Green Jersey

Groups urge Corzine to veto ‘unconstitutional’ cleanup bill

An environmental law firm has asked Gov. Corzine to veto legislation that would put consultants in charge of many of the state’s toxic cleanups, outlining its flaws in a seven-page letter it sent on behalf of the New Jersey Environmental Federation and New Jersey Sierra Club. In the letter, the executive director of the Eastern Environmental Law Center in Newark says the cleanup bill does more harm than good and is unconstitutional.

The bill intends to speed up the state’s backlogged cleanup program. It puts third-party licensed site professionals (also called licensed site remediation professionals) in charge of cleanups with limited oversight by the Department of Environmental Protection, which currently handles the jobs.

In the letter, the Eastern Environmental Law Center takes issue with:

– The conflict involved when a consultant overseeing cleanup is retained and paid by the owner of the contaminated property.

– The failings of a similar program in Massachusetts: a 2006 study of that state’s program found that 70 percent of the sites audited by the Massachusetts DEP contained errors significant enough to warrant further work.

– The way the program shields property owners from litigation.

– The lack of stringent oversight required. “The potential for conflict is readily apparent and the threat of deviation from environmental standards is simply too high,” the letter reads.

The letter, signed by EELC executive director Julia LeMense, concludes: “The Legislature has created a dangerous system that delegates police power to private individuals and simultaneously limits the state agencies charged with protecting the state’s resources from protecting public health, safety, and property. This system precludes the Executive Branch from enforcing the law For this reason and those stated above, this bill deserves your veto.”

It’s not clear if Corzine intends to sign the bill or kill it.