Letter to the editor concerning the dumping of toxic waste off NJ

5/29/2000

To the Editor:

Recent editorials in newspapers by Jeanne M. Fox, Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and Joseph Seebode, Army Corps of Engineers caught my interest.  The authors accused JCAA, commercial fishermen and many environmental organizations of engaging in distortion. They accused us of overreacting to the plan to dump additional dredge spoil materials at the Mud Dump.  They accused us of unnecessarily alarming the public about these plans.  In effect, they are saying that the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have, as always, the best interests of the public at heart.  You can almost hear them saying, "Trust us, we are your friends.  We would never put your health at risk."

Nothing could be further from the truth.  We are asked to believe that category one material is safe.  We are asked to believe that the EPA knows better than the scientific and environmental communities about what should and should not be dumped in the ocean.  We are asked to believe that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers has no political agenda.  Now for the truth.  The standards the EPA is using for category one material are based on outdated criteria that have never been peer reviewed.  Some of the criteria used are 18 - 20 years old, from the days when we believed that "better living through chemistry" was a truth.  Would you accept it if medical doctors used the same training and the same techniques they were using 20 years ago?  For five years EPA has promised us revised criteria based on peer reviewed scientific information.  Could the holdup be to give them time to dump more dangerous material in the ocean? 

Jeanne Fox would have us believe that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers put the citizens first.  She forgets to mention that the 1996 agreement was a result of a lawsuit filed by Clean Ocean Action, JCAA and other groups, not just a benevolent action taken by our trusted public servants.  She keeps hoping you won't remember how bitterly they fought to keep the Mud Dump open and allow category two material at that site.  The 1996 agreement followed a judge's ruling that EPA was not even following its own outdated rules and found them in violation for 3 years worth of toxic dumping.  But now she would have you believe they have seen the light and are to be trusted. 

Jeanne Fox was assistant commissioner and then commissioner of NJ DEP before becoming region 2 administrator for EPA.  During her tenure with these same agencies we saw Agent Orange, dioxin, heavy metals and other toxic substances disposed of at the Mud Dump.  Her lack of credibility on this subject is monumental.  If we couldn't trust her when they were dumping category 2, so why does she ever think we can trust her now?  Her actions from 1992 to 1996 were the actions of a person who saw no problem with dumping category 2 materials in the ocean.  Now she says category 2 materials "had the potential to contaminate the food chain to unacceptable levels."  (Asbury Park Press, 2/27/00)  She continues to justify dumping category one material as a way to cover up the even more toxic category two materials.  Does she think we're not paying attention?  Let her show us the results of the tests ordered by the 1996 agreement before she decides how best to accomplish the remediation of this site.  The ocean is the only place I know of where remediation means putting dirty on top of dirtier. Since dumping in the ocean is a case of "out of sight, out of mind," EPA believes it can still get away with it.  EPA, which owns this problem, is arrogant enough to think they can get away with actions that no private company or individual could legally take.  Try to get a permit issued by EPA or DEP to use fill in your yard or on your business site that meets category one standards.  Marinas or local governments cannot get permits to dispose of dredge materials that meet category one standards in the ocean. Only the EPA, which, according to Jeanne Fox, is the bastion of protection for the marine environment, can get away with such blatant polluting!

I leave it to you to decide whom you can trust.  Do you trust the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA?  Do you trust the bureaucrats and the politicians that appoint them?  Do you trust the executives at the Port Authority who have a huge financial incentive to keep the Mud Dump open? Or the shipping unions and the politicians they own?  Or do you trust the fishermen, environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that actually eat what comes out of the ocean?  Do you trust the fishermen and the environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have told you the truth in the past?  Do you trust the fishermen and the environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have your health and safety first and foremost in their minds?  Do you trust the fishermen and the environmentalists and consumers watchdogs that have always put the ocean and the marine life at the top of the list?  The very people EPA and the Army Corp are trying to vilify in the press. I leave it to you.

I write this letter on Memorial Day, which has always had special meaning for me.  As a disabled Vietnam veteran I speak from experience when I talk about Agent Orange and dioxin.  For years the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers lied to us about the effects of Agent Orange.  They told us it was safe and that we should trust them.  The scientists are now supporting what veterans have long believed, that Agent Orange causes cancer, birth defects and other problems.  A recent letter from the Veterans Administration suggested I contact them if I get prostate cancer since it could be considered-service connected due to Agent Orange.  Veterans have always fought to protect this country.  The battle we all fight today is to protect the ocean, marine life, your health and the health of your children is no less important.  Join us.

Call Jersey Coast Anglers Association at 732-506-6565 or Clean Ocean Action at 732-872-0111.

Sincerely,

Thomas P. Fote
Legislative Chairman for JCAA & NJSFSC
22 Cruiser Court, Toms River NJ, 08753
732-270-9102  Fax 732-506-6409


Thomas Fote
Release for Tomorrow

**Note: While I agree in principal with all the efforts of the JCAA, I do not necessarily agree with what is said in the text above as I may or may not have read it and certainly have not edited it in any way. The above views are not mine. Please do not assume that I had, in any way, anything to do with the text above other than in presenting here for others to see as I feel that it is important for fishermen to see how the processes involving fisheries management work. I do in fact feel strongly that the JCAA is on the right track, they are stubbornly fighting a battle than many of us can only guess as to what is involved. My confidence in what they are doing is reflected in the fact that I will post any updates I receive from them here, without, in any way, altering their content. I am not responsible for the content.