Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 020423

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Garden State EnviroNet

unread,

Apr 24, 2002, 1:15:24 AM4/24/02

020423

GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{*} FREE EMAIL LIST HOSTING NOW AVAILABLE
{*} COASTAL REGION'S AQUIFER IS TRICKLING AWAY
{*} TOWNS THAT RECYCLE WASTEWATER GET NOD
{*} TRENTON DRAWING A LINE IN THE WATER
{*} HIGHLANDS PRESERVATION PANEL URGED
{*} LTE: THE FIGHT FOR OPEN SPACE
{*} PLANNING SUSPENDED ON DELAWARE RIVER DREDGING PROJECT
{*} LOGAN TWP: DREDGED MATERIALS DUMP PLAN HEARING IS PUSHED
{*} POISONING FOR DOLLARS
{*} FIRST 100 DAYS ARE PROMISING FOR NJ'S ENVIRONMENT
{*} MOBILIZING THE REGION #362
{*} BALD EAGLES ARE RETURNING AT MERRILL CREEK RESERVOIR
{*} U.S. BIODIVERSITY COUNTERED BY SPECIES AT RISK
{*} 2 FALL/WINTER TEACHER-NATURALIST INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE
{*} POSITION AVAILABLE: PROGRAMS MANAGER - NY

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

FREE EMAIL LIST HOSTING NOW AVAILABLE

Date: 020423
From: mai...@gsenet.org

The Garden State EnviroNet (GSE) is proud to announce that we now
offer New Jersey-based environmental organizations FREE e-mail list
hosting. GSE gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Geraldine
R. Dodge Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, and TPM Electronics,
without whom, we would not be able to offer this service.

For those unfamiliar with the e-mail list, which is also known as a
listserv, there are basically two types - an Announcement list or a
Discussion list. An Announcement list allows only the list owner to
send messages (such as your newsletters, press releases, etc.) to any
number of other people. The list owner sends only one message to the
server, which then resends the message to all of the people on your
list (one-to-many). On the other hand, a Discussion list, allows each
member of the list to send a message that the server again sends to
all the members of the list (many-to-many).

Both types of lists can be tailored to your needs, with various
levels of security and access privileges. You, as the list owner,
control who joins, who posts, what they post, and who can read the
messages. Also, if you wish, all messages can be archived on the
listserv's searchable website. Archives can also be configured to your
needs, in terms of duration and access.

There are many advantages to owning your own list:

- You do not need to manage the subscriber list, people can join or
leave through either email or the listserv's website;

- You can put simple forms on your own web pages to allow people to
join your list;

- You do not need to worry about the inevitable "bounces", people
whose email accounts are abandoned, over-loaded, or otherwise
unreachable...this is all managed automatically;

- There is a full array of reports available to you, from simple
monthly summaries to detailed reports of every message;

- There are NO advertising, promos or other gimmicks to contend with;

- If you presently have a list with another company, whether free or
fee-based, and are not satisfied with that service, GSE can help
migrate your list to our server.

Setting up a new list is fast and easy, you only need to provide GSE
with the following information:

Name of Group
Address
City/State/Zip

Name of List
Name of Administrator
Their email address
Their phone number

That's it! We then create the list, and, during a brief phone call,
will do the final configuration. We can provide the guidance to help
you select the best options for your needs.

If there is no one in your group to serve as administrator, GSE can
co-own the list with you, and provide full list management. For this
service you will be charged $10 per month for the first 100
subscribers, and $5 per month for each additional 100 (or part
thereof). The only thing GSE cannot do is to moderate your messages.

The Garden State EnviroNet is an environmental news and information
service serving all of New Jersey. GSE is a non-profit organization
that seeks to provide quality coverage of environmental issues.
Created nearly a decade ago, GSE has given a voice to the
environmental movement in New Jersey and has helped to unite many
diverse organizations working on a range of issues.

If you would like more information, please contact Phil Reynolds, at
reyn...@gsenet.org or 908-852-5590.

Our very best regards,
Tina Bologna, Executive Director
Phil Reynolds, General Manager

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

COASTAL REGION'S AQUIFER IS TRICKLING AWAY

Date: 020423
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com

By Jack Kaskey, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7213, JKa...@pressofac.com
Press of Atlantic City, April 23, 2002

A federal study released Monday shows southern New Jersey's coastal
communities are pumping water from a major aquifer faster than rain
can recharge it, drawing salt water toward the region's wells.

The study's release comes as state environmental officials are
lifting a ban on lawn-watering, convinced last week by local water
officials and the landscapers that the region has plenty of water.

In just 5 years, well levels dropped as much as 11 feet in the
Atlantic City-Ocean City area, according the U.S. Geological Survey
study of the Atlantic City 800-foot sand aquifer, the main source of
public water for the southern New Jersey coast.

Water levels have been dropping in the aquifer at about a foot a year
since people first tapped it more than 100 years ago, said Pierre
Lacombe, the USGS hydrologist who co-wrote the report.

The most recent data, gathered in late 1998 and released Monday, show
the aquifer at its lowest level ever. The aquifer study is updated
every 5 years.

The aquifer supplies water to almost every barrier island community
from Long Beach Island to Stone Harbor, as well as many mainland
communities such as Hamilton Township and those supplied by New Jersey
American Water Co.

The vast aquifer isn't likely to go dry, but overpumping is slowly
drawing salt water toward the wells that supply most of the southern
New Jersey shore.

The effects are most apparent at the perimeter of the aquifer where
salt water is being drawn into wells supplying southern Cape May
County, Lacombe said

Wells under Cape May and Wildwood have gone salty, and wells in Stone
Harbor now are threatened, Lacombe said. Wildwood has switched to
wells on the mainland for its water, and Cape May built a desalination
plant.

The saltwater front is about 4 miles southeast of Stone Harbor and
about 10 miles east of Ocean City and Ventnor.

"We now know, for all the tourism industry along the barrier islands,
what we are dealing with," Lacombe said.

The drop in water levels can be reversed, the study shows.

The Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, tapped by towns in Gloucester,
Camden and western Burlington counties, rose as much as 51 feet after
the state Department of Environmental Protection declared the aquifer
a critical area and banned new water allocations there.

Likewise, water levels rose in most wells tapping the Cohansey
aquifer near Cape May after the city's desalination plant went online
in 1998.

The USGS study helps the DEP manage the state's water supply, said
Bob Oberthaler, chief of the DEP's Bureau of Water Allocation.

