This just came out today. Click on the link below.
There is a letter from the BOE President and Interim Superintendent that discusses what they found in the Orchard School soil. It’s not good. They have scheduled a mtg tomorrow night at BF middle school for the public. Also, this morning they fenced off the entire Orchard School field. No one is allowed on it. They may be finally owning up to what I always thought was a tainted situation that no one wanted to deal with.
BREAKING NEWS Ridgewood Public Schools has just received laborotory results for soil samples collected at the Orchard School this summer. For complete details, please click on link. – Orchard Soil Test Results
>There is no short term solution, so our kids are basically screwed. Even the back of the building, previously completely free of ashfill, now shows signs of having been contaminated by all the digging.
Thanks to the HSA click for protecting our kids.
>At the beginning of the postings 5:35 PM stated, ” Oh, God forbid the kids have no place to play on the first day of school!!!! Snobs!!!!”
What do you have to say now 5:35 PM? According to Dr. Brennan there is no short term solution. Sooo, can the 300 children come to your house and play outside? On second thought, scratch that idea because you don’t sound too child friendly.
What will we do? What will we do?
>At the beginning of the postings 5:35 PM stated, ” Oh, God forbid the kids have no place to play on the first day of school!!!! Snobs!!!!”
kids are only important when we can use them to make money and I right or what ?
>DR. NO … HE MUST GO!
DR. NO … HE MUST GO!
DR. NO … HE MUST GO!
>If LAN Associates gave bad advice to the school district, can legal action be taken?
>LAN Associates is smiling all the way to the bank. This screw up just means more work for them. They drew up the plans. They said they monitored the digging of the pilings for the addition. They said they were on site 3 days a week. How did contaminated soil get to the back of the building? How did contaminated soil get so quickly to the surface (within 3 inches) around the new addition and near the playground?
Did they really know what was at stake if they failed to keep the ash below the ground where it’s been for decades?
More money for them, I guess.
>Bob Muller is nothing but a big screw up. How much more from this impertinant man must we put up with!
>I think that LAN Associates didn’t think that Ridgewood would be taking more soil samples. Thank you to the parent who requested that the school district take another look at the soil.
I’m thinking that must have been Frances Edwards. If so, thank you Frances for caring about our children’s health and for your continued vigilance. You really put to shame all those school officials who say they care about our children.
>Well, we got through the first three days of school without a field, playground and amphitheater … only 177 more days to go until school is out for the summer. We can thank the board, Dr. Muller and the HSA mommies for this.
>I like the way the Ridgewood News had Bob’s smiling face on the cover. Ironic because this is his fault.
LAN Associaties, they are the same guys putting in 600,000 smoke alarms in Ridgewood High School.
Why do they get all Ridgewood business?
They are the Haliburton of Ridgewood.
>This is a disgrace. My kids are whining about not being able to use the playground or the field. If there were alternatives to digging into the ashfill or dump or whatever it is why, oh why didn’t they use them?
>SEEMS FUNNY YEARS AGO PSE@G HAD A REPAIR SHOP WHERE THE CONDOS ARE I RECALL THEM HAVING CONTAMINATED SOIL REMOVED. THE WHOLE AREA WAS DUG UP. THEY STOPPED AT THE FENCE BY THE TENNIS CT. PARKING LOT. I GUESS THE FENCE STOPPED THE CONTAMINATION. GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!
>What the heck does Dr. Muller have to do with soil contamination or the addition?
For crying out loud, he’s a principal, not an engineer! Let’s leave the professionals to their expertises please.
Dr. Muller has orchestated an environment for our kids to learn in.
The people to blame are the ones that were in a position to do their “due diligence” and did not., ie: engineers and environmentalists.
Leave the man out of this and go after all the “social sluts” that were brown nosing the BOE and other “prominent” parents who’s opinions were “respected”.
What a freakin witch hunt.
I, and others, have your back Bob. Keep up the good work.
>Did anyone see Ann Daily, Mary Sue Dwyer, Michele Hass or Jane Flood at the meeting last night(3 of whom were presidents of the HSA during this debacle)?
All spoke in favor, before the BOE, of the addition being built in the front of Orchard at the infamous meeting where Mr. Hutton proclaimed, “the train has left the station.”
>hey 4:28, Bob doesn’t give a damn about the kids. He’s into getting ahead. Look at his choices – ampitheatre gets the go ahead whereas the library roof goes to hell. Maybe the kids should go to his place and play there since the fields are shut down. Even better, he ought to just get out of town with the rest of BOE.
