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Distrust – And Verify!

Political Appointee in DEP Office of Local Government Affairs Provides Regulatory Guidance

So there it is – your Christie Government In Action : political hacks with absolutely no environmental or regulatory training, knowledge, or experience providing regulatory guidance to local officials.

[Update below]

Looks like NJ reporters may finally be getting it – and practicing a little Perestroika with the DEP Press Office.

I’ve had numerous experiences and have written several times about not only their excessive spin, but a total lack of credibility at DEP’s press office – at times calling them out for flat out lies and fabrications.

Most recently, DEP claims have come under close and critical scrutiny in the Fenimore landfill fiasco in Roxbury, NJ.

So, I am pleased to share the most recent example, actually a case with some regulatory parallels to the Fenimore landfill case, which involved similar violations of DEP solid waste and “waste flow” rules.

The Asbury Park Press reported today:

DEP officials are investigating the JR Custom Landscaping site on Bennett Mills Drive but there have been no violations issued at this time, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state agency.

However, Walker had an email exchange with William Everett, the southern region supervisor of the state DEP following a June 10 inspection of the site. Everett said there were three violations of solid waste regulations on the site, according to the email.

According the DEP report, the JR Landscaping site has been composting, accepting and distributing untested fill dirt with no proof of origin, allowing compost to spill over into adjacent properties, and allowing water that has gone through the waste to pond on the property.

The site failed to apply and receive a permit to dispose solid waste and store waste, according to the report. The site also engaged in the collection or disposal of solid waste in excess of .148 cubic yards of solids, which is a violation because the activity is not authorized by the DEP, the report said.

So, there it is – another conflict between DEP Press Office statements and DEP documents.

I will be curious to see how this turns out – those are serious violations.

How will Ragonese walk those remarks back? Say he was misquoted? Taken out of context? Lacked current information?

Or was Ragonese inadvertently revealing the policy and regular practices of his boss, Commissioner Bob Martin, i.e. will the DEP field inspector’s enforcement efforts (likely a field NOV “Notice of Violation”) be squashed by senior management political appointees at DEP?

Squashing staff level enforcement actions might be what explains why DEP enforcement fines and penalties are at an historic low in the “job killing red tape slashing regulatory relief providing $2 billion corporate subsidizing” Christie Administration!

Let’s hope the press keeps on asking for evidence in support of Press Office statements and keeps on reviewing and relying on actual DEP regulatory documents.

Those are both significant improvements.

[Update: While – to paraphrase Gov. Christie – I’m “taking the bat out on” the DEP press Office, lets not spare the DEP Office of Local Government Affairs.

If you thought Gov. Christie’s Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs – headed by Bridgette Kelly of GW BridgeGate fame – was bad,  check this out.

I discovered this when a local official, from Hunterdon County, told me that the head of the DEP Office of Local Government Affairs, a woman named Cindy Randazzzo, said that the sycamore trees at Bulls Island were an “invasive species“, I knew something was badly wrong at DEP. In September 2012, I wrote:

DEP’s Cathy Randazzo (sic) – a patronage appointment who has ZERO environmental training and no college degree – told one local official that sycamore’s were an “invasive species“. That astonishing info was stated in a public hearing by a  local official. 

So, I looked into Ms. Randazzo’s background and noted a serious deficit- an obvious patronage appointment, a friend of Bob Martin from Mercer County Republican circles (both were failed Republican candidates).

Not surprisingly, Randazzo has been a prominent figure in the Roxbury Fenimore Landfill dispute, for distributing the flawed scare tactics email to neighboring towns.

If obstruction of field enforcement cases is bad, the thought of Ms. Randazzo providing regulatory compliance guidance is downright scary – the Bergen Record reported today:

Following a review by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, the DEP cut red tape for stream desnagging, clearing and cleaning permits, as well as for regional projects, said Cindy Randazzo, director of the Office of Local Government Assistance. NJDEP press director Larry Ragonese said these policy initiatives did not include dredging.

When Randazzo meets with municipalities the first thing she asks is what concerns officials have about stream cleaning.

“It’s surprising that folks think they can’t do it at all because of decades of red tape,” she said. Randazzo often visits municipalities to walk the stream with officials, to show them what they can do without a permit and what permits they will need.

So there it is – your Christie Government In Action : political hacks with absolutely no environmental or regulatory training, knowledge, or experience providing regulatory guidance to local officials.

At least Bridgette Kelly got endorsements in return – what the heck is DEP getting?