The most recent update doesn't set off any alarms for Atlantic
County, because the 800-foot sand aquifer is so vast that saltwater
intrusion won't be a problem there for a long time, he said.

But the study makes it unlikely that major new water withdrawals will
be allowed in the Cape May Court House area, so as not to aggravate
Cape May County's saltwater intrusion problems, Oberthaler said.

Despite the long, slow drop in aquifer levels, many local officials
insist there is still plenty of water to justify easing drought
restrictions this spring.

Brigantine water officials, for instance, told DEP Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell on Thursday that the city's water levels haven't
changed in years.

The three Brigantine wells monitored by the USGS dropped between 1
and 10 feet between 1993 and 1998, although water levels could have
stabilized more recently.

Ernie Purdy, the city's superintendent of public works, said he
doesn't see a problem with pumping as much water as people can use.
Saltwater intrusion isn't a problem for the island city, he said.

"For the most part, I don't think people realize that the water we
don't use just bleeds out to sea anyway," Purdy said. "Our situation
is either use it or lose it."

Neil Goldfine, executive director of the Atlantic City Municipal
Utilities Authority, said he has plenty of water, despite the long-
term drop in his primary aquifer. Atlantic City's wells are on the
mainland, significantly farther from salt water than other coastal
communities and the casinos that pump their own water from under the
islands, he said.

Goldfine was among a contingent of local officials and landscapers
who met Monday afternoon for about two hours with DEP drought
coordinator Dennis Hart to hammer out details of a new drought order.

DEP Commissioner Campbell on Thursday promised the landscapers he
will issue an order allowing lawn irrigation twice weekly in the
coastal south drought region. Lawn watering in the coastal north and
central regions will be cut back from three to two times weekly, he
said.

Lawn watering will be contingent on the lawn-care industry educating
the public about whatever new regulations are announced, Campbell
said.

John Ferrie, president of the South Jersey Landscaping Association,
said the meeting Monday went well, although the industry is concerned
about its ability to bankroll a massive public-education campaign.

"We have such a larger area to cover, it could become very
expensive," Ferrie said.

If the region fails to cut water consumption over previous summers by
20 to 30 percent, Campbell said he would re- institute the irrigation
ban. Lawn watering accounts for 30 to 50 percent of summer water use.

"I just want to keep driving home the point that this is not the time
to waste water," Ferrie said. "The public has to be responsible. If we
lose it, it's because we abuse it."

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

TOWNS THAT RECYCLE WASTEWATER GET NOD

Date: 020423
From: http://www.nj.com/

USDA TO GIVE PRIORITY FOR LOW-INTEREST LOANS

By Jim Lockwood, Star-Ledger Staff, April 23, 2002

New Jersey municipalities that recycle treated wastewater will be
given higher priority by the United States Department of Agriculture
for grants and loans for water projects, a department official said
yesterday.

Towns with fewer than 10,000 residents that have municipal water and
sewer systems and design ways to recycle or reuse treated wastewater -
instead of just discharging it into rivers and streams as happens now
- will receive more consideration to share in some $10 million in USDA
grants and low-interest loans disbursed each year, said Andrew Law,
the USDA's rural development director in New Jersey.

"We need to add another threshold of design to redirect water after
it goes through sewage treatment plants as reusable or recharge," Law
said. "We need to be a little more creative. Right now, everything
goes one way. We have to start rethinking how we do business."

Law announced his office's "change in policy" of ranking funding
based on recycling efforts yesterday on Earth Day at a ceremonial
presentation of $7 million in USDA funds for Newton to build a
municipal water-filtration plant.

It is the largest water project in the state being funded by the USDA
this year.

Last year, the USDA provided $13.5 million to a dozen water and sewer
projects in eight towns with populations under 10,000.

Law, who said he was struck by an April 8 article in The Star-Ledger
that reported how little of the 1 billion gallons of water consumed
daily in the state is reused, said the new approach went into effect
yesterday.

His comments come amid the worst drought in decades and reflect
recent comments by state environmental officials encouraging water
recycling.

"New Jersey never really thought about water recycling before. This
is management by crisis," Law said.

He cited ideas of diverting treated wastewater to golf-course
irrigation as an example of how water may be recharged to groundwater,
rather than discharged into streams or rivers that eventually flow out
to sea.

Costs for designing and implementing water recycling could be
included in applications for USDA funding, he said.

A New Jersey League of Municipalities official declined immediate
comment, saying the group was not aware of a change in USDA grant
application procedures.

Newton's $7 million, which was received last month, won't be
affected. But as a town in rural/suburban Sussex County close to
parks, open space and wildlife management areas, Newton represents an
example where such recycling may work, Law said.

Newton's water source is Morris Lake in Sparta, and the town's sewage
treatment plant discharges to the Paulins Kill, a tributary of the
Delaware River.

Of all municipalities in the state with reservoirs, Newton is the
last one with unfiltered drinking water. The town was ordered several
years ago to build a filtration plant by November 2003, but it was
delayed two years ago when a flood destroyed water mains and severed
the connection to Morris Lake.

Newton received water from Sparta for 16 months until the mains were
repaired and back on line in December.

Now, the estimated $7 million filtration plant cost will be funded by
the USDA in a $1.7 million grant and a $5.3 million low-interest,
40-year loan.

Without the grant and loan, town residents' water bills would easily
double, Mayor Kevin Elvidge said. The town plans to go out to bid
later this year and have construction start in spring 2003.

* * *

Jim Lockwood covers Sussex County. He can be reached at
jloc...@starledger.com or (973) 383-0516.
Copyright 2002 The Star-Ledger

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

TRENTON DRAWING A LINE IN THE WATER

Date: 23 Apr 2002
From: "David Pringle" {davidp...@mindspring.com}

By Alex Nussbaum, Bergen Record Staff Writer, April 23, 2002

New Jersey moved to permanently preserve the clean waters of
reservoirs such as the Oradell and Wanaque on Monday, though the
safeguards could also mean pricier homes or higher sewer bills.

Governor McGreevey announced tougher pollution protections for nine
reservoirs and six streams around the state, handing environmentalists
an Earth Day victory they'd sought for almost a decade.

"We're drawing a line," McGreevey said during a misty, chilly news
conference at the Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township, the
state's largest. "We clearly recognize water is a critical, valuable
resource. Simply put, we're raising the bar appreciably to protect the
state's drinking supply."

McGreevey's proposal, if it survives nine months of public review,
would forbid any project along the protected waterways that would
reduce water quality. To win approval from the state, for example, a
new strip mall would have to purify the stormwater it dumps into a
creek and a housing developer would have to do the same -Y Yor balance
their pollution by paying someone else along a river to clean up.

