 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association July 2000 Newsletter)
Last month, we wrote a letter to
Governor Whitman asking her to reconsider signing off on the consistency permit for
Raritan Bay. The areas of Raritan Bay that
will be dredged contain materials so toxic that numerous fish advisories are in force. It makes no sense to take material that makes fish
unsafe to eat from one site and dump it in another. JCAA
and Clean Ocean Action were extremely critical of Governor Florio when he signed off on
the consistency permit that allowed for the ocean dumping of contaminated dredge material. At the time, he excused his actions by claiming
that he was only following EPA guidelines. He
suggested our only recourse was to get the EPA to change their guidelines. According to him, he had no other options. We were delighted when Christine Todd Whitman, as
candidate for governor, criticized Governor Florio for caving in and allowing the dumping
of toxic material in the ocean. For six years
we were able to count on Governor Whitman to protect the ocean and keep her promise. We did not expect to get a “Florio” type
excuse from Governor Whitman. But that is
exactly what has happened. Governor Whitman
is criticizing the EPA for not revising the criteria but at the same time she is using the
EPA as her excuse for signing off on the consistency permit for Raritan Bay. This type of political double talk is inexcusable,
particularly from a governor who knows the buck stops in her office. She can stop this dumping if she is willing to step
up and take on the EPA. It is easy to
criticize Vice President Gore and the EPA but at the moment the ball is clearly in her
court. Governor Whitman was appointed as
chairperson of the Pew Foundation Commission on Saving the Ocean while caving in on the
Raritan Bay consistency permit. It does make
us wonder! I thought Governor Whitman’s
legacy would have included standing up to the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers. That would have earned her the undying respect of
every environmentalist and angler in the state. I
thought this was one politician who would surprise us and keep her word.
This information comes to us by way
of Governor Whitman’s senior staff. We
are hoping for a meeting directly with Governor Whitman.
We are hoping she is willing to discuss this issue further and withdraw her
approval of this permit. Write letters to
Governor Whitman. Express your disappointment
and ask her to withdraw her approval of the permit.
JERSEY COAST ANGLERS ASSOCIATION
Working For the Saltwater Resource and Marine Anglers
NJ STATE FEDERATION OF SPORTSMEN’S
CLUBS
Working For The 150,000 Sportspersons Of New Jersey
190 Oberlin Road North, Lakewood NJ 08701
Phone 732-905-0755 Fax 732-905-5261
Web Site http://www.njsfsc.org/
5/29/2000
To the Editor:
Recent
editorials in newspapers by Jeanne M. Fox, Regional Administrator for the Environmental
Protection Agency and Joseph Seebode, Army Corps of Engineers caught my interest. The authors accused JCAA, commercial fishermen and
many environmental organizations of engaging in distortion.
They accused us of overreacting to the plan to dump additional dredge spoil
materials at the Mud Dump. They accused us of
unnecessarily alarming the public about these plans.
In effect, they are saying that the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers
have, as always, the best interests of the public at heart.
You can almost hear them saying, "Trust us, we are your friends. We would never put your health at risk."
Nothing could be
further from the truth. We are asked to
believe that category one material is safe. We
are asked to believe that the EPA knows better than the scientific and environmental
communities about what should and should not be dumped in the ocean. We are asked to believe that EPA and the Army
Corps of Engineers has no political agenda.
Now for the
truth. The standards the EPA is using for
category one material are based on outdated criteria that have never been peer reviewed. Some of the criteria used are 18 - 20 years old,
from the days when we believed that "better living through chemistry" was a
truth. Would you accept it if medical doctors
used the same training and the same techniques they were using 20 years ago? For five years EPA has promised us revised
criteria based on peer reviewed scientific information.
Could the holdup be to give them time to dump more dangerous material in the
ocean?
Jeanne Fox would
have us believe that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers put the citizens first. She forgets to mention that the 1996 agreement was
a result of a lawsuit filed by Clean Ocean Action, JCAA and other groups, not just a
benevolent action taken by our trusted public servants.
She keeps hoping you won't remember how bitterly they fought to keep the Mud
Dump open and allow category two material at that site.
The 1996 agreement followed a judge's ruling that EPA was not even following
its own outdated rules and found them in violation for 3 years worth of toxic dumping. But now she would have you believe they have seen
the light and are to be trusted.
Jeanne Fox was
assistant commissioner and then commissioner of NJ DEP before becoming region 2
administrator for EPA. During her tenure with
these same agencies we saw Agent Orange, dioxin, heavy metals and other toxic substances
disposed of at the Mud Dump. Her lack of
credibility on this subject is monumental. If
we couldn't trust her when they were dumping category 2, so why does she ever think we can
trust her now? Her actions from 1992 to 1996
were the actions of a person who saw no problem with dumping category 2 materials in the
ocean. Now she says category 2 materials
"had the potential to contaminate the food chain to unacceptable levels." (Asbury Park Press, 2/27/00) She continues to justify dumping category one
material as a way to cover up the even more toxic category two materials. Does she think we're not paying attention? Let her show us the results of the tests ordered
by the 1996 agreement before she decides how best to accomplish
the remediation of this site. The ocean is the only place I know of where
remediation means putting dirty on top of dirtier. Since
dumping in the ocean is a case of “out of sight, out of mind,” EPA believes it
can still get away with it. EPA, which owns
this problem, is arrogant enough to think they can get away with actions that no
private company or individual could legally take. Try
to get a permit issued by EPA or DEP to use fill in your yard or on your business site
that meets category one standards. Marinas
or local governments cannot get permits to dispose of dredge materials that meet category
one standards in the ocean. Only the EPA,
which, according to Jeanne Fox, is the bastion of protection for the marine environment,
can get away with such blatant polluting!
I leave it to you to decide whom you
can trust. Do you trust the Army Corps of
Engineers and EPA? Do you trust the
bureaucrats and the politicians that appoint them? Do
you trust the executives at the Port Authority who have a huge financial incentive to keep
the Mud Dump open? Or the shipping unions and the politicians they own? Or do you trust the fishermen, environmentalists
and consumers watchdogs that actually eat what comes out of the ocean? Do you trust the fishermen and the
environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have told you the truth in the past? Do you trust the fishermen and the
environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have your health and safety first and
foremost in their minds? Do you trust the
fishermen and the environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have always put the ocean
and the marine life at the top of the list? The
very people EPA and the Army Corp are trying to vilify in the press. I leave it to you.
I write this
letter on Memorial Day, which has always had special meaning for me. As a disabled Vietnam veteran I speak from
experience when I talk about Agent Orange and dioxin.
For years the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers lied to us about the
effects of Agent Orange. They told us it was
safe and that we should trust them. The
scientists are now supporting what veterans have long believed, that Agent Orange causes
cancer, birth defects and other problems. A
recent letter from the Veterans Administration suggested I contact them if I get prostate
cancer since it could be considered-service connected due to Agent Orange. Veterans have always fought to protect this
country. The battle we all fight today is to
protect the ocean, marine life, your health and the health of your children is no less
important. Join us.
Call Jersey
Coast Anglers Association at 732-506-6565 or Clean Ocean Action at 732-872-0111.
Sincerely,
Thomas P. Fote
Legislative Chairman for JCAA & NJSFSC
22 Cruiser Court, Toms River NJ, 08753
732-270-9102 Fax 732-506-6409
Email tfote@jcaa.org
|
|
|
|
|