03-17-2007 Minutes

Meeting Minutes
CONTAMINATED SITES COMMITTEE
Meeting March 19, 2007
6:30 P.M.
Community Center

Present: Nora Craig, Barbara Halpern, Suzanne McCarthy, Jay Mounier, Peter Petrowich, and Deborah Roy Roberts. Absent: Kevin Kelton and Mike Digorgio

Minutes of the March 5, 2007 accepted.

It was reported that, contrary to newspaper reports, the resolution establishing the Contaminated Sites Committee was not passed by Township Committee at the March 13, 2007 meeting. It was only reviewed and a decision was made that a definition of Known Contaminated Sites should be added to it. Hopefully, with this addition, the resolution will be passed at the next meeting.

It was also reported that the property management software acquired by the township is designed for activity recording, rather than for serving as a database of historical information and a listing of non-municipal actions. Apparently it is the intention of the Township Committee that the Emergency Management officer who is to be appointed will be trained in Geographic Information System (GIS) and will be able to use this for mapping and for data retention. There are several other management opportunities available with this software also.

Everyone present expressed great satisfaction with the website template for information on each KC Site that Peter developed and emailed in advance of the meeting. A summary of each case, based on DEP records, such as the records of the four cases reviewed by Deborah and Peter when they went to Trenton, will be added to each site’s website page as it is developed.

It was agreed that the next step is to obtain records on additional sites. There are 30 “Known Contaminated Sites” in Franklin Township listed by DEP and another 17 sites listed as “Suspected” by DEP in Franklin Township. The “suspected” list appears to be a beginning step in the process that DEP uses for classifying KCSites and then acting on them. It has nothing to do with the “Sites of Concern” list generated by the Environmental Commission some years ago.

Obtaining DEP documents has the potential to be very laborious, so methods for doing this were discussed at length. It was decided that:

1) The DEP Activity Tracking Report (online) for selected sites should be examined first to determine what information to request.

2) Online OPRA requests for those selected sites will then be submitted. These will request any “Remedial Action Work Plan,” plus reports and letters that are mentioned or suggested by the Activity Log. Usually, if a property owner exists, that owner hires an environmental engineer or other consultant to carry out the remedial action. The Work Plan will then be very detailed and will include a history of the contamination and any earlier actions.

3) We will then see what records we obtain through OPRA and can even make another Trenton trip to check the physical records against what is received for a sample number of sites, to be sure we are getting what is relevant and necessary. Except for such a possible initial check, we will only send someone to Trenton if there is a specific need.

4) The Case Manager for each site will then be called. This may be where we request information on what the last activity results were.

It was agreed that the Committee will divide up responsibility for the selected sites, with each member working on two sites initially. Deborah will send members the names of “their” sites.
The selection of sites will be based on chronology – that is, those with no recent activity (that are also not known to be fully remediated) will be worked on first. The reason for this is that there seem to be significant gaps in activity on some sites and this may have more to do with DEP staff resources than with the level or seriousness of contamination. Pioneer Metals is an example, where no activity had occurred since 2004, despite a Work Plan, until the OPRA request on this site was made. Then, within a few days, an action (Notice of Violation letter to the owner) appeared in the Activity Log. The letter was also sent to the Township Clerk.
New legislation has mandated that DEP notify Townships about actions on cases within their boundaries. At the Township level, there needs to be some specific action taken:

• A permanent file should be developed for each case, by case name, rather than just as part of the year’s work. The files should be permanently available, rather than moved to storage at the end of the year.

• A person should be designated to handle the files. Perhaps this will be the Emergency Management person who is to be appointed soon.

• As letters on cases arrive from DEP, or elsewhere, copies need to be given to the Contaminated Sites Committee so the data can be added to the website profile and the summary updated.

For now, the website is an in-house document for use of the CS Committee and the Township. Once the above-described process is underway and any bugs are eliminated, the website will be approved by the Environmental Commission and the Township (by whom exactly?). The information must be made available to the public – it is public information already, just difficult to find. It was agreed that it will not be necessary to wait until all sites are reviewed and summaries compiled for this to begin. However, it was understood that how this website is made available and where the site will sit will be decided by the Township. The Contaminated Sites Committee and the Environmental Commission can make recommendations on this and, if desired, can provide other forms of (more positive) environmental information, so that this is one of a few links to information about the township’s resources/conditions.

