September 2019 was an unnaturally dry month, barely any rain fell. A good and bad thing for Toll Brothers at The Preserve, formerly knows as Apple Ridge. No one could see if their new and improved stormwater control worked. The one that they were forced to install after a Stop Work Order. So with no rain, no cascade of water. No more pumping of toxic water into Pleasant Brook, or drowning of Carlough Drive. No way to know if the system works. They are off the hook.
Except there is a problem. And it is not how many parts per million or billion of toxins are in the water. It is the fact that the flooding and dumping should never have happened. At all.
It’s not rocket science, but it is science. Hydrology 101 or water science and management. The study of groundwater, runoff and control. It is a science, taught at universities, studied and implemented. But not by Toll Brothers.
Despite an extensive body of research and knowledge Toll Brothers for 2 years pumped toxic water almost daily into the Pleasant Brook. And despite assurances by the administration of Upper Saddle River and Boswell Engineering, the town engineer, that the water is within safe limits why are wells showing arsenic in them? Why is the water brown? The fact they tell residents that the particles are too big and need time to settle, but how and why did these particles make it to the stream? Bales of hay as a preventative clearly aren’t sufficient.
And Toll Brothers knew that.
They were playing with the town.
Why were they allowed to clear cut the lot at Apple Ridge? Removing absolutely everything that would help the ground to act like a sponge and absorb the water, filter the toxins and pollutants, slow the runoff. Actually allow the rainwater to soak into the ground and renew the aquifer? Anyone having trouble with their wells? The removal of trees, shrubs and ground cover have removed the natural filtration system that was in place. Hydrology and water management isn’t awfully difficult to understand. There are numerous sites and documents that clearly set out the issues and how to resolve them. If you are interested see the links at the end.
Consider this – Toll Brothers is a huge developer of homes. This is what they do. Every single day, year in and year out. Across the country. They are professionals. So wouldn’t you think that they would known the potential issues of stormwater runoff, toxins in soil, how to control and eliminate it? Protect the surrounding area? You would think so. Yet with the experience of what has been going on at Apple Ridge / The Preserve they act like amateurs or as if this is their first job.
However, Toll Brothers are professional builders of note:
We love to say that our pride is palpable. Not only are we proud of the superior quality luxury homes we build, we’re proud of the legacy we’ve crafted within the home building industry.
The trouble is they don’t seem to have much care or pride for the work they do with the land and surrounding community. Or the environment. Toll Brothers environmental record is questionable. However, their public relations spin would have you believe otherwise:
At Toll Brothers, we believe that preservation of the natural environment is an essential element of building wonderful homes and communities. To us, that means everything from environmentally sensitive planning to energy-efficient home design.
Interesting. And they want you to know their environmental awareness is so important to them and their business they created a website to clearly display its importance. TollGreen is the curious internet location of Toll Brothers where they display in graphics and text how they care for their homeowners and create the homes that keep them safe, and limit the impact to the environment. Where they also showcase ‘Green Communities’ where they offer many additional green features. These communities are found in several states across the country. Interesting there isn’t one in New Jersey.
Despite all the words about how caring and environmentally focused Toll Brothers are their actions speak otherwise. The website Violation Tracker lists 6 records of penalties for Toll Brothers with total fines of $851,000. However, the last year they were fined was 2013. In June 2012 NJ Spotlight reported
In a complaint filed with the agreement, federal officials allege that they found more than 600 stormwater violations through site inspections and by reviewing documents. Most of these involve Toll Brothers’ failure to comply with permit requirements at construction sites, including mandates to install and maintain adequate stormwater pollution controls.
The consent decree, filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, covers sites in 23 states. Of 43 New Jersey sites, about a quarter remain active construction sites.
600 Stormwater violations! Toll Brothers has been down this road before and 5 years later Upper Saddle River was on the receiving end. Toll Brothers has been fined $741,000 for violations to the Clean Water Act.
From the United States Department of Justice: Homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. to Pay $741,000 Clean Water Act Penalty and Implement Company-Wide Stormwater Controls
So despite the attempt at presenting an environmentally conscious image Toll Brothers has failed miserably in Upper Saddle River. They have years of experience in building homes, and skirting environmental requirements and paying fines. The damage they caused in Upper Saddle River had so many government agencies scrambling and trying to figure out what to do and it dragged on and on. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bergen County Soil Conservation, United States Department of Agriculture, New Jersey Baykeeper, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Suez Water, senators, representatives, lawyers, Sierra Club and others have either had an involvement or were contacted such was the extent of the continued damage from the illegal discharge Toll Brothers did.
And they got away with it. No fine. No sanctions. Just escrow funds as a penalty.
Yet, homeowners in Upper Saddle River are receiving pink slips for ordinance violations for long grass, dead shrubs, wood piles, and other aesthetic issues. And be sure that if the offending item isn’t corrected it will be followed with a fine.
But not Toll Brothers.
They deliberately didn’t put sufficient protections in place to ensure no damage was done, knowing they would get away with it – at least for a while. Where was the oversight of the borough engineer? They clear cut the Apple Ridge lot to ensure their soil remediation could be done fast without adding expense. And again, where was the oversight? They ignored the entire runoff issue until the mayor and council of Upper Saddle River were absolutely forced to act as residents were amassing evidence of all the infractions and posting it on the internet. The promises of the website for residents and phone numbers to be accessible never materialized. And town officials conveniently let it go.
And still no fine.
Yet they certainly broke ordinances. Damaged a neighborhood, tainted wells, destroyed an environment. Then just sat back and waited.
No fines.
No reprimand.
Nothing.
So after knowingly engaging in environmental destruction in Upper Saddle River they got away with it.
But questions need to be answered. Why haven’t the mayor and council fined them? Where was their fury at what was going on? Their demands for answers? What have Toll Brothers done to deserve such conciliated treatment?
Campaign donations perhaps, as they have been known to do?
No doubt residents will never know. But the behemoth came to town, did damage and got away with it.
Remember that when it is time to vote.
More Information
Runoff: Surface and Overland Water Runoff
How Can YOU Prevent Stormwater Pollution?
Trees and Stormwater Runoff: What is Stormwater Runoff and Why Do We Need to Reduce It?
Toll Brothers – Inc. Clean Water Act Settlement
Like I have been saying over the past few months. You can place the blame on other peoples’ doorsteps but the buck begins and stops with the Mayor and Council. New leadership is needed. Enough with the old ways of doing business,
time for change. We are going to need help from residents in our community who have so much to offer but
have rarely been used as resources. The conversation has to be about the future and how we are going to plan for the
influx of over 270 new families. That is presently NOT HAPPENING! A vote for Grupp, Garbar and Galasso is a vote against the old way of doing business. We will be the real community builders!!!