For years, only waters that supported trout in New Jersey got that
level of protection. The majority, even drinking water supplies, had
to meet less stringent standards. But after a decade-long building
boom and, this year, a deep drought, even the purest water supplies
are in jeopardy, state officials and activists said.

"To the degree we've had improvement over the last 30 years, it's all
about to be overwhelmed by the sprawl," said David Pringle, a lobbyist
with the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "This is effectively
drawing the line in the sand, saying no net increase of pollution in
these waterways."

In northern New Jersey, increased protections would cover the Oradell
and Wanaque reservoirs, and the Boonton and Charlottesburg reservoirs
in Morris County. The Flat Brook in Sussex County also was on the
list, along with its tributaries. In all, McGreevey called for
enhanced regulations for 200 miles of streams and reservoirs serving
3.5 million people, the state said. The rules would not affect
existing industry, businesses, or homes.

Developers and sewage plant operators, who might have to pay the most
to meet the new rules, offered few comments Monday, saying they needed
to see more details of the plan.

But they generally agreed with the idea of protecting drinking
supplies. For the moment at least, they were taking no position on
McGreevey's proposal.

"We can find ways to achieve both the housing and safe water goals,
without necessarily increasing the cost of either," said Patrick
O'Keefe, executive director of the state Builders Association.

The group representing sewage plants, the Association of
Environmental Authorities, said the impact of the announcement
depended on just how low the state sets limits for chemicals in
particular waterways.

"If that were to drop down to a very, very low number, you'd have to
have a considerable investment in a plant," said Ellen Gulbinski, the
group's executive director. "And that would be passed on to
customers."

Drinking water is treated before it reaches the taps, and all the
state's water companies generally meet standards ordered by the state.
But development and polluted runoff from roads, farms, and other
sources have made pollutants such as nitrates and trihalomethanes an
increasing problem. Nitrates can hamper the ability of blood to carry
oxygen in children. Trihalomethanes, or THMs, form when organic matter
in water reacts with chlorine used to disinfect water; they've been
linked in some studies to miscarriages and birth defects.

As a result, water companies have spent tens of millions of dollars
upgrading equipment to reduce pollution. The Passaic Valley Water
Commission, for one, began an $80 million project last year to tame
THMs. It would be cheaper, environmental groups insist, to ensure the
water that flows into a reservoir was less polluted in the first
place.

McGreevey's announcement didn't include some rivers and streams those
groups want to protect - Ywaters such as the upper Hackensack, Ramapo,
and Passaic rivers, which feed reservoirs or are drinking supplies
themselves. But the governor said the state could propose another list
for increased protection when the nine-month review of the first group
ends.

He also ordered the state Department of Environmental Protection to
come up with a new version of the regulations on septic systems that a
state court threw out last week. Those rules, proposed by former Gov.
Christie Whitman, would force developers to go through stricter
environmental reviews to win approval for projects on septic systems.
The Builders Association sued to block the policy, and an appellate
court complied, ruling that the state hadn't allowed enough public
comment on the plan.

The drought has only made water quality more tenuous. Lower levels in
lakes and rivers means pollutants are more concentrated.

McGreevey blamed past administrations for not protecting the
reservoirs sooner, with environmentalists singling out Whitman.

"For New Jersey for the last decades to sit idly by while we lose
pristine water supplies ... is irresponsible," the governor said.
"Today's action is long past due. The drought simply reinforced the
necessity to take such actions."

* * *

Staff Writer Sally Goldenberg contributed to this article.

# # #

David Pringle, Campaign Director
NJ Environmental Federation
NJ Chapter of Clean Water Action
1 Lower Ferry Rd., Trenton, NJ 08628
phone: 609-530-1515
fax: 609-530-1508
email: dpri...@cleanwater.org

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

HIGHLANDS PRESERVATION PANEL URGED

Date: 23 Apr 2002
From: http://www.dailyrecord.com/

By Colleen O'Dea, Daily Record, 4/23/02

Morris Twp. - More federal funds and greater development curbs - even
a regional planning commission - are the only ways to protect the
Highlands and its high quality water supply, environmentalists and
Highlands residents implored last night at a hearing on the recent
study of the region.

Some 150 people, turned out at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum for the
USDA Forest Service's hearing on the draft of the Highlands Regional
Study it released earlier this month. Speaker after speaker urged
officials to strengthen the study's recommendations to spend more
federal funds on preservation and push for stronger controls on
development, and many of them want a regulatory commission similar to
one working in the Pinelands to oversee planning.

"We need a Pinelands in the Highlands," said Jeff Tittel, director of
the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "If a state like Oklahoma
can have a national forest that has no trees, we can have a national
forest in the Highlands."

It found that the Highlands region is losing more than 5,000 acres a
year to development and if that pace is allowed to continue, it could
deplete the water supply to dangerous levels. The study also
identified some 440,000 acres of sensitive land that should be
protected, including 100,000 acres - including Newark watershed
property in Jefferson, the Farny Highlands, Sparta Mountain and
Lubber's Run - in immediate risk of development.

The study states the goals for the region as managing future growth,
maintaining an adequate supply of quality water, preserving the
contiguous forests, providing recreation, and promoting economic
development in those areas that already are urbanized.

To accomplish these, it suggests, primarily, buying open space
outright or conservation easements, improved planning and coordinating
preservation efforts. It called for no real new mechanism to protect
the Highlands, nor does it call for government management of the land
or the creation of any type of federal preserve.

CALL TO CONTROL GROWTH

The commission that oversees development in New Jersey's Pinelands is
controversial as builders and land owners complain it has usurped
private property rights. While many in North Jersey have shied away
from supporting such a body here in the past, close to half the
speakers called for some new mechanism to control growth in the 1.5
million acres of Highlands in New York and New Jersey, including
250,000 acres encompassing most of Morris County.

"If an office of Homeland Security for the first time can be set up
to protect our national security, why can't there be a Highlands
Security Planning Commission?" said Stephen Mercado of Byram, who
lives on the Lubber's Run, which the report named among the most
important and threatened regions in the Highlands. "The McMansions
remind me of Easter Island. They cut down all the trees so they could
build those large statues. That's what going to happen in the
Highlands if we don't stop all this crazy building."

But Ray Zabihach, director of the Morris County Planning Board, said
that while the board supports preservation efforts within the most
critical watershed lands - those north of Route 80 - it would not back
a Pinelands-type commission.