>4:26 you’re mistaken about PSE&G. They completely cleaned up the area that was formerly used by them. In fact, they were the ones who discovered the ashfill in 1991/2 as their cleanup neared the tennis courts. They alerted the BOE and the Village because they did not produce the ash and so could not be responsible for it. The DEP then came and did a series of 46 borings throughout the orchard/village properties and discovered the full outline of the ash fill. It was huge. The Village also has ash under its property near the tennis courts and PSE&G could not undertake any remediation on village property. Though adjacent to the former pseg plant, the back of the orchard building showed no contamination as the ash fill did not extend that far back. That is why parents wanted the addition at the back, so that no one would be digging and disturbing the contaminated soil that was elsewhere on the property.
Bob wanted the building in the front and advocated that point, excluding all concerns about the ashfill. It was Bob Hutton who announced at that final boe meeting that “the train had left the station.”
Then Bob advocated the amphitheatre, again digging into contaminated soil. Now the contaminants are near the surface which is why there is a problem.
Our leaders not only let us down, they IGNORED us and then let us down.
>4:28 Bob is to blame. He is neither an engineer nor an environmentalist as you state so why was he advocating that we dig into an ashfill to build a new addition in a location where most of the school’s parents did not want it? What assurance could he give parents that the contaminated soil would magically not be disturbed and brought up to the surface?
Absolutely none. So why did he put himself in that position?
>Where were all you concerned people when the various construction projects were proposed over the last decade? Did any of you speak out then and saw “we don’t need that addition or that amphetheatre, since it will disrupt the soil and we are not willing to deal with that.” Or, are all of you just pointing fingers after the fact? I don’t know the answer. So, I would like to read the honest answer from the parents involved, not a bunch of smart ass comments.
>The social sluts most prominent in this debacle are Ann Daly, Michele Hass, Tara Callaghan and Mary Sue Dwyer. ALL presided over this now infamous digging into contaminated soil as leaders of the Orchard HSA. ALL shouted down parents who opposed this unneccessary exposure to their children. They all bear some responsibility for a huge dereliction of duty. This duty was to represent the parents of Orchard school.
Social Slut: n. a person who will prostitute either values or principles to advance any perceived relationship or standing within a given community.
>The Ash Landfill was listed as a “superfund” site on August 11, 1997 by the EPA. At Thursday’s meeting a board member seemed to state that it wasn’t a superfund site. His comments were incorrect. See below:
Monday, August 11, 1997 Page 67 of 84
City Name Address EPA Site #
RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE RIDGEWOOD ASH LANDFILL ORCHARD PLACE NJD986639904
>To this Orchard Parent – “What the heck does Dr. Muller have to do with soil contamination or the addition? For crying out loud, he’s a principal, not an engineer!”
Bob Muller was Principal during the 2000 field regrading and 2005 addition.
He knew that the field was an ash landfill and that it should be treated differently than an ordinary field.
He authorized that work without including any type of soil testing as the field was dug up. You don’t need to be an Engineer to think twice before digging in a site that is a Superfund.
When the addition was built, Dr. Muller ignored very vocal concerns of parents that it was going to be placed in the wrong spot because of the contamination soil issue. So again, he knew the potential for problems and approved the addition in front of the building.
The district didn’t tell him what they were doing on he nodded his head. He was a decision maker on both projects.
Think of what you are saying, that if he knew and neglected the concerns of parents, he’s not responsible.
The fact that the digging of the field was done without any testing angers me because my son was there during that time.
Bob Muller has most of the responsibility for these problems and who ever sat on the Board and gave it a nod without thinking is also liable.
I wouldn’t be getting there “backs” if I were you.
>Schools Development Authority Grant Details
Project # 4390-120-02-0883
School Facility Project
Addition and Rehab of Existing Facility
Total Project Cost
1,873,540.03
Final Eligible Cost
1,020,469.00
State Share
408,188.00
Local Share
1,465,352.03
Description:Additions & Renovations; (1) Art Classroom, (2) Small Group Instruction (SGI) Rooms, (1) Cafetorium including Serving Room and storage.
>One more item –
The near by stream is listed as being “impaired”.
State Impairment Parent Impairment Priority Rank Targeted Flag Anticipated TMDL Submittal
FECAL COLIFORM PATHOGENS HIGH N
Here’s the EPA link for that…
https://iaspub.epa.gov/waters/enviro.control?p_list_id=NJ_04-0002_DIAMOND_BROOK
Don’t let the kids play by that stream.
