Do you remember this?
Following 9/11 Christy Todd Whitman told the media that the air quality was safe at Ground Zero.
If you lived in this area following the September 11 attacks and could see lower Manhattan you would know this was a lie. Not a stretching of the facts, a plain lie. The air was full of particulates and was choking. However, workers were needed for recovery, and rather than provide protection which would cost money, they just lied. Told them it was safe, carry on.
They lied to the workers at Ground Zero, and now they are dying and have serious health conditions.
The environmental mess at The Preserve continues. Boswell Engineering has said the soil remediation was done correctly and is safe. Others dispute this.
NJDEP has said the water samples taken show the water is safe.
Really?
The mayor and council have been largely silent over this entire issue, until it was impossible not to act.
They have tolerated the weekly pumping of toxic water into the Pleasant Brook that occurs numerous times each week.
And did little, beyond monitor the water.
When finally forced to act following the flooding onto Carlough Drive in July they issued a Stop Work Order. It was clear that the stormwater runoff prevention was insufficient. In fact it was more than that. It was virtually non-exsistant. Bales of hay DO NOT constitute storm water control. Yet, Toll Brothers have been using this technique on the site for over a year. Why wasn’t anyone from the town inspected the site to ensure correct preventive measures were in place? What was the borough engineer doing?
In Toll Brothers defense they said the rain events were “significant”. Interesting. It is summer in New Jersey, rain is a feature. Toll Brothers does extensive work in the region, none of which remotely qualifies as a desert. Rain is part of the seasons. Was this the best excuse they could come up with?
The Stop Work Order was issued and town administration and officials met with Toll Brothers.
The administrators listened, but what did they say?
The minutes of the meeting show they said very little.
Where was the demand for answers? The anger for the damage to the town?
At the next council meeting representatives of Toll Brothers were present. But there was no notification to the residents in advance. No Swift 911. No post on Facebook. No opportunity for questions. No chance of ugly scenes, heated exchanges. And at the meeting they were not announced. They could have sat there invisible had not a resident asked a probing question. The mayor then casually mentioned Toll Brothers were there.
And the mayor and council sat quietly and said virtually nothing.
Where was their anger over the continued pollution to the town? To the streams? To the streets and residents properties?
Where were the heated questions? The demand for answers?
Watching the meeting was an exercise in meekness. Clearly the council saves their venom for residents.
The elected officials were not representing the town’s best interests.
The elected officials were not ensuring that the town or the water was safe.
The elected officials were not ensuring the kids playing in the Pleasant Brook weren’t in harms way.
They accepted the excuses. They accepted Boswells questionable figures and weak information.
They sat mute in Toll Brothers presence.
Why?
What is going on?
And still they tell the residents that everything is within safe levels and all is ok. All in the knowledge that if everything isn’t ok they won’t be accountable as they won’t be there, they will have moved on. The consequences of this may take years to appear and they won’t be here.
But what about the children? The ones who play in the stream, this summer or in 10 years. Or the families who move into their dream homes at the Apple Ridge site and discover they have a nightmare. Or others?
Remember Christy Todd Whitman?
Who do you believe?