Hamilton Post
MAY 2019
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Fight over solar farm flares up
Our new toxic neighbor?
Neighbors say project will worsen flooding in Cornell Heights
Pollution from proposed hazardous waste plant could affect air and water in Hamilton
By RoB antHes ranthes@communitynews.org The Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority officials probably thought a good deal had fallen into their laps when a vendor approached them in 2015 about installing a cost-saving solar farm to power their facility in Lawrence Township. But the project has set off a battle that has spanned multiple years and government boards, and has ramifications for residents in three Mercer County municipalities. The proposed solar farm has touched a nerve in particular with its neighbors in Hamilton’s Cornell Heights development and, counterintuitively, with environmentalists, who have said the project would worsen an already-bad flooding problem in the area. The developer is currently considering its next step—including taking the township to court. At the center of the issue is 40 acres of heavily wooded land on Sweet Briar Avenue, technically located in Hamilton Township but adjacent to the ELSA plant in Lawrence. The vendor, Synnergy LLC, proposes to remove 820 large trees from 12 acres of the property to make room for a solar farm. State law says solar farms must be on or adjacent to the facilities they serve, and SynSee SOLAR, Page 22
By RoB antHes ranthes@communitynews.org
Hamilton native Brad Jenkins (left) and family stand with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. Jenkins worked for the Obama administration.
The accidental activist Steinert grad ‘went with the flow’ to find jobs with Obama, Funny or Die By scott moRGan Brad Jenkins has lived a pretty good life so far, but not because he really set out for it. “I’ve never made intentional choices,” Jenkins said. “I just went along with the flow.” See if you think that approach has worked out: Jenkins got a pretty good gig in the financial world, despite not really knowing anything about it; he got
hired for a job in San Francisco, though he didn’t seek it out; he worked at the Obama White House, despite that he and his wife had just wanted to make friends with Obama supporters; he hobnobbed with celebrities while producing one of the most popular web shows in history, despite not even knowing what a producer did; he has a Wikipedia page, even though it still surprises him to no end; and he now runs a business that could help reshape how political candidates and causes communicate, despite that he’d never really considered running his own company. Jenkins’ story could be a
useful fable for anyone who wonders how a guy from Hamilton might ever contribute to the world at large—and how putting a little effort into high school could get you someplace in life. The unapologetically leftleaning and left-cause activist Jenkins attended Steinert High School in the 1990s. Life was eventful for him then, too. He played basketball with another Steinert grad with a Wikipedia page, Dahntay Jones—a former NBA player who won a championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside some other guy named LeBron. Jenkins said See JENKINS, Page 14
The next few weeks mark a crucial juncture for a proposed toxic waste treatment plant in Bucks County that environmentalists say would pollute the air and potentially the drinking water of nearby New Jersey towns. Israel-based Elcon Recycling Services has plans to build a facility in Falls Township that would store and treat nearly 200,000 tons per year of hazardous and residual waste. This includes mercury, lead, cadmium, benzine, vinyl chloride and 260 other chemicals. Elcon says the facility is safe and “ecofriendly,” and has touted the 150 temporary construction jobs and 55 full-time jobs that would be created by the facility. But nearby residents say the loss of a few dozen jobs is a small price to pay to ensure the health and safety of the region. Many of them speak from experience, and worry that the same towns that woke up covered with red dust from the Fairless Works steel mill in the mid-20th century would be in the path of pollution from Elcon’s stack. If built, the plant would be near the Delaware River, directly across from Hamilton Township and upwind from Bordentown City. See TOXIC, Page 16
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