>4:28 PM, “What the heck does Dr. Muller have to do with soil contamination or the addition?”
He knew because he was told of the contamination. And it was HE, not anyone else, who insisited that the building go in the front. The BOE just backed him up all the way. Do you think they will take it on the neck for him?
“Dr. Muller has orchestated an environment for our kids to learn in.”
Yea, like the use of TERC math? Give us a break.
It might be wiser for you to NOT stand behind him. Unless, of course, you don’t mind taking one for him.
>6:24, least you wallow in ignorance, the building was a fiat compli when presented to parents and the community. There were no discussions of the options. “The train had left the station.”
Where were you? Obviously not paying attention.
There was a song and dance meeting arranged by Bob, Bombace, Brogan & LAN Assoc. to ward off concerns and objections by parents.
It was at this meeting that it was discovered that the architect had first drawn a full size gym to be place in the back of the building with the intent of turning the old gym we now have into a cafeteria, auditorium and multi-purpose room.
But that was thought to be to costly and really didn’t fit with Bob’s true motivation.
You see, Bob wanted a space that he could lock down. Thus, preventing access to the rest of the school during election voting. He didn’t want voters walking through the main entrance between the kindergarten and office while voting in the gym.
He really didn’t care about a new gym. He doesn’t value sports. And the only reason Orchard was getting a new addition at all was because all the other schools were or had. This was political on the BOE’s behalf. They didn’t care if Biddy and Hoops were busting at the seems with children playing basketball.
How ironic that Ann Daly was the HSA president at the time. Now her husband, Tim Daly, as president of HOOPS is advocating that we build more desperately needed gym space.
Just so you know, there was no contaminates in the back of the building. DEP had done soil borings there too.
The contamination that is there now, is due to the contractors taking dirt removed from the front of the building and using it for fill in the back when constructing the art room.
Lots of blame here to go around. But the bottom line is Bob, the BOE and the HSA momies all knew this at the time.
>A principal cannot be responsible for the engineering, environmental, or construction concerns that are at fault here.
HE IS AN EDUCATOR…NOT AN ENGINEER!
There is no way I , or any other educated person, can say that a principal’s preferances to location can override envirnmental or engineering concerns of those WHO’S OCCUPATON IS TO DO DUE DILIGENCE ON SUITABILITY.
(This includes parents who wanted it done)
Sounds like the real people responsible are trying to use a good man, without any ENGINEERING OR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP BACKGROUND, as the goat here.
If the “train left the station” it’s because others had a motive to move on it before the repercussions would be figured out.
>12:55,
As an administrator, that would be Bob, he is responsible for the well being of the students in his charge.
One does not need be an ENGINEER, once informed of the dangers, to know that it is wrong to proceed. Bob had the knowledge and chose to ignore it. As did Porter, Lan, Bombace, Brogan & the district’s business manager.
One is not off the hook for being complicate because your “superiors” had knowledge too.
All are culpable here.
>While Bob the Builder was always the principal at Orchard during the three “authorized” digs into contaminated soil. Here is the makeup of the BOE and the HSA Prexies who served as cheerleaders under his direction:
2000 – Massive dig of Orchard Field
Sheila Brogan, Pres
Tonia Cohen, VP
John Carroll
Michael Porro
Charles Reilly
HSA PRES: Jenny Breining
2003/4 – Building Addition on ash landfill
Charles Reilly, Pres
Sheila Brogan, VP
Mark Bombace
Linda Gilman
Robert Hutton
HSA PRES: Ann Daly
2006/7 Amphitheatre dig
Mark Bombace, Pres
Bob Hutton, VP
Sheila Brogan
Linda Gilman
Joseph Vallerini
HSA PRES: Kelly Petersen
The constant here seems to be Muller and Brogan. Why is Sheila posturing and asking questions now? It’s a little too late, Sheila.
>to 12:55, this is not about an “ENGINEERING OR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP” as you state. It is about a decision taken to DIG INTO CONTAMINATED SOIL.
Ash Landfills cannot usually be cleaned up, only capped and left alone.
Muller knew about the ash and still insisted that we dig into it. Why? How did he know it would be safe to do so? Obviously, now that we know that is wasn’t safe, what has he to say for himself? Why did he press the issue if he had so little knowledge about the dangers and difficulties of containing ash once it has been dug into?
Is he just an arrogant person with no sense of his own limitations?
>”HE IS AN EDUCATOR…NOT AN ENGINEER!”
