Here we go again. Just when we were beginning to settle into the new era of cooperation relative to the Meadowlands, along comes the New York Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation (NYS&W) and other haulers hellbent on dragging the region back into the 1960s by allowing open dumpsites to operate on their right of way. These arrogant companies claim that the disgusting piles of trash are not subject to either local or state regulation because the railroads are only answerable to the federal government. And we all know how friendly the current federal administration is to the environment (read "Crimes Against Nature" by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) The Governor of New Jersey, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, NJ Department of Community Affairs, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Senators Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, and Mayor Nick Sacco of the besieged Town of North Bergen are committed to bringing these sites into compliance with local and state health, solid waste, and environmental regulation. And I applaud their collective effort. But we at Hackensack RiverkeeperŪ believe that the only conclusion to this latest episode is for these sites to be permanently shut down. The legacy of open dumping is evident throughout the Meadowlands, and an enormous amount of energy and financial resources are being brought to bear on cleaning up the mess left by previous generations of solid waste criminals. That's why on August 3, Hackensack Riverkeeper, along with the New York-New Jersey Baykeeper and ably represented by the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, sent a letter of intent to sue the railroads and the solid waste operations because sometimes compliance simply won't do. (See report on page 1.) We WaterkeepersŪ of the region are compelled to push the limit on this issue and are prepared to stand our ground to prevent the pollution emanating from these open dumpsites from fouling our waters and wetlands and adding to the horrible air quality that we endure in this most densely populated region of the country. |
