Sayreville plan is bad for taxpayers, bad for environment
As one of the most visible redevelopment sites in New Jersey, the 430-acre National Lead site in Sayreville has enormous potential as a balanced brownfield redevelopment project, benefiting our economy while protecting human health and the environment.

Located on the banks of the Raritan River and visible from the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway, National Lead has a long history of neglect and abuse. Many longtime residents recall its infamous stench and glowing chemical lagoons that greeted drivers passing by on their way down the shore. In fact, vast amounts of contamination still exist on this radioactive property and along its riverfront. Clearly, extensive clean up is required here, especially if it is to be the home of thousands of families and workers.

For years, the consistent position of Edison Wetlands Association and NY/NJ Baykeeper has been that the Raritan River and National Lead should be properly cleaned at the expense of the polluter, not paid for by hardworking taxpayers. We believe that this prominent "Gateway of Central Jersey" should hold a balanced redevelopment. From 200-250 acres of the site should be developed, with another 200 acres restored as scenic riverfront, walking trails and endangered-wildlife habitat.

This is reasonable and feasible, particularly since a viable property owner in National Lead is legally responsible for cleaning (and preserving a portion of) this site. Unfortunately, Sayreville's politicians are letting National Lead off the hook — first, through years of botched legal flailing, and now, by scandalously forcing New Jersey taxpayers to subsidize both the polluter and the developer.

The Sayreville plan will not clean the riverfront, but it will pay National Lead $82.7 million for its radioactive property. It will pave over most of the site and destroy its natural shoreline, yet use taxpayer dollars to purchase the small portion set aside for preservation, much of which was already prohibited from development. Most obscenely, it makes our nearly bankrupt state "lend" the wealthy developer $20 million in taxpayer dollars to remediate a site that National Lead is responsible to clean. Worse still, the remediation is a shoddy "pave-and-wave" cover-up rather than disposing the toxics offsite. The homes of the families living above will, essentially, be the cap that keeps the contamination in place.

The Sayreville plan is an "Encap on the Raritan," where lack of proper agency oversight and unscrupulous political machinations combine to shift financial liability from a viable private polluter onto the New Jersey taxpayer, while politicians and their shadowy moneymen reap the obscene benefits. As it stands, the Sayreville redevelopment plan is horrible for taxpayers and horrible for the environment. A positive alternative awaits, if only the politicians could put public health over developer greed.

Greg Remaud is conservation director of NY/NJ Baykeeper

Robert Spiegel is executive director of Edison Wetlands Association