Derek Michalski GreenUSR, Founder and Volunteer – (Upper & Saddle River, Ramapo and Pascack Valley Communities)
Upper Saddle River NJ, This will be my last public plea to you Honorable Ladies: Mayor Joanne Minichetti, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi and Assemblywoman Lisa Swain on the subject of Pleasant Brook stormwater pollution.
Considering the perpetual environmental devastation that besets our community, please do the right thing and order Toll Brothers to honor the EPA settlement that Toll Brothers signed back in 2012. Since you and only you have the power to issue a Stop Work Order concerning construction at this work site to arrest further release of environmental toxins, please do so in order to prevent Toll Brothers from violating stormwater regulations. Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi has been receiving extensive documentation over the course of the past year regarding this environmental condition and, this adverse environmental condition will go unabated if this Stop Work Order is not honored.
Moreover, in light of the pending “Rain Tax” a/k/a “Stormwater Pollution Tax” your action to stop this environmental travesty is the only right thing to do. Furthermore, sediment testing of Pleasant Brook for arsenic pollution, which the community has repeatedly demanded, is also necessary to gage the extent and permanancy of this environmental condition. Frank T. Pallotta, who personally requested sediment testing, is a member of the Mahwah Environmental Commission and has been supportive of my efforts to stop further degradation of our precious aquifer since this condition became public knowledge. Implicit in Mr. Palotta’s request is the acknowledgment Toll Brothers’ construction is resulting in the release of toxins that threaten our acquifer. Our commuinity elected public officials to act in a timely and responsible manner when necessary. Given the imminent environmental consequences that are at stake, it would behoove you to act in a manner that protects the immediate public good rather than act as a typical politician who only wakes up on the eve of his or hers re-election. Time is of the essence and each day that passes without action amounts to a lost opportunity to arrest the spread of this toxic plume that jeopardizes the environmental integrity of our acquifer. Please do act now and please don’t be a Monday morning quarterback like the former Mayor of Pompton Lakes, who failed to act in a timely manner and or appreciate the environmental danger imposed on the Pompton Lake community that resulted in irreversible environmental damages.
Finally, please view Scott Fallon’s documentary that corroborates what inaction can develop into as had been the case in the Pompton Lakes environmental disaster. This documentary will give you a better perspective of why action rather than inaction is the better option to avoid the ontoward environmental consequences associated with inaction concerning a clear and present environmental danger that faces the Saddle River Valley’s communities.