Roxbury Redoubt: Christie’s DEP Has Become A Haven For Incompetent Hacks

DEP Now Trying to Scare Neighboring Towns of Roxbury’s Fenimore Landfill

DEP Engaged In Unprecedented Fear Mongering and Political Lobbying

I must say that I was amazed and disgusted by how DEP dictated the so called closure plan for Roxbury’s Fenimore landfill.

After having created a huge odor problem at the Fenimore Landfill, DEP recently announced their landfill closure plan as a fait accompli, with absolutely no opportunity for the community to comment on the plan.

That DEP unilateral edict was preceded by months of intransigent refusal by DEP to even publicly talk to the people of Roxbury or their local government regarding the community’s many legitimate issues at the Fenimore landfill.

Frankly, in my almost 30 year experience, I have never seen anything even close to this level of incompetence and arrogant intransigence at DEP.

It was both a public relations and environmental nightmare – and it was completely created by the DEP.

But, as a former DEP career professional with some respect for the institution, I now have to say that I am embarrassed by even more shocking DEP behavior.

DEP has made a crude attempt to scare neighboring Towns into supporting their ill advised landfill closure plan, in a transparent attempt to undermine Roxbury residents’ demand to “truck it out”.

Specifically, I refer to an email by a DEP representative by the name of Cindy Randazzo, Director of Local Government Assistance, who wrote to neighboring Towns in a heavy handed attempt to scare them into supporting the DEP closure plan.

Randazzo is an embarrassment and a fixture in DEP Commissioner Bob Martin’s incompetent management team of hacks.

She has absolutely no training or experience in environmental management, not even a college degree. She is just barely qualified to work in the DEP cafeteria.

Randazzo does’t know an air model from a model airplane.

Today, Randazzo wrote this outrageous political screed to Roxbury’s neighboring towns:

From: Randazzo, Cindy <Cindy.Randazzo@dep.state.nj.us>
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 2:45 PM
Subject: NJDEP – Fenimore Landfill Status Update
To: “Randazzo, Cindy” <Cindy.Randazzo@dep.state.nj.us>
Cc: “Rogers, Joseph” <Joseph.Rogers@dep.state.nj.us>

Dear Municipal Official: We are contacting you to make you aware of NJDEP’s plan for the long-term remedy of the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas issue at the nearby Fenimore Landfill in Roxbury Township. NJDEP has already begun to implement the long-term remedy of impermeable capping with vegetative cover and a gas control and treatment system.

There has been much discussion about the viability of excavating the landfill and trucking the material from the site versus capping the landfill.

Based on an extensive assessment of the site conducted by DEP’s technical experts and State-hired outside experts, we have concluded that excavating the landfill would result in the uncontrolled release of very high concentrations of H2S. This would be extremely unsafe for nearby Roxbury residents and businesses, but also would impact the surrounding region—including your town—over the next two or more years.

Based on NJDEP’s air model (see attached), it is very possible that plumes of gas ranging in concentration from 30 parts per billion (ppb) to more than 500 ppb could be generated during excavation. This would cause widespread, unacceptable public health concerns and general disruption to quality of life in your community. NJDEP will not allow the public to be exposed to these dangerous concentrations. Further, excavated material trucked off the landfill would be expected to continue to emit concentrations of H2S during transport, further exposing the public along those routes to H2S emissions. Therefore, NJDEP will not excavate the Fenimore landfill.

We are providing a web link that contains reports, fact sheets and the presentations given to Roxbury Township about NJDEP’s plans (http://nj.gov/dep/fenimore/). Included is the air model that shows the potential dispersal of H2S gas if the landfill were excavated.

Should you have any questions or if you are interested in meeting with our technical team, please let me know. I would be happy to arrange such a meeting.

Sincerely,

Cindy W. Randazzo
Director
Office of Local Government Assistance
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 E. State Street
P.O. Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402
Office: 609-633-7700
Cell – 609-575-3806
email: cindy.randazzo@dep.state.nj.us

The DEP should have thought about all of these problems BEFORE allowing the reopening of the landfill and new disposal of 400,000 cubic yards of construction and demolition waste, including wallboard which is known to generate H2S odors.

It is completely inappropriate and intolerable for a government agency to be engaged in this kind of political lobbying and fear mongering.

Randazzo should be fired and Commissioner Martin should be called before Legislative oversight committees to explain just what the hell Randazzo was trying to do.

Martin and his fellow hack Ms. Randazzo are engaged in political games – pitting Towns against their neighbors – that have no place in DEP.

None.

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Roxbury Redoubt: Christie’s DEP Has Become A Haven For Incompetent Hacks

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