Open Space Press Release:
For Immediate Release: April 15, 2008Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
Roy Jones, NJ Environmental Justice Alliance, 856-365-9038
Jane Nogaki, NJ Environmental Federation, 856-912-6790
Time's Up for Clean-Up Reform
Environmentalists Demand Prompt Action to Strengthen Site Remediation Laws
TRENTON - Statewide environmental groups and environmental justice activists called on the Legislature and Governor Corzine's administration today to take swift action in reforming the state's toxic waste cleanup program. The advocates said that the state had failed to take appropriate action to date despite a series of recent high profile cases that highlight the underlying flaws of the NJDEP's site remediation program including:
- The discovery of mercury at a day care center in Franklin, Gloucester County in 2006;
- The unlawful placement of contaminated soils in Hamilton, Mercer County in 2006;
- A state funded Abbott school built on a radioactive Manhattan Project site in Union City in 2005;
- Finding as much as 20,000 tons of paint sludge on the "remediated" Ford site in Ringwood 2 years ago;
- 2000 homes under construction on top of a landfill in Lyndhurst;
- Families displaced from their homes on top of a coal gasification plant in Long Branch;
- Housing built on top of a leaky cap in Edgewater;
- Condos constructed in an unremediated Hoboken mercury lamp factory; and a
- federal district court judge admonishing the NJDEP for failing to protect the people of Jersey City from exposure to chromium.
"This is the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds more of these sites from Cape May to Sussex County," said Jeff Tittel, New Jersey Chapter Director for Sierra Club. "The problem with the site remediation program is that it has become more about promoting development than actually cleaning up the sites."
The environmentalists noted that instead of providing strong leadership on an issue that has serious devastating and long-lasting effects on the health of New Jersey's families, they have seen proposals to further weaken both the regulation and the state's management of the program including the privatization of the cleanup process and legislation that has only addressed a very narrow problem at future day care locations.
"In places like Camden and Newark, we're surrounded by toxic waste and we need decision makers to stop saying no to us and start saying no to the polluters," added Roy Jones of the NJ Environmental Justice Alliance. "The Administration and Legislature have put their tippy toe in but need to jump in with both feet to expedite major reforms like accounting for cumulative impact, empowering the public and public officials, and holding polluters more accountable."
Heading in the Wrong Direction
Last spring, legislation was enacted that would introduce indoor air quality standards for schools and day care centers (S2261/A3529). While an important step in the right direction, crucial components such as standards for residential buildings were deleted and amendments to strengthen the bill were rejected.
Furthermore, the solution proposed by DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson for cleaning up a greater number of sites is to allow polluters to hire private consultants to write, certify and authorize cleanup plans. While it is clear that 300 state caseworkers cannot manage over 14,000 known contaminated sites, outsourcing oversight of the program is not the solution. The DEP has failed to prioritize contaminated sites as required by law, but on the contrary let the prioritization rule expire in 2005. The DEP also has not properly managed the program. Only one caseworker is assigned to monitor all the caps in the state for integrity. In 2004-2005 the department arbitrarily removed 1,800 sites from the known contaminated site list without justification or scientific basis. Instead the department has focused its efforts on promulgating rules to weaken the soil and water cleanup standards as well as rules to provide grace periods for those violators who have not followed specific components of the cleanup laws.
"We need to expedite comprehensive not partial legislative remedies just like toxic waste sites need permanent not partial clean-up remedies," continued Jane Nogaki of the NJ Environmental Federation. "We need redevelopment but it needs to be the right kind of redevelopment, with input from the community."
The advocates also proposed a strong reform agenda (details attached) including:
Giving DEP, not the polluters, the power and resources to do the job -- The DEP has the authority under many laws to require and enforce strong, permanent cleanups at contaminated sites. Over the years the commitment to protecting the public from exposure to toxic waste has eroded despite pervasive and ongoing occurrences that have negatively impacted the public's health and welfare.
"The pendulum has swung too far and we need to restore the powers to protect public health and the environment that were stripped away in the '90's to promote inappropriate development," said Bill Wolfe, Director, NJ Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Legislative Action to Avoid Catastrophe : As the laws were amended to facilitate rapid redevelopment of brownfields, they were consequently weakened at the expense of protecting the public. Changes in statute are necessary in order to avert further catastrophes from occurring due to failures of caps, lack of zoning restrictions to prevent construction of residences and schools on top of certain sites and weak regulatory oversight by the DEP. DEP needs greater authority to require prompt cleanups, monitor ongoing cleanups and go after polluters without a statute of limitations.
Legislative Action to Involve the Public : Additional legislative action should require meaningful public participation. The current site remediation program does not require that the general public be informed of a proposed or ongoing cleanup to a site in their community. The rules also do not allow for the public to have a stake in choosing the most appropriate cleanup plan for their community. With over 15,000 known contaminated sites in New Jersey, it is unclear whether the most polluted sites are being cleaned up first. DEP is supposed to have a process by which they prioritize cleanups. The public should be part of this process.
"There are too many horror stories about toxic waste sites in New Jersey and they overwhelmingly impact people in urban areas. This is as much an environmental justice as it is a public health issue. There need to be more changes faster than are currently on the table. Polluters need to pay their fair share of the costs for cleanup", said Valorie Caffee, Organizing Director, Work Environment Council.
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