

"Government can and should support social services provided by
religious people, as long as those services go to anyone in need,
regardless of their faith," Bush explained.

Kuo echoed the president's comments about the initiative.

"What the president really envisioned is a determined attack on need
led by America's charities and churches and synagogues and mosques and
philanthropies and foundations," Kuo explained.

"That's what this initiative is about. It is about encouraging the
full participation by America's armies of compassion in meeting the
very serous social needs that exist," Kuo added.

Despite this clearly stated social service mission, Kuo said he
welcomes a much broader interpretation of the president's initiative.

"If there are anti-global warming federal funds available because
there is that program, then a faith-based group should be able to
apply for that and if in the federal grants process that includes the
application process, if those people come out at the top of the heap,
great," Kuo said.

Lawson also conceded that the faith-based initiative was originally
designed to address unmet social needs, but said the federal grant
program could be expanded to include green causes.

"The original vision and the current vision is still social
services...What I am doing and other people at EPA are doing is
looking at the programs we have available today that can benefit
faith-based groups," Lawson said. "Those of us at EPA and the
environmental movement are recognizing that the faith community is
also interested in the environment."

When asked how green causes could qualify for faith-based grants, he
was open to suggestion.

"We are trying to figure that out at this time. I have become
somewhat of a student of White House faith-based initiatives...The
money can't be used to proselytize or promote your religion, but the
money can be used to meet objectives that EPA has out there anyway,
such as addressing climate change or water pollution," Lawson
explained.

"And you can work through your faith-based group to achieve these
things," he added.

Gary Gardner, director of research at Worldwatch, thought Lawson's
proposal was worthy of consideration.

"There is a role for the government to bring religious groups and
environmental groups together," said Gardner, a sponsor of the Dec. 19
meeting.

* * *

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TOWNS MAY GET GRIP ON LAND USE

Date: 030122
From: http://www.app.com/

THE STATE AIMS TO INCREASE LOCAL CONTROL.

By Michael L. Diamond, Staff Writer, Asbury Park Press, 1/22/03

Gov. McGreevey will try to alter the state's land-use law
dramatically in the next two months to give towns more power to fight
unwanted development, an administration official said yesterday.

Under the proposed amendments, Community Affairs Commissioner Susan
Bass Levin said, both towns and developers would be required to
consider the environmental impact of new development.

"The governor's goal is to encourage builders to build in the right
places, to give them as many incentives as we can, and hopefully make
it more difficult to build in places they shouldn't be building,"
Levin said.

Levin made her comments at an Asbury Park Press editorial board
meeting. The visit came a week after McGreevey called for New Jersey
to fight uncontrolled development and rein in sprawl during his State
of the State address.

The policy would have a sweeping impact, dictating the terms of
everything from a new housing development in Jackson to a
redevelopment project surrounding the Aberdeen-Matawan train station.

McGreevey said he wants to give municipalities the option to halt
development for a year so they could study its impact. And he wants to
charge builders a fee to help pay for improvements to schools, roads
and utilities to serve new development.

But Levin said the changes will include more amendments to what the
administration considers the pro-development slant of the land-use
law.

Among the changes being discussed: Municipalities could force
developers to build homes closer together. Levin said that would save
open space, protect environmental resources and improve a
subdivision's aesthetics. A town's master plan would have to include
elements such as environmental preservation. Developers would have to
study the impact of traffic off site as well as on site. Developers
would have to give notice of a pending construction project to
everyone within 1,000 feet of the development. Current law calls for
notification only within 200 feet.

Levin, a former mayor of Cherry Hill, said the amendments would give
power to municipalities, which often cave in to developers on the mere
threat of a lawsuit. And it would help funnel builders toward blighted
urban areas and older suburban areas that are in need of
redevelopment.

'Big Map' en route

McGreevey is designing a so-called "Big Map" that will show where
developers will run into roadblocks if they try to develop. That map
can be adopted without legislative approval.

"It doesn't always mean building new," Levin said. "We have to get
over that in New Jersey - that it's always about building something
new."

Builders, however, said municipalities already have the zoning power
to determine where, say, a housing development or shopping mall can be
built. They can determine the density. And they can charge impact fees
on improvements such as off-site storm-water systems. The difference
is, the builders contend, that the towns haven't stuck to their plans.

