Ringwood (NJ) Superfund ballot question ruled invalid


Ringwood voters will not get the chance to decide whether 166,000 tons of contaminated soil will be excavated from the Ford Superfund site or left in place, after a judge ruled Friday that a proposed ballot question by residents was invalid.


Scott Fallon reports for The Record:


Passaic County Assignment Judge Ernest Caposela said the 244-word question calling for the excavation of the pollution was so “unintelligible” that it would confuse the average voter.

MITSU YASUKAWA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A gate at the end of Peters Mine Road in Ringwood, blocking access to a federal Superfund site.


“I can’t rewrite the question,” he  said near the end of an hour-long hearing in his Paterson courtroom. “I can’t provide an explanatory statement.”

The judge said that if the ballot question was approved by voters on Election Day, it would have breached a contract between the borough and Ford Motor Co. that would cost local taxpayers millions of dollars.

Ringwood Cares, a group of residents who wrote the ballot question, said it would appeal Caposela’s decision — a move that would have to be done quickly because Passaic County prints Election Day ballots on Sept. 29.

Those who say the pollution must be hauled away to ensure public health are opposed by the Borough Council and others who say placing an asphalt barrier over the pollution will limit residents’ exposure and avoid a multimillion-dollar cleanup bill for taxpayers.

The pollution dates back almost 50 years to when contractors for Ford dumped paint sludge and other industrial waste from its former Mahwah plant next to a low-income neighborhood in the mountains of Upper Ringwood.

Along with Ford, the borough is liable to pay for a portion of the cleanup because Ringwood officials allowed the dumping to occur in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Removing the contamination would cost $32.6 million. The borough supports a cheaper $5.4 million plan that would place an asphalt barrier over the pollution with a new recycling center on top at the O’Connor Disposal Area.

Read the full story here

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Judge rules that class-action suit involving drivers ensnared in Bridgegate closures can proceed

A federal judge will allow a scaled down class-action lawsuit to proceed to trial on behalf of commuters and taxi drivers who were stalled in traffic when access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed without notice in 2013.

An in-depth look at the scandal over the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and related aftershocks. Click here to launch.

Peter J. Samson reports for The Record:

U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, in a 66-page opinion filed in Newark on Thursday, granted in part and denied in part motions by the state, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and four other defendants to dismiss the claims outlined in a second amended complaint against them.

Linares concluded that five counts relating to violations of constitutional rights and civil conspiracy were sufficiently alleged to proceed to trial.

He dismissed five other counts, including racketeering, consumer fraud, and breach of contract, which failed to state a valid claim.


Michael J. Epstein, a Rochelle Park attorney representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling Friday and said it sets the stage for a meeting in November with the judge to discuss the exchange of evidence in the case.

“We’re very satisfied and pleased with the court’s ruling that we can proceed with discovery in this case to vindicate the class representatives’ and class members’ violations of their civil rights,” Epstein said.

“The court recognizes at this stage that our claims … for violations of civil rights under both federal and state law can move forward,” he said.

Two class action suits, filed in the wake of the lane closures, were consolidated and later dismissed by the court for lacking substantive facts concerning each defendant’s role. The plaintiffs were allowed to amend their complaint.

The plaintiffs, including individual commuters and several taxi and car services, propose to represent a class of thousands who were forced to “suffer extreme traffic delays and to be confined to their cars, waste gas, lose time and sustain other economic losses” when they traveled in or around Fort Lee and attempted to access the bridge between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13, 2013.

Among those named as defendants in the suit are Bill Baroni, Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, three former allies of Governor Christie charged with conspiracy and other crimes in a scheme to create gridlock in Fort Lee to punish its mayor for not endorsing Christie for reelection.

Opening statements in the trial of Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, are set for Monday in federal court in Newark.

Wildstein, also a former Christie appointee to the Port Authority, pleaded guilty in the scheme and is the government’s star witness.

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Ag and Enviro bills in committee today in Trenton

ASSEMBLY AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

9/19/16  2:00 PM
Committee Room 15, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
A-773  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Clarifies that use of propane-powered noise making
device is allowed as non-lethal method of wildlife control on farmland.
A-784  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Establishes multi-species depredation permit.
A-2178  Taliaferro, A.J. (D-3); Space, P. (R-24)
Removes statutory limitation on number of permits that
may be issued by Division of Fish and Wildlife for the taking of beaver.
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT AND SOLID WASTE

9/19/16  2:00 PM
Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
A-1628  Rodriguez-Gregg, M. (R-8); Holley, J.C.
(D-20)
Codifies DEP’s New Jersey Recycling Awards Program to
annually recognize outstanding recycling achievements.
A-1751  Greenwald, L.D. (D-6); Vainieri Huttle, V.
(D-37); Webber, J. (R-26)
Requires DEP to submit annual financial report on
status of certain fund balances.
A-2448  Eustace, T. (D-38); Pinkin, N.J. (D-18);
Gusciora, R. (D-15)
Establishes “Milkweed for Monarchs” program.
Related Bill: S-1986
A-2449  Eustace, T. (D-38); Gusciora, R. (D-15)
Establishes “Adopt a Monarch Butterfly
Waystation” program.
Related Bill: S-1732
A-3295  McKeon, J.F. (D-27); Benson, D.R. (D-14);
Kennedy, J.J. (D-22)
Concerns low emission and zero emission vehicles;
establishes Clean Vehicle Task Force.
Related Bill: S-985
S-1986  Cruz-Perez, N. (D-5); Cunningham, S.B. (D-31)
Establishes “Milkweed for Monarchs” program.
Related Bill: A-2448

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Will sediment tests turn this river into a Superfund site?