"The planning board would not like to see another level of government
brought into play to try to manage the area," he said.

Only one speaker thought the report's recommendations too mild.

"Property owners have a right to develop their properties," said Matt
Sprung of Randolph, who was representing the New Jersey Builders
Association. "I believe people have more of a right to live in this
area than song birds."

He was referring to one finding of the study: that 247 threatened and
endangered species live in the Highlands. The report also stated that
some 4.5 million people in New Jersey and New York rely on Highlands
water and 14 million visit annually for recreation - more than
frequent Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks combined.

Population in the Highlands rose 11 percent between 1990 and 2000,
threatening the amount and quality of its water and the habitats of
those animals who live in large tracts of contiguous forests, the
study found. If all the remaining open land were developed as allowed
by current zoning laws, the region's population would grow by nearly
half to more than 2 million people.

Sprung said there's nothing wrong with that and showed the audience
what sprawl looks like by holding up a large mirror to reflect them.

"I think there's going to be a lot less growth than predicted," he
said. "Does adding people necessarily ruin the landscape? I don't
think so."

The rest of the audience clearly disagreed.

"This area needs to be declared a landscape of national significance
so we can get land and water conservation funds," said Lucy Meyer of
Kinnelon, who was instrumental in preserving the Pyramid Mountain
Natural and Historic Area.

Preserving the Highlands has become more important to everyone given
the current drought situation. While the water supply in the region
currently is good and its quality is "among the best nationally,"
according to the study, it is also considered "highly vulnerable" to
increased population and runoff. About a third of the streams have
impaired water quality and eight of 51 watersheds have been developed
so much that water quality is threatened.

KEEPING WATERSHEDS

Yet if the region were to build out, the number of watersheds with
high quality surface water "will be reduced by half." While the amount
of ground water used already exceeds supply in the Whippany River
watershed, similar problems would occur in the Rockaways and the Upper
Musconetcong.

The study focused only on those parts of the Highlands in New Jersey
and New York. The entire region, also known as the Reading Prong,
stretches from northwestern Connecticut to southeastern Pennsylvania
and is characterized by rocky, hilly uplands adjacent to steep river
cuts. New Jersey's section stretches like a sash across North Jersey
from the Hudson River to the Delaware and includes most of Morris
County west of Route 287.

Some 40 percent of the New York and New Jersey Highlands - 540,000
acres - have significant conservation value, but less than half of
those acres are protected. Almost 100,000 are considered of
"exceptional value" and facing major development threats, the study
found.

The New Jersey State Planning Commission last year designated the
Highlands a "special resource area" and $300,000 was budgeted for a
planning coordinator and water quality and development studies. But
Gov. James McGreevey took those funds to help plug a multi-billion
dollar state budget gap, as well as eliminating nearly the entire
staff of the Office of State Planning that had been championing the
Highlands' cause.

The forest service's work is being funded by a $750,000 Congressional
appropriation. It was charged with updating a 1992 study that had
called the region an area of "national significance" and recommended
better cooperative planning and greater spending for land conservation
to preserve its large tracts of forests, numerous endangered species
and pristine reservoirs.

Nearly all the speakers urged swift and strong action now before it's
too late.

"I'm afraid the next meeting, 10 years from now, there really won't
be any reason to have it," said Meyer. "There won't be any open space
left."

* * *

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

LTE: THE FIGHT FOR OPEN SPACE

Date: 020424
From: "Dennis W. Schvejda" {Den...@SierraActivist.org}

Star-Ledger - 4/23/02

Last year 10,000 acres of New Jersey watershed land were protected by
$5 million in Forest Legacy funding, a federal program that supports
state efforts to protect environmentally sensitive forest lands.
Efforts are underway to increase this funding. Our entire state
congressional delegation has signed a letter supporting this effort.
We thank all 13 members of the delegation. As the drought continues,
protecting our watershed lands is an investment in the health and
well-being of each New Jersey resident.

Meanwhile, Gov. James E. McGreevey is taking state open space and
watershed protection programs backward with cuts of almost $25 million
in Green Acres and watershed aid - the greatest open space budget cuts
ever. I urge everyone to contact the Governor and tell him to restore
and increase open space funding and invest in our families and our
future.

- Tina Schvejda, North Haledon

The writer is chairwoman of the Sierra Club's New Jersey Chapter

- - -

Spend a FAX to Governor McGreevey and an e-mail to your state
legislators urging them to restore Green Acres and Watershed Aid
budget cuts... visit:

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/budgetcuts

# # #

Dennis W. Schvejda, Co-Conservation Chair
New Jersey Chapter Sierra Club
Web: http://sierraactivist.org
Join our Action Network & receive alerts:
http://www.actionnetwork.org/add.tcl?domain=SierraClubNJ

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

PLANNING SUSPENDED ON DELAWARE RIVER DREDGING PROJECT

Date: 020423
From: http://www.newsday.com/

PLANNING WORK SUSPENDED ON DISPUTED DELAWARE RIVER DREDGING PROJECT

Associated Press, April 23, 2002

Cherry Hill - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended planning
work for a $311 million dredging project on the Delaware River.

The agency announced its decision Monday, citing a federal report
that raises questions about the project's economics.

Critics, including several state and federal lawmakers, were pleased
with the decision. They have said the project, which would deepen the
river's main shipping channel, is a waste of tax money and could harm
the environment.

"This is not the permanent end of the project, but it's the next best
thing," Rep. Rob Andrews told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill for
Tuesday's editions.

Last year, Andrews asked the General Accounting Office to assess the
impact of the project. The Army Corps said the federal agency's
report, due to be completed next month, questions the project's
"economic justification."

"If there are questions, let's suspend the work and let's answer the
questions before we do anything else," Homer Perkins, a Corps
spokesman, said in a statement issued Monday.

The dredging would deepen the river channel from 40 to 45 feet to
accommodate larger ships. Over four years, 33 million cubic yards of
river bottom would be removed from 108 miles of river, from the
Delaware Bay to Philadelphia.

An additional 6 million cubic yards would be dredged annually to keep
the 106-mile channel at its new depth.

Officials with the Delaware River Port Authority, the project's local
sponsor, declined to comment on the decision. My Linh Nguyen, a DRPA
spokeswoman, said officials had not seen a copy of the Corps'
statement.

The DRPA has said the work is needed to keep its ports competitive
and that the dredge spoils are safe. Critics, though, believe the
potential for harm to the environment and marine life is too great.