"They have within their borders the ability to decide how land is
going to be used and for what," said Patrick O'Keefe, who heads the
New Jersey Builders Association. "As long as they exercise that
authority reasonably and adhere to the procedure, the courts are
generally deferential - highly deferential - to the decision-making of
the governing bodies."

A change in legislation might not be easy. Workers from development
company executives to plumbers and roofers said they worry that
McGreevey's proposal would slow growth and cost jobs.

But Levin and another McGreevey administration official,
Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell, said the
number of homes built would remain the same; only the locations would
change, so laborers would continue to find work.

"When we're done, there will be plenty of places to build," Campbell
said.

* * *

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ROUTE 92 OPPOSITION LIKES ANTI-SPRAWL TALK

Date: 030122
From: http://www.nj.com/

By Sue Epstein, Star-Ledger Staff, January 22, 2003

When Cathy Dowgin saw red, she was thrilled.

At last, Dowgin thought, her fight to kill Route 92 was in the home
stretch. All of the land needed in South Brunswick to build the road
to connect the New Jersey Turnpike to Route 1 is in red on the state's
new land-use map, denoting restricted growth.

Gov. James E. McGreevey last week unveiled the map, which shows areas
of New Jersey where officials want to discourage development,
including construction of new roads that open up rural areas to
building.

The $300 million road has been tied up by the Army Corps of
Engineers, which is awaiting the results of an environmental
assessment. The assessment will determine whether the corps will grant
a permit to fill in 14 acres of freshwater wetlands. Without the
permit, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority cannot start construction.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation said she
could not comment on how the state's new development map will affect
Route 92.

"We're going to wait for the EIS (environmental impact statement)
results before we go any further," said the spokeswoman, Ann Farneski.
"We need to see what it says before we decide what to do about the
road."

The Army Corps ordered the Turnpike Authority in 2000 to perform the
environmental study after the federal Environmental Protection Agency
and the state Department of Environmental Protection split on whether
to go forward and grant the permits.

The EPA opposed the project because it would destroy the wetlands and
there were less environmentally damaging alternatives. The DEP granted
the state permit, but without the federal one, the project can't be
built.

The 6.7-mile toll road would connect Interchange 8A of the Turnpike
with Route 1 at Ridge Road, traversing through farmland and wooded
areas. There would be no exits onto local roads, only one at each end.

The idea to build an east-west road that connected Route 1, the
Turnpike, Route 27 and Route 206 through southern Middlesex County,
northern Mercer and southeastern Somerset counties has been around for
more than 40 years and has been studied by more than a dozen agencies
and consultants.

In 1992, the Legislature gave the project to the Turnpike Authority,
hoping to get it off the back burner and into the hands of
construction workers.

Instead, the project has become bogged down in the permit process.
The various alignment changes made to appease one town or another have
also added delay.

The original alignment, unveiled in 1994, would have taken the road
through northern Plainsboro and Princeton, but opposition from
residents and officials in those towns forced the Turnpike Authority
to reroute the road north through South Brunswick, which created a
furor with that town's officials and residents.

Supporters, including the Middlesex County freeholders and Plainsboro
Mayor Peter Cantu, argue the road is needed to divert trucks from
local roads and provide a safe east-west route for all of the truck
traffic that has increased with construction of all of the nearby
industrial parks and warehouses.

Opponents say the road will not lessen traffic on local roads, only
destroy local farms and open space and endanger the historic village
of Kingston, which is near the road's terminus.

"It is our position that Route 92 has always been a violation of
state and local land-use plans," said Janine Bauer, executive director
of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an activist organization
that advocates the use of mass transit over construction of highways.
"We're confident in the end the area that is earmarked for Route 92,
now designated open space and farmland, will be open space and
farmland and that Route 92 will be dead."

The first draft of the environmental study is due out this spring,
but Dowgin said she would be "very happy" if someone in the state -
either the transportation commissioner or the governor - would kill
the project.

"My daughter was 9 years old when we started this fight and she's now
a freshman in college," she said. "I really think in light of the
governor's plans to fight sprawl, it would be really difficult to push
for this road, especially when it violates their own plan."

* * *

Sue Epstein covers Middlesex County. She can be reached at
seps...@starledger.com or (732) 634-6482.
Copyright 2003 The Star-Ledger.

