TRENTON – Environment New Jersey criticized the web-only announcement earlier this
week by the Department of Environmental Protection of the final list of waters
to receive increased Category One protections aimed at protecting high quality
waterways. The group said the adoption of new rivers was marred by numerous
segments of rivers – over 200 miles out
of the initial proposal of 900+ miles – proposed for protection last year that
were stripped from the final proposal by Corzine Administration officials in
response to political pressure from New
Jersey developers and large corporations.
In addition to revised rules that guide the state’s
Category One program, the NJDEP moved to adopt another regulatory proposal this
week to revise the rules governing the state’s Water Quality Management
Planning (WQMP) program which establishes where new sewer and septic systems
can be placed. While strengthening environmental protection in some areas, the
WQMP rules now being adopted contain serious flaws, leaving a significant
amount of New
Jersey’s
environmentally sensitive lands open to development.
Both regulatory proposals were signed by NJDEP
Commissioner Lisa Jackson and submitted to the New Jersey Register last month, but
the final documents were just made public online this week.
“These new rules protect some rivers and watershed
lands, and then green-light more development – and pollution – in others. Big
developers and companies muscled out clean water, and the public interest got
squashed,” said Doug O’Malley, field
director for Environment New Jersey. “This is schizophrenic public policy, and Gov.
Corzine needs to protect all high quality rivers and lands – not just those
that a developer hasn’t eyed yet.”
Category One protections guard against any measurable
increase in pollution levels in the stream. To guard against runoff
pollution, Category One protections provide a 300-foot riparian buffer zones
along the banks of streams carrying the designation in which no new, large
scale development is permitted.
Over 3,900 New Jersey citizens submitted comments in favor of these new Category
One waterway protections to the Governor and the DEP, in direct contradiction
to strong opposition from the state developer lobby, including the NJ Builders
Association, Schoor-DePalma Engineers and the NJ Business & Industry
Association.
Environment New Jersey supported the initial version of the sewer and septic
rules, known as the Water Quality Management Plan, for protecting an estimated
300,000 acres of critical watershed lands from development, but strongly
criticized the exemptions for environmentally sensitive lands that are 25 acres
or less.
The new rules will create
tighter standards governing pollution to groundwater and require environmental
reviews to assess impacts to groundwater from proposed development’s septic
systems. These rules are heavily contested by the state developers. In public
comments, the groups opposed loopholes, including the exemption of areas less
than 25 acres, as well as denying protections to areas around well-heads,
aquifer recharge areas and steep slopes.
“These sewer and septic rule
revisions are a long time coming and will protect critical watershed lands,” O’Malley said. “But the job is hardly
done – the included exemptions are not ecologically or scientifically
defensible, and must be remedied by the DEP in a subsequent rule proposal.”
O’Malley highlighted the inclusion of many miles of
Southern New Jersey waterways in the proposal, including sections of the Toms
River (Ocean County), the Salem River and Oldmans Creek (Salem/Gloucester
Counties), Pompeston Creek (Burlington County), the Maurice River
(Salem/Cumberland Counties) and the Swimming River Reservoir Tributaries
(Monmouth County). The environmental groups have called upon the state to
increase the number of South
Jersey waterways carrying
the Category One designation, due to their important role in maintaining the
quality of the state’s coastal waters.
A recent Rutgers University report highlighted the accelerated pace of
development across the state, especially in three coastal counties – Atlantic, Ocean and Monmouth Counties. According to the report, released by the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis (CRSSA),
the counties represent a “hotspot” for new development.
“These protections will come not a moment too soon for
these waterways,” said O’Malley.
“Maintaining high water quality in the face of booming development is not
possible without installing buffer areas safeguards to ensure our waterways are
not swamped with pollutants.”
“That’s why the exemptions of vast sections of rivers
like the Pequest, Millstone and Wallkill – first proposed for protection close
to two decades ago – especially stings. These waterways were – and are – still
worthy of increased protections.”
The rivers and streams containing segments that will receive
the original Category One designation include: Musconetcong River, Warren &
Hunterdon Counties; Pompeston Creek, Burlington County; Salem River and Oldmans
Creek, Salem & Gloucester Counties; Toms River, Ocean County; Rockaway
River and Split Rock Reservoir, Morris County; Swimming River Reservoir
Tributaries, Monmouth County; Oak Ridge Reservoir and Wanaque Reservoir
Tributaries, Passaic County; Lamington River, Somerset & Hunterdon Counties;
Maurice River, Salem & Cumberland Counties; and Ramapo River, Bergen
County. Approximately 250 miles of streams are in the Highlands Preservation
Area, and already receive some level of protection.
In August, 11 state environmental groups – including
American Littoral Society, Environment New Jersey, New Jersey Audubon Society,
New Jersey Environmental Federation, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Save
Barnegat Bay, the NJ chapter of the Sierra Club, Hackensack Riverkeeper, the
NY/NJ Baykeeper, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and the New Jersey
Conservation Foundation – officially
submitted comments to the DEP in support of the new protections. However, the
groups criticized the criteria changes for future protections, which would
eliminate hundreds of waterways previously under official consideration by DEP,
eliminate waterways that provide drinking water to communities less than
100,000 people and restrict some waterways from protections based on ecological
criteria.
A 2003 NJPIRG report found
that development is the number one threat to the state’s waterways, with the
majority of waterways in the state declining in the state’s fastest growing
counties. Over 65% of the state’s waterways do not meet water quality standards
that protect healthy marine life because they are burdened with too much
nutrient pollution from overdevelopment.
“The price of clean water
should not be eternal vigilance. New Jersey’s high quality rivers need to be protected from
overdevelopment. The initial proposal advanced that goal, but the final
protections leave out rivers that should be protected,” said O’Malley.
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Environment New Jersey is a
non-profit citizen advocacy group based out of Trenton and
represents over 20,000 citizen members across the state.