One other need was discussed: None of the Committee members or anyone in the township currently has a very clear picture of the legislation and regulations regarding Known Contaminated Sites and what DEP’s processes are for dealing with the different categories of sites. It would be helpful to develop information on this. Suzanne is looking into possibly making this a law/planning intern project at DVRPC, for use by NJ municipalities in general. This will also need to be a part of the Emergency Management Officer’s training, and there may be help on this from an Environmental Engineer, if the Township hires such a consultant as planned.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

**Meeting Minutes**
CONTAMINATED SITES COMMITTEE Meeting March 19, 2007 6:30 P.M. Community Center Present: Nora Craig, Barbara Halpern, Suzanne McCarthy, Jay Mounier, Peter Petrowich, and Deborah Roy Roberts. Absent: Kevin Kelton and Mike Digorgio Minutes of the March 5, 2007 accepted. It was reported that, contrary to newspaper reports, the resolution establishing the Contaminated Sites Committee was not passed by Township Committee at the March 13, 2007 meeting. It was only reviewed and a decision was made that a definition of Known Contaminated Sites should be added to it. Hopefully, with this addition, the resolution will be passed at the next meeting. It was also reported that the property management software acquired by the township is designed for activity recording, rather than for serving as a database of historical information and a listing of non-municipal actions. Apparently it is the intention of the Township Committee that the Emergency Management officer who is to be appointed will be trained in Geographic Information System (GIS) and will be able to use this for mapping and for data retention. There are several other management opportunities available with this software also. Everyone present expressed great satisfaction with the website template for information on each KC Site that Peter developed and emailed in advance of the meeting. A summary of each case, based on DEP records, such as the records of the four cases reviewed by Deborah and Peter when they went to Trenton, will be added to each site’s website page as it is developed. It was agreed that the next step is to obtain records on additional sites. There are 30 “Known Contaminated Sites” in Franklin Township listed by DEP and another 17 sites listed as “Suspected” by DEP in Franklin Township. The “suspected” list appears to be a beginning step in the process that DEP uses for classifying KCSites and then acting on them. It has nothing to do with the “Sites of Concern” list generated by the Environmental Commission some years ago. Obtaining DEP documents has the potential to be very laborious, so methods for doing this were discussed at length. It was decided that: 1) The DEP Activity Tracking Report (online) for selected sites should be examined first to determine what information to request. 2) Online OPRA requests for those selected sites will then be submitted. These will request any “Remedial Action Work Plan,” plus reports and letters that are mentioned or suggested by the Activity Log. Usually, if a property owner exists, that owner hires an environmental engineer or other consultant to carry out the remedial action. The Work Plan will then be very detailed and will include a history of the contamination and any earlier actions. 3) We will then see what records we obtain through OPRA and can even make another Trenton trip to check the physical records against what is received for a sample number of sites, to be sure we are getting what is relevant and necessary. Except for such a possible initial check, we will only send someone to Trenton if there is a specific need. 4) The Case Manager for each site will then be called. This may be where we request information on what the last activity results were. It was agreed that the Committee will divide up responsibility for the selected sites, with each member working on two sites initially. Deborah will send members the names of “their” sites. The selection of sites will be based on chronology – that is, those with no recent activity (that are also not known to be fully remediated) will be worked on first. The reason for this is that there seem to be significant gaps in activity on some sites and this may have more to do with DEP staff resources than with the level or seriousness of contamination. Pioneer Metals is an example, where no activity had occurred since 2004, despite a Work Plan, until the OPRA request on this site was made. Then, within a few days, an action (Notice of Violation letter to the owner) appeared in the Activity Log. The letter was also sent to the Township Clerk. New legislation has mandated that DEP notify Townships about actions on cases within their boundaries. At the Township level, there needs to be some specific action taken: • A permanent file should be developed for each case, by case name, rather than just as part of the year’s work. The files should be permanently available, rather than moved to storage at the end of the year. • A person should be designated to handle the files. Perhaps this will be the Emergency Management person who is to be appointed soon. • As letters on cases arrive from DEP, or elsewhere, copies need to be given to the Contaminated Sites Committee so the data can be added to the website profile and the summary updated. For now, the website is an in-house document for use of the CS Committee and the Township. Once the above-described process is underway and any bugs are eliminated, the website will be approved by the Environmental Commission and the Township (by whom exactly?). The information must be made available to the public – it is public information already, just difficult to find. It was agreed that it will not be necessary to wait until all sites are reviewed and summaries compiled for this to begin. However, it was understood that how this website is made available and where the site will sit will be decided by the Township. The Contaminated Sites Committee and the Environmental Commission can make recommendations on this and, if desired, can provide other forms of (more positive) environmental information, so that this is one of a few links to information about the township’s resources/conditions. One other need was discussed: None of the Committee members or anyone in the township currently has a very clear picture of the legislation and regulations regarding Known Contaminated Sites and what DEP’s processes are for dealing with the different categories of sites. It would be helpful to develop information on this. Suzanne is looking into possibly making this a law/planning intern project at DVRPC, for use by NJ municipalities in general. This will also need to be a part of the Emergency Management Officer’s training, and there may be help on this from an Environmental Engineer, if the Township hires such a consultant as planned. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

This page revised: 05/23/20077