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SPRAWL-FIGHTING COOPERATION IS NOTHING NEW

Date: 030115
From: http://www.newsday.com/

IN ONE PART OF STATE, SPRAWL-FIGHTING COOPERATION IS NOTHING NEW

By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Writer, January 15, 2003

Cinnaminson - Lined with fast-food places, oversized supermarkets and
window-free adult bookstores, Route 130, the highway that cuts through
the mostly blue-collar waterfront communities of Burlington County,
looks like nothing special.

But a cooperative plan to perk up the Route 130 corridor has made the
25-mile stretch far better than it was a decade ago, when many of the
shopping centers were being abandoned as virgin swaths farther east in
the suburban Philadelphia county were developed with new houses,
office buildings and shopping centers.

"It was pretty devastated," said Mark Remsa, the county's director of
economic development and regional planning, who was hired in 1995 to
coax the corridor back to life.

The revival - by all accounts a work in progress - is credited to
implementation of one of the state's first regional plans, put
together by 12 municipalities and county planners led by Remsa. The
plan, which has provisions for economic development, land-use
planning, transportation and open-space conservation, was adopted by
the state in 1999.

Having the plan means the county and towns get a boost when they
apply for state funding.

It's also the sort of cooperation Gov. James E. McGreevey called for
Tuesday when he made sprawl-fighting one of the major themes of his
first State of the State address.

In addition to more regional planning, McGreevey called for more
clout for county planning boards, the power for towns to halt all
development for up to a year and fees that would shift the cost of new
roads and schools to developers.

In the nation's most densely populated state, spread-out development
is being blamed for traffic congestion, high auto insurance rates and
high property tax bills.

McGreevey won high marks for his speech from advocates of smart
growth, a philosophy that favors revitalizing existing communities
rather than bulldozing more farms and forests.

That's what's happening along Route 130.

There's new housing in Delran, a once-abandoned Willingboro mall
being remade into a mixed-use community and a new 700-acre complex of
warehouses in Burlington Township and Florence. There are smaller
projects such as new drug stores and banks as part of the hundreds of
millions of dollars in investment since the planning began in 1995.

What's being remade is an earlier version of sprawl where the
gleaming developments of only a few decades ago had become eyesores.

Rebuilding a place where the sprawl has already occurred does not
produce the sort of walkable communities that smart-growth advocates
prefer. On the redeveloped Route 130, there are big parking lots in
front of boxy stores.

"If you take a shopping center that's empty, but the buildings exist
and rebuild by improving the building, then that is responsible
redevelopment," said state Commissioner of Community Affairs Susan
Bass Levin. "It stops the Home Depot from being built on open space,
on farmland, on virgin land. That's the goal."

In fact, some of the additions - a Home Depot in Delran and a Wal-
Mart and Sam's Club preparing to open in Cinnaminson - are the
traditional enemies of sprawl fighters.

But it's better to put them in a place that's already developed than
to push farther out into the edges of suburbia, said Anthony Minniti,
the deputy mayor and director of economic development in Cinnaminson,
a 1970s-vintage bedroom community at the southern end of Route 130's
run through Burlington County.

Like other towns along Route 130, Cinnaminson has used tax incentives
to make building in an already developed area seem more attractive.

"What it comes down to is economics," Minniti said. "It's always
easier to knock down trees and pull up a field" to make a new home for
retailers.

The bold planning and cooperation along Route 130 are nearly without
precedent in New Jersey, said Barbara L. Lawrence, executive director
of the smart-growth advocacy group New Jersey Future.

"The Route 130 corridor gives everyone hope that you can continue to
redevelop and get it right," Lawrence said. "Maybe on the third try,
if not the second try."

* * *

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MOLD GRIPES GROWING

Date: 030122
From: http://www.nj.com/

HOUSING DEVELOPER SENDS CONSULTANT'S REPORT TO HOMEOWNERS' ATTORNEY.

By Katherine Blok, Express-times, January 22, 2003

Greenwich Twp. - Four more homeowners in the Greenwich Chase
development have come forward to say they have symptoms of mold in
their homes.

Residents said the mold problem has shown up in at least 10 homes in
the low-to moderate-income housing portion of the development, which
is off Dumont Road. The community was built by Toll Brothers of
Huntingdon Valley, Pa., to satisfy state affordable-housing
requirements.

