EPA Cleaning Up Jersey City

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2012 Contact:Jeff Tittel, 609-558-9100

EPA Cleaning Up Jersey City

Today EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck, Senator Menendez, and Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy toured contaminated sites in Jersey City that would utilize EPA funding for cleanup and redevelopment projects.Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club issued the following statement to mark the occasion:

"The EPA going to Jersey City today to promote the cleanup of contaminated sites and brownfields is in sharp contrast to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.New Jersey has run out of money for brownfield cleanups and site remediation."

"New Jersey has privatized its cleanup program where no one knows if the site will actually be cleaned.Under the federal program there is strict oversight to ensure the sites will actually be cleaned.In New Jersey consultants not only work for polluters, but they certify the cleanup plan and certify the site cleanup is done.This gives developers and redevelopers no real assurance the site is clean.While EPA has strict guidelines and oversight to ensure sites are cleaned, New Jersey allows the private consultants to give themselves waivers.Starting in August the DEP Commissioner can give waivers on top of this.This is not just the fox guarding the hen house; the fox is drafting the security plan and certifying it is secure."

"We applaud the EPA in helping to clean up and redevelop our cities since NJ DEP will not."

-- 
Kate Millsaps
Program Assistant
NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club
609-656-7612
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