* * *

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

LOGAN TWP: DREDGED MATERIALS DUMP PLAN HEARING IS PUSHED

Date: 020423
From: http://www.nj.com/

By Jim Six, Staff Writer, Gloucester County Times, 04/23/02

Logan Twp. - Plans to dump more than 670,000 cubic yards of material
dredged from the bottom of New York Harbor at a facility here should
be considered at a public hearing.

The state Department of Environmental Protection hasn't exactly said
so yet, but U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews, state Sen. Steve Sweeney,
Assemblyman John Burzichelli and Freeholder Dr. Warren Wallace said
Monday it's only a matter of time before a public hearing is
announced.

Weeks Marine Inc. has offered the lowest bid to the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to accept the material at its property along the Delaware
River between the Commodore Barry Bridge and the Greenwich Township
line. There are possibly millions more cubic yards that could come.
Weeks bid $44.1 million. If the contract is awarded, the materials
could begin coming to Weeks in August.

"This is material that cannot be used as remediation material at the
historic area remediation site, the old mud dump off Sandy Hook," said
Corps of Engineers-New York City spokesman Peter Shugert.

"This material is not suitable. It needs an upland disposal
facility," he said.

"There are some contaminants in there. It's been tested. We go
through very many rigorous tests. It is prohibited from going out into
the ocean," said Shugert.

"A certain amount of material can go there. Generally, the stuff on
top (when dredged) is contaminated and cannot go out" to the ocean, he
said.

Despite that, it can be reused, he insisted.

"If you took it to Bayonne, it would be used to remediate a landfill
that will be used as a future golf course," he said.

"I don't know what Weeks might do with it, if there is any further
use of the land," Shugert said.

"Basically the question is right now the certification from New
Jersey is what is needed," he said.

Weeks had 70 days to prove to the Corps of Engineers that it has the
proper permits from DEP. Shugert said Weeks now has "a little under 30
days" to obtain the proper permits.

"We're not requiring them to have a public hearing. We expect the
state to say this is a fully licensed facility and they have no
problem with it," said Shugert.

"We are not going to let this beautiful community become a dumping
ground for anybody," declared Andrews at a brief press conference in
the township building Monday morning.

The Weeks site now is used to hold sediment collected from the
Delaware River during routine maintenance dredging. Andrews wants the
DEP to come here and explain "the nature of the materials and how it
will affect the site for accepting maintenance spoils as it is doing,
how it will be transported here and how it might affect drinking
water."

Sweeney said he at first thought the project was a cruel joke.

"For some reason, they think Gloucester County is a trash can," he
said.

"The Corps of Engineers should do a better job writing their (bid)
specifications to keep (the materials) close to the project. The Corps
of Engineers failed to notify anybody. It's wrong. It's underhanded
and it's sneaky and we're not going to stand for it," Sweeney said.

"We feel very strongly that the project will not stand up under
scrutiny" at a public hearing or in the DEP's permitting process,
Burzichelli said.

Weeks has applied to the DEP for a waterfront development permit
which would allow the rehabilitation and/or relocation of weir boxes,
the rehabilitation and raising of existing dikes in Area 2, the
maintenance of existing dikes on Area 1 and the temporary use of a
mechanical unloader for direct disposal of approximately 688,000 cubic
yards of dredged material, according to DEP spokesman Al Ivany.

Jane Nogaki, pesticide program coordinator for the New Jersey
Environmental Federation, said her group had been active in fighting
the Corps of Engineers' plan to deepen the Delaware River here and
dump dredge spoils in Gloucester County.

"All the reasons that made the Delaware River project bad hold
equally true for the New York Harbor issue," said Nogaki. The
materials that would come here contain "PCBs, chromium and other heavy
metals. This is not the kind of material you want on the shores of
your town," she said.

Sharon Finlayson, also of the NJEF, said the dredge spoils contain
toxic pollution.

"You don't deal with toxic pollution by moving it to a new place and
washing your hands of it," Finlayson said.

"If the Delaware River (dredge spoils) would have been contaminated,
I am very sure this will be highly toxic," said Wallace.

"We do not want it here and we will do everything in our power
collectively to keep it from coming here," he said.

As of April 19, DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell had no comment
on Andrews' April 17 letter demanding a public hearing on the issue,
but the Democratic legislators at Monday's press meeting were
unanimously positive that there would be a hearing.

"The DEP is a very enlightened agency," Andrews said.

"I am very confident we'll be getting a positive response from the
DEP," said Sweeney. "We should hear by the end of the week. We will
make then have the public hearing. It's going to happen."

To get here, Sweeney said, the dredge materials would have to travel
"230 nautical miles, pass 23 wildlife refuges, seven counties, 135
municipalities and four rivers."

- - -

(Citizens who wish to comment on the Weeks Marine proposal to expand
operations at its Logan Township site can submit their own comments
about the proposal to the Department of Environmental Protection,
Office of Dredging and Sediment Technology, POB 028, Trenton, New
Jersey, 08625.)

* * *

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

POISONING FOR DOLLARS

Date: 020424
From: http://www.ewg.org/

By Julie Rawe, Time magazine, April 22, 2002

Ever been so strapped for cash that you'd swallow pesticide for
$460? That's what dozens of college-age Nebraskans did in 1998 after
reading a school-newspaper ad urging students to "earn extra money."
They called 402-474-PAYS, signed a seven-page consent form and popped
a pill loaded with the active ingredient in Raid roach spray. Dow
AgroSciences commissioned the trial to vouch for the safety of one of
its top-selling bug killers, chlorpyrifos. Clearly, clinical trials
are not just for doctors anymore.

Chemical companies like Dow got into the business after Congress
passed the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which tightened safety
standards on thousands of pesticides. The manufacturers responded by
unleashing a flurry of small, short-term clinical trials aimed at
persuading the Environmental Protection Agency to relax the rules that
govern exposure to toxic chemicals.

At issue is the roundabout way that the EPA assesses human risk.
Basically, it sets acceptable exposure levels for humans by
determining the lowest level that is harmful to lab animals and then
reducing that amount by a series of extrapolating factors. Chemical
manufacturers have complained loudly that these standards are largely
arbitrary. It was in order to establish more realistic levels that
they began launching a slew of clinical trials.

