Dear Residents and Neighbors,

Without notice to the Township Committee, the Quarry reportedly advised the DEP that it plans to go forward with its’ own testing plan this week without DEP approval. The Quarry presumably is hoping to gain the DEP’s post-imprimatur for any testing it conducts. The Township learned indirectly of the Quarry’s plans and took prompt steps to ensure that the Township’s specially retained engineer, ICON Engineering, would be on site and conduct testing on our behalf. Quarry attorneys reportedly presented hurdles for ICON to be on site, but undeterred, the Township Committee called an 8:30 a.m. emergency meeting on Saturday morning to discuss retaining ICON Engineering and the parameters for ICON’s testing. View the Township’s press release and decision to retain ICON.

CCSMQ representatives attended the Saturday morning meeting and spoke in support of retaining ICON and in proceeding with an action for a temporary restraining order if ICON were denied access to the site when the Quarry begins testing.

CCSMQ is an apolitical organization comprised of members affiliated with all parties, with its’ only goals to permanently end dumping in our town (recall that we are enjoying only a temporary suspension at this time) and to achieve reliable testing of the quarry site. However, this author is compelled to express disappointment that Bernards Township resident Chris Daggett, a former DEP Commissioner, is a principal in the environmental consulting firm JM Sorge hired by the Quarry to put forth a testing proposal which the DEP deemed insufficient and which CCSMQ and the Township determined, upon evaluation and consultation with experts, was designed to avoid any finding of contamination. We would have hoped that Mr. Daggett, as former DEP Commissioner, would have used his expertise to assist the residents, rather than to allow his firm to assist the Millington Quarry, which has been politely dubbed a “bad corporate citizen” by our Township Committee and earned the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s distinctive “Swampbuster” award in 2008 for risks of environmental contamination the Quarry has presented to the Great Swamp and surrounding environment.

We do not know whether Mr. Daggett has provided personal consultation to the Quarry. But we do know that Millington Quarry, with the assistance of Mr. Daggett’s firm, has cost our Township, i.e., all taxpayers, tremendous resources and continues to do so as the Quarry and their attorneys develop schemes, like using the pending mediation to stall and devise plans to undermine our efforts to achieve real testing. The Quarry’s proposed investigation plan consists of testing the Quarry’s own hand selected piles of dirt (which they designated as Fill Areas A, B and C), limited parameters for testing, no groundwater testing (despite the ability to do so with existing monitoring wells which they failed to disclose to the DEP), no surface water testing, misrepresentations as to the quality of fill and the history of dumping, and a description of the site as “non-residential”–although the Quarry’s Rehabilitation Plan proposes 40-50 homes on the site. This is the plan that Mr. Daggett’s consulting firm has promoted with the DEP.

It is this author’s opinion that Mr. Daggett, through his firm’s support of the Millington Quarry, is on the wrong side for Bernards Township on an issue which is critical to the future of Bernards Township, and determined to be the ‘number one issue facing our town” by Township Committee representatives. Mr. Daggett, as you aspire to lead our state, we welcome you to come over to our side and lead our Township in our battle with the Quarry.