Photo by Daniel Freel/New Jersey Herald – U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., center, meets with members of PAID (People Against Illegal Dumping) along with state Sen. Steve Oroho, left, and Assemblyman Hal Wirths, both R-24th Dist., at the Mixing Bowl on Friday in Vernon.
Editorial from the New Jersey Herald
Posted: Feb. 24, 2019 12:01 am
** Updated at 3:19 a.m. to add additional related story**
Finally, the state Department of Environmental Protection is taking steps to protect the endangered environment in a Vernon residential area, along with the massive underground aquifer of the Highlands that supplies drinking water to more than 5 million New Jersey citizens.
After years of efforts by local, state and federal authorities and protests from area residents, DEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe — who less than three months earlier visited the 75-foot high “fill” site, deemed it fine, challenged results of independent runoff tests that showed elevated levels of lead and suggested a thorough test of Mount Dumpmore would be too expensive — joined with state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal Friday to seek an injunction stopping further dumping at the 3 Silver Spruce Drive site.
The change of heart apparently came after the state, without any ballyhoo, conducted its own tests of samples that had spilled off the 75-foot-high pile and found, in results reported on Feb. 15, “the presence of low levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and lead above residential standards, which renders the affected soil a ‘solid waste’ under New Jersey law. On that basis, DEP classified the site as an unlicensed solid waste facility.”
That ostensibly gave the state the evidence it was waiting and waiting and waiting for, and ultimately decided to look for, to decisively spring into action late last week.
In an order to show cause filed Friday in New Jersey Superior Court, “the DEP alleges that property owner Joseph Wallace is operating an unlawful solid waste dump that sits on his property in Vernon Township.
“The State’s filing today seeks to force Wallace to cease operating the alleged solid waste dump and immediately ban any further dumping at the site; to test for contaminants and dispose of any solid waste, and to give DEP access to the property for inspections and sampling.”
In her included comments, McCabe belatedly states, “This legal action is intended to stop the accumulation of unpermitted solid waste at this site and to protect the environment in response to the concerns of Vernon residents.”
As welcome as the action is, we continue to be amazed that it took so long. Not only was the mounting debris pile a possible danger to the immediate area, but also to the drinking water supply for two-thirds of the state. That should have made the issue a top priority for the DEP long ago.
However, when she was pressured by elected officials to visit the site in early December, McCabe said the DEP would consider testing the soil for contamination only if there was probable cause to believe contamination might be present — this despite the documented presence of rebar, asphalt, piping, concrete and other demolition debris.
Additionally, during that visit, the DEP’s waste enforcement director indicated that debris such as that in evidence is allowed at Class B recycling facilities.
The problem with that declaration is that the 3 Silver Spruce Drive dump site is not an approved Class B recycling facility.
Albeit a while coming, the issue has gotten some clarity.
In his Friday statements, Grewal said, “State law is crystal clear: No one has a right to operate an unlicensed solid waste dump, and especially not in a residential area.”
Also encouraging is some overdue positive court action. A judge on Friday gave Vernon Township the legal authority to begin enforcing the stop-work order that Wallace has been refusing to obey. And any truck drivers queuing up at the site were being warned that their dumping could be construed as contributing to an illegal solid waste activity and consequently face fines.
Grewal said the state intends to hold the property owner accountable for any violations and to “start removal of contaminants — immediately.”
Related:
No one could stop trucks from dumping at a massive North Jersey waste mountain. A judge’s new ruling changes that.
Vernon dump site to undergo testing as DEP heads to court
Vernon dump concerns may prompt waste law changes
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