Since 1997 pesticide makers have submitted more than a dozen human
studies to the EPA. What has never been established, however, is
whether it is acceptable - legally or ethically - to conduct clinical
trials that offer no potential benefit to participants (other than
monetary gain) and could end up harming individuals in the name of
public health. In December the EPA declared a moratorium on the use of
such data and asked the National Academy of Sciences to tell the
agency whether it should accept research that deliberately exposes
people to toxic substances. "Are there clear boundaries between
acceptable and unacceptable human research?" asked EPA assistant
administrator Stephen Johnson. The academy is mulling over the
question.

Meanwhile, chemical companies could still be quietly conducting human
trials. "There's no telling because there's no system for tracking
studies that aren't federally funded," says Ken Cook, president of the
Environmental Working Group, which opposes the pesticide tests.
"There's no protocol on how they should be conducted. We're talking
about the wild, wild West here."

The studies usually surface only when they are submitted to the EPA -
or when they are leaked to the press. A year and a half ago,
newspapers in California reported that researchers there were paying
healthy volunteers $1,000 to complete a six-month regimen of
perchlorate, a rocket-fuel component that disrupts thyroid function
and may cause retardation in babies. Lockheed Martin funded the study
after some 800 lawsuits charged that the company leaked perchlorate
into the water supply and made people sick.

And what ever came of Dow's experiments on chlorpyrifos, the killer
ingredient used in Raid and hundreds of other bug sprays and lawn-care
products? The EPA ended up banning household use of the insecticide, a
nerve-gas derivative found to cause brain damage in fetal rats and
weakness and vomiting in children.

* * *

Environmental Working Group
1718 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 600
Washington, DC 20009
in...@ewg.org

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

FIRST 100 DAYS ARE PROMISING FOR NJ'S ENVIRONMENT

Date: 23 Apr 2002
From: "Jay Biskup" {ja...@njconservation.org}

THE STATE WE'RE IN
Column By Michele S. Byers, Executive Director
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
April 17, 2002 - Volume XXXII, No. 15

During the final weeks of the Governor's race, I offered the
candidates suggestions on what they could do to improve our
environment and our quality of life. New Jersey's governor - one of
the most powerful governorships in the nation - has the ability to
make an enormous difference in how we address water and sewers, manage
and plan for growth, and preserve land. Since it's often a tradition
to assess a new governor after the first one hundred days in office,
let's take a look at how things are going for our state's environment!

Governor McGreevey started off on the right foot by appointing
Bradley Campbell, a former EPA official and White House environmental
advisor, as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), bringing instant credibility to the Governor's environmental
initiatives. He also re-established the Department of Public Advocate,
which, in the past provided a critical voice in key public interest
issues, including environmental problems. And he is requiring his
staff to enforce our laws and regulations. For example, the recent
action by Commissioner Campbell granting historic designation to the
40-acre "Black Creek" Native American tract in Vernon Township, Sussex
County, successfully blocked a proposed development that would have
destroyed the site's historical values.

The drought in the Northeast has compounded the strain on our water
supplies caused by unchecked sprawl. The Governor recently declared a
statewide drought emergency, and has taken steps to both conserve
water, and protect its quality and quantity.

Governor McGreevey appealed a recent decision overturning tougher
standards for septic systems, and is working on new rules to help slow
the creeping expansion of sprawl into pristine rural and environmental
areas. The Governor is also working with the Legislature to require
that the highest priority is given to preserving lands that protect
water supplies.

The Governor issued Executive Order #4 which created a Smart Growth
Policy Council, comprised of Cabinet members and senior Administration
officials and charged it with making sure that all State agencies live
by smart growth principles - in their plans and projects, as well as
the funding they hand out!

Governor McGreevey's proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 restores
full funding to the Office of State Planning and smart growth grant
program, and creates a new Smart Growth Office. It also includes $10
million dollars for capital projects in New Jersey's State Park System
- much needed, and long neglected repairs and upgrades to the
facilities millions of us rely on for recreation.

Governor McGreevey's first 100 days hold a great deal of promise, and
the potential to do more than ever before to preserve New Jersey's
open spaces, natural resources and quality of life.

I hope you'll contact me at 1-888-LAND-SAVE or
in...@njconservation.org, or visit NJCF's website at
http://www.njconservation.org, if you have any questions about how you
can help conserve New Jersey's precious land and natural resources.

* * *

Jason Biskup
Development & Communications Coordinator

New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Bamboo Brook
170 Longview Road
Far Hills, NJ 07931
(908) 234-1225
(908) 234-1189 [fax]
ja...@njconservation.org
http://www.njconservation.org

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

MOBILIZING THE REGION #362

Date: 22 Apr 2002
From: Tri-State Transportation Campaign {ts...@tstc.org}

[Excerpt: Full text at http://www.gsenet.org/newsstnd/mtr.htm]

April 22, 2002

- - -

THIS WEEK'S NEWS

. . .

TRANSACTION WRAP-UP: SMART TRANSPORTATION, GROWTH FOR NJ

Smart growth and efficient transportation planning emerged as the
unofficial theme at last week's "TransAction" - New Jersey's huge
annual transportation conferencefor transportation officials,
contractors, activists, engineers and planners.
http://www.tstc.org/bulletin/20020422/mtr36205.htm

. . .

MORE TRICKS FROM NJ'S PERMANENT GOVERNMENT

When New Jersey Transit implemented its April 1 fare hikes, the
agency also redefined its peak travel times, canceling the 25%
round-trip discountfor many riders.
http://www.tstc.org/bulletin/20020422/mtr36206.htm

- - -

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 23, 6:30-8:30pm Congestion Buster Task Force public meeting.
NJDOT Multi-Purpose Room, 1035 Parkway Avenue, Ewing, NJ. 609-530-2038
or cb...@dot.state.nj.us

April 24, 2-4pm Congestion Buster Task Force public meeting. NJDOT
Cherry Hill Office, One Executive Campus, Route 70 West, Cherry Hill,
NJ. 609-530-2038 or cb...@dot.state.nj.us

April 29, 8pm Transit Committee of Bergen County meeting with
candidates for Congress and County Executive. Leonia Borough Hall
Annex, 305 Beachwood Place, Leonia, NJ. 201-871-1218 or
want...@juno.com

April 30, 2-4pm Congestion Buster Task Force public meeting. NJTPA
Offices, One Newark Center, 17th Floor, Newark, NJ. 609-530-2038 or
cb...@dot.state.nj.us

Upcoming Conferences http://www.tstc.org/calendar.html

* * *

MTR#362

Editors: Jon Orcutt, Lisa Peterson
Executive Director: Janine Bauer

Tri-State Transportation Campaign
240 West 35th Street #801
New York NY 10001
tel. 212-268-7474
fax 212-268-7333
ts...@tstc.org
http://www.tstc.org

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

BALD EAGLES ARE RETURNING AT MERRILL CREEK RESERVOIR

Date: 020421
From: http://www.nj.com/

By Peter Hall, Express-Times, 04/21/02

Harmony Twp. - Nestled in the branches of a tree on the shore of
Merrill Creek Reservoir is a sign that bald eagles are returning to a
state where 20 years ago they had nearly vanished.

