WolfeNotes.com

DEP = “Deny Every Problem”

March 16th, 2009 9 comments

Why is it so hard for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to acknowledge environmental problems and communicate risks?

Bill WolfeDEP Headquarters – 401 East State Street, Trenton, NJ. This massive building houses over 3,000 DEP employees.
But where is their VOICE? And what happened to their MISSION?

Sometimes I read an environmental story that cries out for interpretation or comment. Typically, it is something technical, in the fine print, or otherwise buried in the news story that illustrates a much larger problem that the public or guy in the street does not understand, or that completely contradicts the general public understanding or assumptions about how things work.
Often, due to complexity, news reporters themselves either: 1) do not fully understand the issue; 2) dismiss it as “inside baseball”, “red tape”, or “bureaucracy”; or 3) just fail to communicate the significance – something in need of an insider’s explanation.
Today’s story about DEP’s views of the drinking water in Pequannock really fits the bill:
Pequannock water to get $4M fix
Monday, March 16, 2009
BY ANDREA ALEXANDER
http://www.northjersey.com/environment/environmentnews/Pequannock_water_to_get_4M_fix.html
(continued)

State to probe cancer cluster at Dupont Pompton Lakes

March 14th, 2009 No comments

Bill WolfeDupont Logo from Deepwater facility –
Better living through chemistry?

On a night like this
So glad you came around,
Hold on to me so tight
And heat up some coffee grounds.
We got much to talk about
And much to reminisce,
It sure is right
On a night like this.
“`Bob Dylan
[Update #6 – The Dupont Pompton Lakes toxic contamination story isn’t going away – check out the latest:
http://www.northjersey.com/environment/State_will_check_rate_of_cancer_in_plume.html
State will check rate of cancer in plume
Thursday, March 12, 2009
BY ELAINE D’AURIZIO
POMPTON LAKES — Mayor Katie Cole has requested the results of a state health study to see if cancer clusters exist among residents living above a plume of contamination in the borough’s northeastern section.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services says it will respond to her by early April with the results.
Cole said she asked for the study of the entire plume — some 437 homes — but especially for Barbara Drive and Orchard Street, because residents “kept coming up at meetings to say there were numerous cases of cancer at those locations.”