JUNE 5, 2019 • WWW.THEOBSERVER.COM • VOL. CXXXII, NO. 4
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD • EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
DUMPED ON AGAIN! Appellate court reopens Keegan, ignores clear evidence of health risks By Kevin Canessa kc@theobserver.com A STATE APPELLATE COURT REVERSED A LOWER-COURT’S DECISION TO
Photo by Deborah Garcia
In its decision to reopen the Keegan Landfill, two judges cited ‘historical dumping’ as the reasoning for the odors that come from the dump. However, it is clear that current dumping isn’t much better than anything from the past, as the evidence in this photo taken just a few short weeks ago by Deborah Garcia demonstrates.
close the Keegan landfill through most of July, but the town will appeal that court’s reversal, potentially before the highest court in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court. In a decision handed down by Judges Jose Fuentes and Francis Vernoia on Friday, May 31, exactly a week after Judge Jeff Jablonski ordered the landfill closed, the landfill immediately reopened. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, in its briefs to the appellate court, wrote that the Town of Kearny did not present “expert certification to show that there was an imminent threat to human health or the environment.” One day after the NJSEA’s appeal was submitted, however, there was a report of a reading of hydrogen sulfide in excess of 800 parts per billion, which is more than 26 times the actionable level according to standards set by the State of New Jersey. Kearny Mayor Alberto G. Santos, though disappointed in the appellate court’s decision not to affirm Judge Jablonski’s ruling, says the Town of Kearny will continue the fight in court. “Disappointing news on the Keegan Landfill lawsuit — the appellate court reversed the temporary injunction closing the landfill largely on the premise that H2S emissions are from historical dumping and not current dumping,” Santos wrote in a Facebook post Friday, May 31. “We will now appeal that reversal since, as we saw at the protest, gypsum board was still coming in to the landfill, and it decomposes into H2S once it becomes anaerobic, which can be within months. The town was sustained on the portion of relief granting us access to NJSEA’s records and emails with the DEP but that does little to soothe the reversal on the temporary closure. Next step is NJ
See
REVERSED, 09
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