Nicholas Huba reports in the Press of Atlantic City:
Under the agreement, the township will not foreclose on the property, while Absecon-based Dewey Place LLC, the developer for the project, will pay back more than $290,000 in back taxes and interest.
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Foreclosing on the property, which was once called “the most serious environmental problem in the United States,” would have delayed the redevelopment of the site, said Peter Miller, township administrator.
“If we foreclosed on the property, we would get nothing,” Miller said. “Under this agreement, we are able to recoup the taxes that are owed on the property and the property can be reused for something else.”
As part of the agreement, the developer is required pay off the back taxes and interest over the next 20 years. The first payment of $25,000 is due May 1.
Jerry Snow, a resident of the area since 2001, said he was happy with the way the cleanup was handled and happy to see something planned for the site. Snow lives a quarter mile from the former landfill.
“I’ve only heard stories of what happened with the dumping,” said Snow, 48. “Over the years they did their best to clean up what happened. They replaced the pipes and also built the treatment center.”
Cleaning up Price’s Pit has been a decades-long process. It was one of the first sites in New Jersey to undergo cleanup under the federal Superfund program.
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