Published in the Ocean County Observer
By DON BENNETT
Staff Writer
TOMS RIVER -- Ocean County Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. wants an independent review done of the Ciba-Geigy Superfund site before anything is done to buy part of the site with $15 million provided in the waning hours of the last session of the Legislature.
Lawmakers approved the money, which will come from the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund, although there had been no discussions with Ciba-Geigy about buying up to 700 acres of the 1,350-acre site.
Some environmentalists said the normal reviews of the property before it could qualify for the state trust funds were ignored as the legislation was rushed to approval in the waning hours of Republican control in Trenton.
Bartlett yesterday wrote a letter to Gerry Little, chairman of the county's Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee, asking him for an independent review of the site.
"I want them to investigate all of the issues that surround this site. There are many questions to be answered. The information needs to be placed before the public," Bartlett said yesterday.
He wants to know if the site, which will take as long as 30 years to purge of toxic chemicals left there during decades of dye and plastics making, can be subdivided before the cleanup is done.
"It appears to me that the site does to some degree operate as a unit vis-a-vis the ongoing Superfund cleanup operation," Bartlett said.
The future use of the property is up to Dover Township, whether it be for preservation, industrial or commercial use, he said.
With the state funds available to the county and Dover Township, he said it is "imperative" that the advisory panel review the property in Dover and Manchester townships, giving careful attention to what the owner's future plans are, Dover's zoning responsibilities and the public's interest in land preservation.
Published on February 21, 2002
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