In recent months, a few
people have criticized this organization and questioned our motives regarding
the EnCap brownfields redevelopment project and the Xanadu project. Most
criticisms I simply chalk up to “sour grapes” because they come from people who
have never had common cause with Hackensack Riverkeeper and have never been our
friends. However, several criticisms
came from people whom I respect and have long considered colleagues. This has
led me to believe that there is a bit of misinformation that needs to be put
right. So here is my definitive word on both of them. First … ENCAP: Let me remind
everyone that this golf-course project is being built on garbage dumps. There
is no pristine land being developed. Yes, there were trees and reeds growing
where now heavy equipment is laying capping material but the roots of those
trees and reeds were in trash, not healthy soil. And therein lies the problem. At conservative estimates,
approximately 50 million gallons of leachate - garbage juice - oozes into the
Hackensack River each year because the landfills in the Meadowlands were not
properly capped after being shut down. Every time it rains, rainwater filters
through layer upon layer of trash and toxic wastes before seeping into the
river and its tributaries. By then, it isn’t rainwater anymore but leachate. Leachate is one of the
greatest impediments to the recovery of the lower Hackensack River and remediating
(fixing) that problem is very expensive. The NJ Meadowlands Commission cannot
take care of the situation on its own and federal or state funding is simply
not available. That’s where EnCap comes in. By the time their project is
completed, 1,300 acres of former garbage dumps will be turned into 100 acres of
property- tax-paying redevelopment, 1,200 acres of green recreational space.
And the leachate tide will be stemmed. Many people worry about
pesticides and herbicides that are used on golf courses and rightly so. EnCap
has pledged to use only organic fertilizers and employ integrated pest
management (IPM) techniques and apply materials only as needed. One additional note about
turning garbage dumps into golf courses: Every few years, some Bergen County
politician floats a trial balloon about building new county golf courses.
Naturally, any new course(s) would necessitate the clear-cutting of trees in
one of the few well-forested municipalities remaining in Bergen. With three new
courses being built on landfills, the woods of Alpine and Mahwah are safe for
the foreseeable future. XANADU: For an in-depth
discussion of this issue, please visit our Website,
www.hackensackriverkeeper.org. We’ve posted an in-depth analysis of the whole
story. But before I sign off on this column, let me say that despite all the
press that this subject has generated over the past couple of years, it seems
that the most important part of this whole saga has been ignored, namely: The Empire Tract has been
preserved! On Friday, March 25, full
and irrevocable title to the property was transferred from the Mills
Corporation to the Meadowlands Conservation Trust for permanent preservation
and eventual inclusion in the 8,400-acre Meadowlands Estuary Preserve (see page
1 story). When Mills first set its
sights on the Meadowlands, this 600-acre wetland was in the crosshairs. It was
only after a long battle led by Hackensack Riverkeeper that Mills realized that
the Empire Tract would not be theirs to develop. Despite having spent $100
million on public relations, campaign contributions and advertising, Mills was
forced to look elsewhere. As it turned out, “elsewhere” was only a half-mile
away. The Continental Arena site
where Xanadu is now being built was chosen as much by our state government as
it was by Mills. It was the Sports and Exposition Authority that decided to
redevelop the area and it was Mills that won the contract to do so. Yeah, the
environmental activist in me would have enjoyed seeing Mills go back to
Virginia $100 million lighter and with nothing to show for it but the
pragmatist in me knew that wasn’t going to happen. Besides, it was us and our
colleagues who suggested the Arena site as an upland alternative five years
ago. I also know there were about
seven acres of wetlands on the site which have since been filled so let me pass
on a hard life lesson: there is nothing that could have been done about them
and for one simple reason. NJSEA is an independent authority and NJMC and NJDEP
have oversight on development but not final say. Decisions on NJSEA land are
made by the Board of the NJSEA. There are some who have
suggested that we should have continued to fight Mills even after the company
gave up on the Empire Tract. There are even some who are trying to do just that
even as the parking garage–Xanadu’s first phase–is built. If you ask me, some
people just love to fight for the sake of fighting because if they lose, it’s
no big deal. They just move on to the next fight and leave the rest of us to
deal with the messes they’ve made. We, however, live and work here and don’t
have that luxury. I think you’ll agree with me
that having a preserved Empire Tract as our legacy is much more preferable than
living up to someone’s idea of “environmental correctness.” From all of us at Hackensack
Riverkeeper, thank you for all you’ve done to help us win our victories and
move the river two giant steps closer to its ultimate recovery. |
