Board denies Hercules' plans to subdivide, sell Company says it will consider legal action against boro BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer The Sayreville Planning Board has rejected Hercules Inc.'s plans to subdivide its 500-plus-acre property and sell more than half of it. Board members, citing concerns with on-site contamination, voted 5-2 to deny the application of the Wilmington, Del.-based company during a May 7 meeting. Hercules sought to subdivide its 15 lots off Cheesequake Road into two lots in the hopes of selling 376 acres and maintaining the 166- acre section where its plant operates. John Reilly, director of public affairs for Hercules, said the chemical company would move forward with whatever action is necessary in this matter, including litigation. "We are disappointed with the action taken by the Planning Board," Reilly said. "We have complied with the laws and the process and we will move forward and seek whatever remedy is available to us. "If the avenue that is open to us is through the courts, then we will seek that remedy through the courts." Asked whether the company will consider the board's advice and find a buyer for the property before seeking approval for a minor subdivision, Reilly said that it would not. The company, he said, will use the same process it has in the past with other locations in which it sold excess property. Hercules representatives have said that the 376-acre portion of land they want to sell is not necessary for their current operation and is not in productive use. Green Tree Chemical Technologies Inc. leased and operated on the land that is proposed for sale. Attorney John S.Wisniewski, the state assemblyman and Democratic Organization chairman in Sayreville, represented Hercules for this application. He noted that the company sent maps and a narrative outlining the site's contamination and the remediation efforts on April 30, at the board's request. Thomas Howard Strang, who handles environmental policy for Hercules, told the board last week that the area the company will retain includes the tertiarybutyl alcohol (TBA) contamination plume that Hercules is responsible for cleaning up. The contamination was discovered in 1992, and the company has invested several million dollars while working with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to recharge the water, he said. Hercules is also planning to keep landfills that "will be maintained forever," Strang said. The company is also recharging on-site water with iron oxide contamination. Board member Sal Candela asked the Hercules representatives to demonstrate proof of having taken corrective action in these areas. Strang replied that he did not have DEP documentation at that meeting, but the information is available to the public. Wisniewski noted during the meeting that the site is zoned for industrial uses, so the buyer would have to seek approval from the borough in order to seek a different use, such as residential. Strang said Hercules coordinated a similar land sale at its Burlington plant, where excess acreage was sold to be developed into large-box warehousing space. Former Sayreville Republican Organization Chairman Kenneth Olchaskey spoke during the public session of last week's hearing, saying that while he commends Hercules for attempting to put its excess land on the market, the company should have brought official documentation to support its claims about the remediation process. He said the company should not have chosen Wisniewski as its attorney due to what he contends is a conflict of interest, and called on Hercules to withdraw its application. "It just doesn't pass the smell test," Olchaskey said. "It's our health, it's our land, it's our property values," he added. "We worked a lifetime for it and we don't want to let somebody take it away." After the public session, board member Ronald Green, a Republican candidate for Borough Council, asked Wisniewski if Hercules would extend the board's deadline to vote on the application so that it could be referred to the Environmental Commission, of which Green and Olchaskey are members. Wisniewski said Hercules would not grant that extension, in light of the fact that the board tabled the decision at its April meeting. Green then made a motion to deny the application on the grounds that Hercules denied his request to refer the application to another agency. He also said he would like the company to seek a buyer first so that the board can know what is planned for the site. Board Vice Chairman Thomas Tighe was one of two board members to vote against Green's motion. He asked Planning Board Attorney James P. Hoebich if the environmental issues were related to the subdivision application. Hoebich replied that the environmental issues are not related, but he later told Greater Media Newspapers that the board has a right to know about the contamination. Tighe said later that the board's decision is going to cost taxpayers if Hercules pursues the matter in court. He said he was embarrassed that politics interfered with a Planning Board matter. "There is no room for politics up there," Tighe said. "That should be a nonpartisan board." "My opinion was that I was acting under our [legal] counsel that told us that the environmental conditions have nothing to with the application before us and it would behoove us to ratify that request for the subdivision," Tighe added. Some of the board members could not vote on the application, since they were absent from the meeting last month. Board member Allen Chodkiewicz voted to deny the application. "I don't believe Hercules has been a good neighbor," he said at the meeting. "I don't believe we have all of the information here," he added. Board member David Lewis also voted against the plan, saying he would like to know who is going to buy the property. Planning Board Chairman Dr. John Misiewicz voted to deny the application, saying he had concerns about the environmental issues on the site and the intended use of the property that the buyer would seek. He said he felt that the company had not been totally forthcoming in the matter. Misiewicz also expressed concerns with the company's choice of legal representation, saying that Wisniewski was elected to the state Assembly to represent the interests of the people and not companies like Hercules. Tighe, however, said later that Wisniewski is a friend of the borough who did not violate any laws by representing Hercules through his private legal practice. "He has every right to feed his family, just like everybody else," Tighe said. Hoebich has said previously that he did not seeWisniewski as having a conflict of interest in this case. And Wisniewski has said the state Supreme Court, which regulates the conduct of attorneys, does not prohibit him from appearing in front of the Planning Board. Reilly said Hercules has not hidden anything from the board or the public about the site's contamination. "Absolutely not," Reilly said. "We have worked in close cooperation with the New Jersey DEP on issues around environmental concerns and future remediation, and that will continue to be the case. We are working through the proper channels."