High above the man-made lake, a pair of bald eagles have nested for
the last four years and have hatched six chicks.

On Wednesday morning the two young eagles born March 21 were nowhere
to be seen.

They were likely hiding in the shadow of their mother's wings to
escape the unseasonable heat, said Merrill Creek Reservoir Naturalist
Jane Bullis as she gently maneuvered a boat toward a line of buoys
warning fishermen to stay away.

As the mother sat watch over the nest, the father, having caught the
day's meal, perched in a tree a hundred yards away intently watching
the boat and its passengers.

Merrill Creek's resident eagles are one of only two pairs in the
northern part of the state. They've been there since 1999.

Another pair has nested at Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township
since 1994 and has fledged 11 young and hatched two more this spring.

State Division of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Al Ivany the big
raptors' presence at the northern reservoirs shows that the endangered
species is beginning to thrive on its own.

"They're expanding their range back in to these suitable areas which
is a very positive sign," Ivany said.

Twenty years ago, there was one pair of bald eagles nesting in Bear
Swamp in Cumberland County, he said.

Development encroaching on eagles habitat and the environmental
disaster caused by DDT had caused the population to collapse.

The pesticide, once used extensively in the United States, leached
into waterways and accumulated in the bodies of fish, which the eagles
fed on.

The chemical caused the birds to lay eggs with thinner shells which
were often crushed in the birds' nests.

DDT was banned in the United States in 1972 and although it is still
present in the environment, its effect on bald eagles' eggs has
lessened.

In 1982, New Jersey began an effort to reintroduce bald eagles to the
southern part of the state, because of the abundance of woodlands and
open water.

"Those broad marshy areas really provide a great source of food,"
Ivany said.

Now 34 pairs of eagles nest in New Jersey and the restoration effort
has ended.

Ivany said the bald eagle population has returned to its level before
human impact on the environment caused them to disappear.

"I don't know that there are any records going back two or three
hundred years but that's pretty close to what we think it might have
been," Ivany said.

Ivany said there may be more bald eagles nesting that state wildlife
officials don't know about.

The birds tend to make a home near bodies of water where a supply of
fish and small mammals are available as food. It is possible that the
birds could nest on private property.

He said that anyone who sees a bald eagle nest that wildlife
officials might not know about should contact the state Division of
Fish and Wildlife.

Although the federal government has upgraded bald eagles from
endangered to threatened, the birds remain on New Jersey's endangered
list and the state has no plans to remove them, Ivany said.

State wildlife officials continue to monitor eagles and attach bands
to the legs of young eagles before they leave their nests.

Bullis said the chicks at Merrill Creek will be examined, weighed and
banded sometime in early May.

Bullis said the presence of eagles at Merrill Creek has made the lake
more popular among bird watchers who already came to spot species like
the common loon and the rough wing swallow, which migrates between
North America and South America each year.

Merrill Creek Reservoir lies on the Atlantic flyway, a major
migration route for many species of birds.

Each January, the National Audubon Society holds an eagle count. This
year bird watchers counted 149 bald eagles and two golden eagles along
the Delaware River.

Although eagles do migrate, they only do so if there is a need,
Bullis said. Migration is a mechanism that ensures the birds are
always close to a source of food.

The eagles nesting at Merrill Creek stay year round, because the
reservoir provides a reliable source of food.

"It is fantastic to have a resource like this here in Warren County,"
Bullis said. "We take seriously the stewardship of the property
Merrill Creek owns."

* * *

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

U.S. BIODIVERSITY COUNTERED BY SPECIES AT RISK

Date: 020423
From: http://www.ens-news.com/

By Cat Lazaroff, Environmental News Service, April 23, 2002

Arlington, Virginia - Almost one quarter of U.S. states are facing
the possibility of losing at least 10 percent of their native species,
finds a new report from the Nature Conservancy. The report, released
on Earth Day, examines the status of more than 21,000 wild plants and
animals and ranks each state by both its biodiversity, and the risks
to that biological wealth.

The report, "States of the Union: Ranking America's Biodiversity,"
draws on ongoing species inventories conducted by state natural
heritage programs. The data was analyzed for The Nature Conservancy by
NatureServe, a non-profit organization that provides scientific
information about rare and endangered species and threatened
ecosystems.

"This report holds both hope and peril," said Steve McCormick,
president of The Nature Conservancy. "As an important snapshot of the
biological health of our nation, it shows the extraordinary richness
of the flora and fauna across all 50 states. But it also serves as a
stark reminder that too many of these species are at risk of vanishing
forever."

The report ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia on
several key biological characteristics including diversity of species,
distinctiveness of the animals and plants, levels of rarity and risk,
and species already lost to extinction.

Many of those characteristics are linked. The report finds, for
example, that the state of California ranks in the top five in each
category, with the most diversity and largest number of native species
(6,717). However, California also rates second for its number of rare
and at risk species, and third for the number of species already lost
to extinction.

Several states show up in three of the four categories. Hawaii, for
example, ranks second for number of native species, but first for both
at risk species and already extinct species.

Alabama, which came in fifth in species diversity, ranks in the top
five for both at risk species and extinct species. And Texas, which
was second in diversity and third for number of native species
(6,273), ranked fourth for number of extinct species.

"The report highlights the interplay between the nation's natural
history and human history, and provides insights into the scale of the
nation's conservation challenges and opportunities," said Dr. Bruce
Stein, the author of the report and a senior scientist with
NatureServe.

Stein notes that most of the areas with the greatest species
diversity are found in the southwest, with its diverse landscapes and
climate. This is due in part, he said, to the enormous size of
diversity leaders California and Texas, their ecological complexity
and their location along the country's southern border.

Risk patterns among states - as reflected by the proportion of a
state's species considered imperiled or vulnerable - highlight Hawaii,
where 63 percent of species are at risk, and California, with 29
percent of species at risk. Other centers of rarity are found in
several other western and southeastern states including Nevada (16
percent), Alabama (15 percent), Utah (15 percent) and Florida (14
percent).