Residents on Revere Road are complaining of a black substance that
runs along the edge of their carpets near the walls. The substance is
also visible on closet floors, under doors leading to basements, under
heating and air conditioning vents, under the light switches and
electric outlets and on curtains that touch the floor.

A do-it-yourself mold-testing kit used by homeowner Carol Berg and
her husband, Michael Haviland, revealed six types of molds in their
residence. But a test commissioned by Toll Brothers for at least two
homes showed there is no evidence of mold, and attributed the problem
to poor air circulation.

"In response to our customers' concerns, we retained a consultant to
evaluate their homes and prepare a report. We have forwarded the
report to their attorney and will be happy to forward the report
directly to our customers," Toll Brothers said Tuesday in a prepared
statement.

Despite prior requests, Toll Brothers has refused to provide copies
of the test results to homeowners.

"My whole block is in an uproar" over the issues that have surfaced,
said homeowner Michelle Manochio.

Manochio said she and her 9-year-old son Dominick are both on daily
allergy medication to alleviate their symptoms, but tests have come
back negative for any allergies. Manochio has replaced the carpeting
on the first floor with hardwood floors, replaced linoleum floors in
the kitchen with tile and has shampooed the carpets on the second
floor three times in as many years.

"It just doesn't ever seem to end," she said. "This is ridiculous. My
kid is suffering. Kids shouldn't have these kinds of headaches. To be
pumping (medicine) into him, it just makes me crazy. I don't want to
be pumping medicine into a 9-year-old every day. That just breaks my
heart."

Manochio said she used to joke that she was allergic to her house,
but now that joke is no longer funny.

"I'd be willing to do anything for my son's health, but these are
income-based houses. I live here because I don't have any money. I
didn't know that means you're going to build it cheaper," Manochio
said. "They (Toll Brothers) make it so frustrating because you can't
get an answer. I have two jobs, I can't chase them down. I know people
who live in the regular homes (in the same development) and they don't
have any problems like this."

Two other residents of the affordable-housing neighborhood, Terry
Caruso Carper and Gerri Ellerman, said they replaced the carpeting in
their homes only to have the black substance reappear on the new
carpet.

Caruso Carper, who has lived in her home for five years, said a
Prudential Insurance adjuster came to her home "several" times and
gave her a check to buy new carpets and have the home professionally
cleaned. But the cleaning did little and the new carpeting "doesn't
look too good either," Caruso Carper said.

"There's something there. I can't say what it is, but it's terrible.
It's very annoying," Caruso Carper said.

Caruso Carper and Ellerman also mentioned problems with severely
itchy skin. Despite medication prescribed by different doctors,
"nothing seems to help," Caruso Carper said.

Ellerman said she thought the soot-like substance on her carpets was
caused by a crack in her furnace. Toll Brothers sent an Allentown-
based heating company to her home to look at it, but after taking the
furnace apart, Ellerman said she was told it was fine.

"The problem doesn't go away. We keep changing the filters on the
furnace and we even put (filters) in the vents. They turn black,"
Ellerman said. "Nobody answers you. I never really got an answer why I
have this black line on my inside walls. It's very frustrating."

Homeowner Gina Zimbardo said Toll Brothers sent two companies to do
testing in her house, but she hasn't had any satisfactory answers from
the developer. She decided to ask a third air-quality specialist to
come to her home and will pay for the testing herself.

"I think it's odd that (Toll Brothers) won't let us see the results.
It's snaky," Zimbardo said. "It shouldn't be this way. I want to get
to the bottom of this. I'm sick, my kids keep getting sick, my dogs
keep getting sick (and) my carpets are discolored. You try to keep a
clean house and it's not possible."

Zimbardo said her 11-year-old daughter Brittany has suffered from
nosebleeds, and her 12-year-old son Anthony regularly has cold and
flu-like symptoms and a nagging cough. Ever since her 15-year-old son
Christopher went to live with his father, Zimbardo said, his symptoms
went away.

"I just want a nice place for my children to grow up," she said. "I
really want to know what it is, that's the bottom line. Obviously it's
not healthy if we keep getting sick."

Manochio said her main concern is also the health of her son.

"I need to know what's going on. It's all starting to make sense,"
Manochio said. "At this point now, I hope somebody helps us to figure
out what it is."

