Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Dover GOP assailed on landfill Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/14/99By JEAN MIKLETOMS RIVER BUREAU TOMS RIVER -- Sparks flew at the Dover Township Committee meeting after Democratic candidate Herbert J. Germann repeatedly questioned Republican Committeeman Clarence E. "Bud" Aldrich III about what Germann termed Aldrich's "refusal to discuss the problems of water pollution and the environment" here. Germann's queries Tuesday night were also aimed at Mayor Ray Fox, Aldrich's running mate,
who is ill and missed the meeting. Germann and fellow Democrat Douglas M. England are vying against Aldrich and Fox for two seats on the all-GOP committee. "Why have you, Mr. Aldrich, and Mr. Fox, since January 1994, failed to provide leadership to solve those environmental problems?" Germann asked, reading from a flier that he later distributed to the news media. Aldrich said he and Fox have repeatedly discussed water pollution since they first took office in January 1994. "I'm not going to get
into a political argument with you," Aldrich told Germann. The public portion of committee meetings is for discussing issues relating to township business, not politics, Aldrich added. "Are you suggesting that clean water is not township business?" Germann asked. He again accused Aldrich of "covering up" the fact that he knew drums of chemical waste from Union Carbide Corp.'s Bound Brook plant had been dumped in Dover Township's old landfill. Since he first unsuccessfully sought a Township Committee seat in 1996,
Germann has repeatedly accused Aldrich and Fox of lying and of "covering up" knowledge of the dumping of about 2,000 drums of Carbide's waste in the landfill. On Tuesday, Germann again brought up a 1995 letter to then-Mayor Aldrich from the state Department of Environmental Protection about the dumping of the 2,000 drums. Aldrich said Germann has repeatedly asked the same question. "You want to know whether or not I knew if there 2,000 Union Carbide drums in the landfill?" Aldrich said. "I do not know if
there are 2,000 Union Carbide drums in the landfill." Aldrich noted the township is involved in an ongoing investigation of the landfill to determine if the former dump off Church Road poses a groundwater contamination threat. The DEP is overseeing the investigation. Committeeman George E. Wittmann Jr. said Germann is well aware that the township had been monitoring ground water in the area on and near the landfill for many years. "You show up here two weeks before the election, three weeks before the election,
and you make the same baseless charges you always make," Wittmann said. "I wasn't talking to you, George," Germann responded, before Committeeman J. Mark Mutter made a motion for the committee to go into executive session. Jean Mikle: (732) 557-5729 Published on
Source: Asbury Park Press
Published: October 14, 1999
|