Then Please tell him so. He didn’t seem know this about himself when he asked for the addition to be moved to the front of the building over the contaminated ash.
>IF I WANTED AND EDUCATOR, I WOULD TALK TO AN INDIVIDUAL WITH DR. MULLERS CREDENTIALS>>>
HENCE< IF I WANTED TO BUILD, I WOULD CONSULT A BUILDER< NOT A PRINCIPAL.
>I’m not impressed with Mr. Muller’s credentials … he has an EdD, not a PhD. BIG difference! An EdD is not a great accomplishment … it’s like a fake doctorate.
>The person advocating for Bob Muller is either not an Orchard parent or Bob Muller himself.
>6:34..I am an Orchard parent and I agree with you completely.
These are “no name” and anonymous troublemakers looking to go after the most visible person.
Principal Muller has more backers than you think.
He’ll also be around long after your kids have gome to GW.
He’s not going anywhere regardless of what you shriek here…and rightly so.
>Well, 7:27 PM … you are a “no name” and anonymous arse kisser. I wonder what’s in it for you … mmmmmmm? Do you get special favors for sidling up to MR. Muller? Have you no pride?
>Why don’t you put your name to your post 7:27 PM?
>7:27 PM
That’s if he isn’t indicted for digging up a superfund site in 2000 for the regrading of the field without EPA permission or supervision.
You can bake him a cake with a file in it.
>Regardless of how many backers Muller has, he should be ashamed of his part in having the addition built on the ashfill and the “dig” to build the amphitheater. Orchard has literally risen from the ashes and Muller is responsible for creating a toxic environment for our children.
>Hey 7:48: Why don’t you put your name?
LONG LIVE DR MULLER”S REIGN AT ORCHARD!
>Why don’t you ?
>8:40…Sure you’re an Orchard parent?
You’re either a very petty person or someone with an ax to grind.
>7:48, and reign he does, like a tyrant!
Pucker up.
>To the 8:36 muller backers (all 1 or 2 of you): MR. Muller (aka, His Royal Pain in the Arse of the Orchard Kingdom of Ash) comes up short in many ways. Long afer his reign at Orchard, he will be remembered as the unprincipled principal who stirred up the ashfill and put our children’s health and well-being at risk. His infamy will live on long after he is gone.
>7:27 I can understand you going after posters if what they say differs from what you think. That being said, do you not see the hypocrisy for going after posters for being “anonymous” when you yourself are “anonymous”? Your post would have been more credible had you posted your name.
>It astounds me that anyone, no matter how much of a suck up, can even begin to excuse muller’s folly. I mean, he insisted that there be a dig into contaminated soil AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL to suit his fancy for an addition in front WHERE EVERYONE CAN READILY SEE IT. He didn’t stop there, but insisted on ANOTHER dig into that soil for an amphitheatre.
Please, please put a neon sign on top of that addition that blinks “MULLER’S TWO FOLLIES!”
>I’m really curious about who likes the muller man. I have not met one parent who does. The teachers, especially, dislike him intensly.
I know. It must be the kindergarten mommies…they don’t know him yet.
>THere’s an HSA meeting coming up. Wonder what they’ll say for themselves.
How about: we’re really, really sorry.
Or: we didn’t know about the ash and didn’t believe the parents who told us it was there.
Or: we have to support the board no matter what they want to do or Bob will be mad at us.
Or: we’re not afraid of a little contamination…we use peroxide frequently.
Or: they told us to ignore the parents and that they and Bob knew what was best for us.
Or: when we screw up, it’s bad, isn’t it.
Or: hey, we’re just suckups. But you guys knew this so what did you expect us to do.
Or: We don’t remember, we don’t recall, we have no memory of anything at all…
>To dig or not to dig?
That was the question facing Muller. He decided to dig not once but twice. Our children are now paying the price for his ignorance.
>Not ignorance but arrogance.
>There is plenty of misinformation in here and I believe it is intentional to support your motives. How heavy is that ax to grind??? It seems to me it is taken over your world.
At the meeting the geologist, LAn and all the information that has made available confirms that there was NO DISTURBANCE OF THE ASH when the construction happened. In the geologist’s own words, these results would not even make the radar of the DEP in terms of being worrisome. You are creating fear to advance your agenda. I attended the meeting and listened with an open mind. Try that for a change.
Muller, HSA presidents and the BOE do care about the welfare of the children. Please do no make yourself hollier than though. It does not fly.
BTW- test your own backyard, the results will be similar. Are you moving???