Ellerman said, "I'm concerned because if this is going through the
air, then what am I breathing?"

* * *

Reporter Katherine Blok can be reached at 908-475-8184 or by email at
kb...@express-times.com.
Copyright 2003 The Express-Times.

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HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP LOOKING TO PROTECT STREAMS

Date: 030122
From: http://independent.gmnews.com/

By Maura Dowgin, Staff Writer, Independent, January 22, 2003

Holmdel - The township is joining Gov. James McGreevey's "battle
against sprawl."

The Township Committee plans to send a letter this week to the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection suggesting four township
streams, the Ramanessin Brook, Bordens Brook, Mahoras/Takalusa Brook,
and Willow Brook, be designated Category 1, or C1, streams.

The Ramanessin Brook is currently designated a trout maintenance
stream. It is the only stream of the four to have any designation.

The C1 designation further protects water from point and non-point
source pollution, said Roberta Kaufman, former chair of the Holmdel
Environmental Commission.

Non-point source pollutants include pesticides from lawns, oil from
roads, and any other debris that runs off into the streams, said
Kaufman.

Point source pollution comes from state-permitted wastewater
management plants, Kaufman said. These plants service areas which are
not connected to public sewers, Kaufman said. The plants clean the
water and send it directly into the streams, Kaufman said.

"It (pollution) comes out of a pipe and that's why it's called point
source," Kaufman said.

Speaking of the four brooks that the township is seeking to protect,
Kaufman said, "These waters provide our exceptional drinking supply
waters."

The brooks flow into the Swimming River reservoir that provides
drinking water to 300,000 area residents and businesses, including
everyone in Holmdel, Kaufman said.

"These regulations will try to guide development into areas where the
negative impact can be minimized and stay away from areas where it's
known to have larger impact," Fink said.

The new designation would mandate larger buffer zones around the
streams where new major construction will not be permitted, said
Kaufman.

"This will not affect any individual homeowners," said Kaufman.

There are three wastewater plants in Holmdel - one at Village School
on McCampbell Road, one at the Prudential building on Route 33, and
one at the Holmdel Convalescent Center on Route 34.

"The plants will have to make sure there will be no increase of
degradation to the streams," Kaufman said.

The four streams are located in the most environmentally sensitive
areas of Holmdel, she said.

By a 3-0 vote, the committee approved a measure to send the letter to
the state department at the committee's regular meeting on Jan. 6.
Several committee members voiced concerns about not being sure how the
new designation would affect residents. Committeeman Terence Wall and
Committeewoman Serena DiMaso abstained from the vote.

"I've heard an awful lot of `I don't knows' tonight," said Wall.
"This affects a tremendous amount of property owners."

Wall and DiMaso abstained because both said they did not have enough
information to make an educated vote.

There were no solid answers at the meeting regarding the size of the
buffer zone around the streams under the new designation and how it
would impact current homeowners and existing applications to the
Planning or Zoning boards.

"I can't say that there won't be any impact on homeowners," Mayor
Larry Fink said.

"I think this will affect more people than you think," Terry Sherman,
owner of a large piece of property near Borden's Brook, told the
committee. "You're acting without proper knowledge."

"We double-checked with the DEP's office of legal affairs. They said
these regulations will not affect existing homeowners as they enlarge
their homes," Kaufman said after the meeting. "It also won't affect
current planning and zoning rulings."

"This is only a recommendation for the DEP to look into the streams,"
Fink said.

Simply because the committee decided to send the letter to the DEP
does not mean that these streams will be reclassified, Fink said. The
DEP will investigate to see if the streams deserve the new
classification, Fink said.

* * *

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

LAKE HOPATCONG COMMISSION FUNDING SINKS

Date: 030122
From: http://www.njherald.com/

By Becky Schmoyer, Herald Staff Writer, January 22, 2003

Landing - The Lake Hopatcong Commission learned Tuesday it will most
likely not be funded in 2004 and will have to make do with the
leftover funds from its start-up budget.

The group's construction plans were put on hold after it received
word that state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell will not recommend funding for the commission in
the 2004 state budget.

A small crowd of concerned residents, as well as commission members
and staff, packed the commission's rented office space at Hopatcong
State Park Tuesday night as Chairman Anthony Albanese announced the
bad news.