McCormick noted that 12 states - or almost a quarter of the country -
have more than 10 percent of their species classified as rare or at
risk of extinction.

"This demonstrates that we will never be successful at protecting
biodiversity if we concentrate our conservation efforts in small
patches here and there," McCormick said. "We must protect large
landscapes and work collaboratively with a wide array of interests.
That means working with federal, state and local governments as well
as private property owners so that land is managed in a manner that
helps, not hurts biodiversity."

Although extinctions have touched every state in the nation, the
report shows that certain regions have lost disproportionate numbers
of species. Stein notes that states with a large number of extinctions
tend to have either high overall species numbers, an inherently
fragile flora and fauna, or intense human alteration of the landscape.

Hawaii has suffered the gravest losses, with 217 presumed or possibly
extinct species. On the mainland, Alabama tops the list of extinction
prone states with 90 species, many of which existed in freshwater
systems. Many of the state's waterways have been dammed, dredged, or
diverted, leading to the loss of numerous snails, mussels and fishes.

California ranks third in the nation with 53 extinctions. Stein said
the intensive conversion of the state's land and waters for
agriculture, urbanization and other uses has had a severe impact on
the many rare and geographically restricted species that have evolved
in this ecologically unique state.

California, with 1,295 native species that are unique to the state,
leads the nation in this category, according to the report. This is a
result of its large size and the complexity of natural habitats in the
state.

Stein said Hawaii also stands out for the distinctiveness of its
flora and fauna. Because of the island chain's extreme isolation, most
plants and animals native to the archipelago are descended from a
relatively few colonists.

The report also looked at species diversity broken down by species
categories, which revealed distinctive, and at times strikingly
different patterns. For example, while the large and ecologically
varied southwestern states again lead the nation in plant and mammal
diversity, amphibians and freshwater fishes reach their highest levels
of diversity in the southeastern United States.

With its combination of Appalachian highlands and humid coastal
lowlands, the southeastern region is a global center for freshwater
diversity.

Bird and reptile diversity is more geographically mixed, with both
eastern and western states represented in the top tier. Texas, which
straddles both east and west, leads all other states for both groups.

The study supports the idea that entire ecosystems need protecting,
the Nature Conservancy says.

Using data from organizations like NatureServe, Nature Conservancy
scientists undertake a detailed planning process called ecoregional
planning in which they identify threats to species and determine what
conservation activities need to be undertaken to protect them. The
Conservancy then works in partnership with communities, government,
business and property owners to implement conservation strategies to
protect species.

"Ecoregional planning and the protection of whole functional
landscapes provide us with the ability to reduce the number of species
at risk," McCormick said. "This will not be an easy task, but future
generations will judge us on our ability to succeed."

More information from the report, which updates information in the
book "Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United
States," published in 2000 by The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe,
is available at: http://nature.org/earthday/files/
states_of_the_union_report.pdf

* * *

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

2 FALL/WINTER TEACHER-NATURALIST INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE

Date: 23 Apr 2002
From: {RL...@thewatershed.org}

FALL NATURE CENTER POSITION
TEACHER-NATURALIST INTERN

The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association is seeking two
enthusiastic and motivated people to embark on a challenging and
rewarding internship as Teacher/Naturalist interns at the Buttinger
Nature Center. The Buttinger Nature Center is located on the Watershed
Association's 785-acre nature reserve in Hopewell Township, New Jersey
and includes field and forest, a pond and a portion of the Stony
Brook.

The internship provides intensive training and broad experience in a
wide array of nature center activities. Interns will assist the staff
in implementing an assortment of programs on the trail for a variety
of audiences, especially school-age children. Interns will participate
in all facets of nature center operation, gain naturalist skills
through specially designed exercises, learn to create lesson plans and
develop interpretive materials and displays.

Dates of Responsibility:
September 24, 2002 - December 14, 2002 Twelve weeks, 5 days per week
Monday through Friday, some Saturdays 9 AM-5 PM

Compensation:
$3,000 stipend

Job Responsibilities:
Assist Education staff in planning and implementing an array of
hands-on, outdoor environmental education programs including a
preschool series, an after school series, school field trips and more.
Maintain a Naturalist journal. Design environmental education lesson
plans. Develop an interpretive exhibit for the Nature Center.

Qualifications:
Academic background (college course work and/or degree preferable) in
ecology, education, environmental studies, or some related field
Previous experience working with children, preferably in an outdoor
setting. Strong interest and enthusiasm for the outdoors and sharing
nature and the environment with others. Good communication skills with
children and adults. Willingness to learn and participate in various
aspects of nature center work

Interested people should forward a letter of intent, a resume and any
letters of recommendation by August 1, 2002:

Jeff Hoagland, Education Director
31 Titus Mill Road
Pennington, NJ 08534
Buttinger Center: 609-737-7592
Fax: 609-737-3075

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

POSITION AVAILABLE: PROGRAMS MANAGER - NY

Date: 22 Apr 2002
From: "The River Project" {river_...@mindspring.com}

The River Project is a marine biology field station at Pier 26,
Manhattan, New York City. This non-profit environmental science
organization conducts research and hands-on education programs in
urban ecology to promote understanding of the Hudson River ecosystem.
The River Project's riverside location, environmental research, and
community programming offer an ideal work environment for those
seeking involvement with nature, environmental issues, and the public.

Responsibilities:

The Programs Manager helps the Executive Director coordinate The
River Project's marine biology internship and field trip programs,
public exhibits and events, membership campaigns, and organizational
planning and development. She/he represents The River Project at
meetings and conferences, works on grant proposals and reports, writes
and edits text for newsletters and other materials, and monitors and
develops programmatic and organizational budgets.

Qualifications:

B.S. in environmental science or related field; knowledge of Hudson
River estuarine ecology and environmental issues; excellent writing
skills; computer skills in MS Word, Excel and Publisher; attention to
detail.

Salary:

$15/hr, 20-45 hrs/week, no benefits. Flexible schedule including
weekends.

If interested, please send cover letter and resume to:

Cathy Drew
The River Project
Pier 26, North River
New York, NY 10013
river_...@mindspring.com
Phone: (212) 431-5787
Fax: (212 941-5524

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

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

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

Garden State EnviroNet, Inc.
19 Boonton Ave, Boonton NJ 07005
Tel: 973-394-1313 - Fax: 973-394-9513
mai...@gsenet.org - http://www.gsenet.org

EnviroNews mailing lists:
TEXT - subscribe-en...@gselist.org
HTML - subscribe-en...@gselist.org

=END=

0 new messages