A
federal contractor has finished collecting about 370 samples of sediment from
the Hackensack River to determine the extent of pollution in the riverbed and
whether it should become a Superfund site.

James M. O’Neill reports for The Record:

The contractor, using a 40-foot barge, gathered core samples from Newark Bay up past the Overpeck Creek for 10 weeks this summer. The data from the samples are just starting to trickle in to federally certified labs, and it’s too early to determine what the information will lead to.


“The data is still raw, so we can’t draw any conclusions yet,” said Michael Sivak, acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s special projects branch for the region.

Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper and the one who first petitioned the EPA to consider the Hackensack for Superfund status, said EPA officials have told him that Judith Enck, the EPA administrator for the region, wants to have a decision made one way or another about the Hackensack by year’s end, since no matter who wins the presidency, there will be a new administration in the White House in January.

“We’re certainly moving forward as quickly as we can, and we know that this project is a priority for many people, including Bill Sheehan and Administrator Enck,” Sivak said.

“However, we don’t anticipate all the data right away,” he said. “We need to validate the data, which can take several weeks, and we expect the information to be coming in through the fall and early winter. We don’t have a timetable for a decision, but we are working to do it as soon as possible.”

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Enviro, energy bills up for votes today in NJ Legislature


Here are today’s agendas for environment and energy legislation in the
New Jersey Assembly and Senate:

ASSEMBLY VOTING SESSION


A-210  DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14); Gusciora, R. (D-15); Benson, D.R. (D-14)
Concerns installation and maintenance of solar panels in common interest communities.

A-223  DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14); Benson, D.R. (D-14); Quijano, A. (D-20)
Requires NJ Clean Energy Program’s Residential New Construction incentives be made available Statewide.

A-231  Danielsen, J. (D-17); Pinkin, N.J. (D-18)
Establishes position of State Oceanographer.
Related Bill: S-987

A-793  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Requires Dept. of Agriculture and DEP to work with US Army Corps of Engineers to establish joint permit application process for aquaculture projects.
Related Bill: S-316

A-794  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Requires Dept. of Agriculture and DEP to adopt joint permit application and review program for aquaculture projects.
Related Bill: S-317

A-1641  Schaer, G.S. (D-36); Jimenez, A.M. (D-32); Wimberly, B.E. (D-35)
Requires electric public utilities to provide priority power restoration to certain medical facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes.
Related Bill: S-876

A-2057  Gusciora, R. (D-15); DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14); Lagana, J.A. (D-38)
Permits new cigar lounges to be opened under certain circumstances.

A-2082  Mukherji, R. (D-33); Pintor Marin, E. (D-29); Webber, J. (R-26)
Requires OAL to maintain Internet database summarizing all State rule-making actions.
Related Bill: S-2023

A-2220  Benson, D.R. (D-14); Webber, J. (R-26)
Authorizes local units of government subject to “Local Public Contracts Law.” and “Public School Contracts Law” to use electronic procurement technologies.
Related Bill: S-1729

S-987  Smith, B. (D-17)
Establishes position of State Oceanographer.
Related Bill: A-231

SENATE VOTING SESSION

S-1969  Turner, S.K. (D-15)
Requires NJ Clean Energy Program’s Residential New Construction incentives be made available Statewide.
Related Bill: A-223

SR-53  Bateman, C. (R-16)
Urges State and local governmental entities to utilize programs that collect and reuse often un-recycled and difficult-to-recycle waste.

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New York State urged to ban use of fracking wastewater


A group of New York State lawmakers is teaming up with environmental groups to ask Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration to ban the use of wastewater from hydrofracking and other oil and gas extraction from being spread on public roadways.
Karen DeWitt reports for WBFO:

The state Department of Environmental Conservation just closed a public comment period to revise regulations covering solid waste management facilities. Environmental groups and several state lawmakers said those new rules also should address whether wastewater from the production of natural gas and from oil drilling can be used in the state to de-ice roads in the winter and control dust in the summer.

They say the waste can still be dumped in landfills or in municipal wastewater treatment plants.
Mike Dulong, from the group Hudson Riverkeeper, said there should be a complete ban. He also said a loophole that does not characterize the wastewater as a hazardous substance should be closed.
“We don’t want to be the dumping ground for the oil and gas industry,” Dulong said.
According to a report by Environmental Advocates of New York, over a half-million tons of solid fracking waste and 23,000 barrels of liquid waste were dumped in New York landfills between 2010 and 2015. The fracking waste, or “brine,” also was found to be used in some places to de-ice roads.
The environmental groups say fracking waste has been found to contain “highly toxic and carcinogenic chemicals” such as benzene, formaldehyde and ethylene glycol. They say it also is radioactive, containing radium-226 and radium-228, which are linked to several types of cancer.
But at a joint legislative hearing on water contamination held in Albany on September 7, Cuomo’s environmental commissioner, Basil Seggos denied that the state allows the use of any fracking wastewater from gas drilling for roads or any other purpose in New York. Seggos, testifying under oath, was answering a question from Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh.
“No fracking waste is being dumped in New York state,” said Seggos. “Those who perpetrated that are just flat wrong.”
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