In a letter dated Jan. 17 to state Sen. Anthony R. Bucco, R-25,
Campbell said he will not recommend the commission for new funding
under Gov. James E. McGreevey's 2004 state budget. Campbell told Bucco
in the letter that the commission would have to "make do" with its
current balance, adding that this is more than many other commissions
would receive.

The Lake Hopatcong Commission was established with the signing of the
Lake Hopatcong Protection Act in January of 2001. The commission was
given an initial budget of $3 million and entrusted with the goal of
improving and protecting the water quality in Lake Hopatcong. It
received no additional funding for fiscal year 2003 and had requested
$1.95 million for the 2004 fiscal year, Donald Feliciano, executive
director, has said.

At Tuesday's meeting, the commission moved to postpone a vote on how
it will allocate its remaining money until next week. After paying
$67,845 in bills this month, the commission has a balance of $850,000,
which, it seems, will have to last indefinitely.

"I'm sure we all need an opportunity to rethink where our priorities
are as to what our remaining money should go toward," Albanese said.

In his letter to Bucco, Campbell took issue with several of the
commission's purchases, stating that they "appeared excessive,"
including the purchase of a $70,000 Boston Whaler motorboat.

Campbell challenged a number of pending projects the commission
sought funding for in 2004, stating in his letter that the proposals
were "impossible to justify" during the current budget climate.

Among the proposals disputed by Campbell was a request for an
additional $125,000 to go toward the construction of a storage
facility for weed harvesting equipment at Hopatcong State Park. In
addition, Campbell questioned the allocation of $68,000 already slated
by the commission to cover the design of the building. A $472,000 plan
to renovate office space to provide a permanent home for the
commission was also rejected by Campbell. In answer to these proposed
projects, Campbell stated he felt "less expensive options" were
available to the commission.

"The construction of the storage facility is up in the air,
obviously," said Albanese.

However, commission members and staff insist the garage is badly
needed to protect $1 million in weed harvesting equipment. The
commission had set aside $252,000 of its existing budget to cover a
portion of the cost of building the facility. Commissioner Eric Grove
said the commission recently received an estimate of $569,350 for the
construction of the building, which was almost half the price the
state had originally estimated the project would cost.

In light of the commission's uncertain future, the issue of whether
its 10 full-time employees should receive paid dental benefits will be
revisited at next week's budget session, said Albanese. Commission
members unanimously passed a measure Tuesday to reinstate full dental
coverage for its staff for a period of one month.

A recent audit revealed that dental coverage for 10 employees of the
commission was never voted on. A motion passed in March gave dental
benefits to only two employees, the executive director and
administrator, at a total cost of $207 per month, Feliciano has said.
The commission is paying $1,193 per month to provide full dental
coverage for all 10 employees, he has said.

As the first state-mandated agency charged with managing a lake, the
Lake Hopatcong Commission is made up of officials from the state,
Sussex and Morris counties, and the four communities along the lake's
shores: Hopatcong, Roxbury, Jefferson and Mount Arlington.

* * *

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

CLEANUP COSTS GROW AT FORMER A.C. LAUNDRY SITE

Date: 030122
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/

By Donald Wittkowski, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Press of Atlantic City, January 22, 2003

Atlantic City - It is Atlantic City's version of a black hole - a
great void that has swallowed up millions of dollars in redevelopment
funds and threatens to suck in even more.

So far, the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, or CRDA,
has spent about $2.2 million to excavate several thousand tons of
contaminated soil at the former site of an industrial laundry on North
Carolina Avenue.

Reluctantly, the authority approved an additional $525,236 in funding
Tuesday to finally finish the job - although even more money may be
needed in the future, depending on the amount of contamination that is
discovered.

"Until you dig this stuff up, you don't really know," CRDA Executive
Director James B. Kennedy said.

The CRDA acquired the laundry from Atlantic City Linen Supply Inc.,
then demolished the building in 2001 to make room for a housing
project that would complement a major redevelopment plan for the North
Carolina Avenue corridor.

After the authority had taken ownership of the property, it
discovered that dry-cleaning chemicals stored in old underground tanks
had leaked into the soil, requiring extensive cleanup before the site
would be suitable for housing construction.

The cleanup costs have escalated dramatically. Initially, the CRDA
spent about $460,000, then authorized an additional $960,000 last
March, followed by an extra $779,134 in October.

The $525,236 approved Tuesday increased the total cleanup cost to
more than $2.7 million.

"Our experience on this site is that the worst case will happen,"
Kennedy said.

Pinpointing exactly who is to blame for the contamination will be
difficult because the laundry had a string of owners during its
lengthy history, Kennedy explained. Atlantic City Linen, the most
recent owner, has denied responsibility.

Kennedy said the CRDA's attorneys are drafting a lawsuit in hopes of
recovering the cleanup costs from the former owners, but noted that
the prospects of actually getting the money appear remote.

"We're going to try real hard, but it's not real likely," he said.

The CRDA, the city's main redevelopment agency, is funded by revenue
from the casino industry.

It oversees the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in casino
funds for housing and economic development, so there is no shortage of
money for the cleanup costs at the laundry site.

Contamination first appeared to be limited to a small piece of
property at the corner of North Carolina and Adriatic avenues, but
additional testing revealed the pollution had spread to adjacent
Haddon Avenue.

"We're relatively sure that there are no other contaminants on the
other side of the property," Kennedy said, expressing hope that Haddon
Avenue is the end point.

The most recent cleanup work took place in November and December
under the direction of the state Department of Environmental
Protection, or DEP.

At that time, about 1,400 tons of contaminated soil were removed,
adding to the several thousand tons that were excavated earlier.

Edward C. Einhaus, the CRDA's housing director, said the authority
asked its contractors to draw up a "worst-case scenario" for the final
cost of the project, resulting in the extra $525,236 in cleanup money.

Contractors are preparing to dig a 15-foot-deep hole on Haddon Avenue
to remove what is believed to be the last remnants of contaminated
soil.

A section of Haddon Avenue will be rebuilt to support the street and
the utility lines running underneath it, Kennedy said.

Also at its monthly board meeting Tuesday, the CRDA voted to increase
the amount of money that it will reimburse the Baltimore-based Cordish
Co. to rebuild the city's bus terminal.

The front entrance of the terminal is being shifted a block away from
Michigan Avenue to Ohio Avenue to create more space for a $60 million
retail and entertainment district under development by Cordish and the
CRDA.

Originally, the CRDA had planned to reimburse Cordish $5 million for
reconfiguring the bus station, but agreed to increase the amount to
$6.8 million.

Kennedy said more money is needed because the $5 million payment was
based on preliminary estimates and did not reflect the true cost.

* * *

To email Donald Wittkowski at The Press: DWitt...@pressofac.com

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

NJ LEGISLATURE BACK IN SESSION

Date: 030122
From: mai...@gsenet.org

GARDEN STATE LEGISLATIVE REPORT

For a list of current legislative actions pertaining to the
environment, please visit:

http://www.gsenet.org/legislate.php

The Report is edited by Bambi Dingman, din...@gsenet.org

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

SIXTH ANNUAL GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Date: 22 Jan 2003
From: "BIANCHI, John" {JBIA...@Audubon.org}

SIXTH ANNUAL GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT NEEDS VOLUNTEERS,
BIRDWATCHERS TO HELP PROTECT AMERICA'S BIRDS AND HABITAT

PIONEER WEB-BASED COUNT SPOTLIGHTS WATCHLIST BIRDS AND WEST NILE VIRUS

January 22, 2003

Ivyland, PA - All across the Americas, our birds face survival
challenges from loss of habitat to introduced predators to diseases
like West Nile Virus. The Sixth Annual Great Backyard Bird Count
(GBBC), February 14-17, will focus on the effects of these threats,
bring conservation home by telling participants what they can do to
help, and add vital new information to our understanding of our birds
and their environment.

Once again, the National Audubon Society and The Cornell Lab of
Ornithology call on volunteers of every age and skill level to make
the Count possible. "We need every birder to join us," said Audubon
Senior Vice President of Science Frank Gill. "The Great Backyard Bird
Count has become a important means of gathering data to help birds,
but it can't happen unless people take part. Whether you're a novice
or an expert, we need you to take part and help us help birds."

Audubon and Cornell are asking participants to pay special attention
to the more than 200 species on the Audubon 2002 WatchList, issued
last autumn, which lists North American birds in danger or decline.
"WatchList is an early-warning system designed to raise awareness of
birds in trouble, before they become endangered or threatened,"
explained Audubon's Gill. "Think of it as preventative medicine,
protecting our great natural heritage." The GBBC website
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc includes features on these birds and
what participants can do to help them.

The GBBC will also focus on the effects of West Nile Virus on crows
and jays, owls, raptors and other birds, and will educate participants
about the disease. "We need as many volunteer counters as possible to
tell us what they see," said Sally Conyne, Audubon Director of Special
Projects. "The GBBC can serve to educate people about the real effects
of the disease, and will help our scientists reach a better
understanding."

The GBBC combines high-tech web tools with an army of citizen-
scientist bird observers. The Count asks families, individuals,
classrooms, and community groups to count the numbers and kinds of
birds that visit their feeders, local parks, schoolyards, and other
areas during any or all of the four count days. Participants enter
their sightings at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc . The state-of-the-
art website was developed by Audubon and the Cornell Lab. GBBC is
sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited stores.

Begun in 1998, the GBBC has engaged more than a quarter-million
Americans of all ages and backgrounds, and united them in the effort
to keep common birds common. In 2002, more than 47,000 participants
counted millions of birds throughout North America, helping reveal
information on Evening Grosbeaks, Snowy Owls, Collared Doves, and many
other birds.

"When the last Ivory-billed Woodpecker was seen in the 1930s, there
was no concrete way for citizens to help professional ornithologists
monitor bird populations," says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Director
John Fitzpatrick, who this past year led an expedition to rediscover
the Ivory Bill, possibly North America's rarest bird. "We cannot allow
other species to face the same fate as the Ivory-bill. The Great
Backyard Bird Count provides a way for citizens to help us determine
which birds are where, and in what numbers, so we can take steps to
protect those that need protecting."

The GBBC site invites beginners and experts alike to participate,
providing useful information to make participation easy and enjoyable.
There is a vocabulary section, bird-watching and bird-feeding tips,
bird vocalizations, and more, including information about House Finch
eye disease. Educators will find the bibliography and geography
sections especially handy; as well as suggestions on how to conduct
the Count with groups of children. For those tired of winter and ready
for spring, there will be tips about planning and preparing for the
spring bird garden.

Instructions can be found at http://www.birdsource.org . There's no
fee or registration. Those who would like to participate but aren't
online can try their local library, and many Wild Birds Unlimited
stores accept reports. Libraries, businesses, nature clubs, Scout
troops and other community organizations interested in promoting the
GBBC or getting involved can contact Sally Conyne at Audubon, at
215/355-9588, ext. 16; or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at
800/843-2473.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a membership institution
interpreting and conserving the earth's biological diversity through
research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.

Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the
habitat that supports them. Our national network of community-based
nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and
advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations,
engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive
conservation experiences.

- - -

Contact: John Bianchi, jbia...@audubon.org, 212/979-3026

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

EARTHWATCH FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR NEW JERSEY EDUCATORS

Date: 22 Jan 2003
From: Karen Lund {kl...@gmrsd.com.}

Please pass the information out to any teachers (formal or non-
formal) who might be interested. We will be required to develop
curriculum and be trained in PLT. Also graduate credit is available
from Bank Street. Contact Karen Lund at chanc...@nac.net for
information if you need more information before you pass the word.
These fellowships will go fast.

Earthwatch Institute offers New Jersey K-12 educators and
administrators funding from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Since
1984 over 200 NJ Fellows have joined 1-2 week field research
expeditions and returned to their community with new skills, knowledge
and stories to share. Biodiversity projects could take you to the
rainforests of Central America, the lakes of Africa, or the shores of
Australia.

Fellowships cover all expedition costs and offer partial travel
reimbursement. For more information, or to speak with past NJ fellows,
contact Kerri Glynn:

800-776-0188 x118
Educati...@earthwatch.org
http://www.earthwatch.org/ed/fellowships.html.

Applications for summer fellowships are being accepted on a rolling
basis. Funding may be exhausted by April. Karen Lund will be going on
an expedition this summer. Please contact her at chanc...@nac.net
for more information.

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

Tina Bologna - Editor - bol...@gsenet.org

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

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

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

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Tel: 973-394-1313 - Fax: 973-394-9513
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