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FR
EE
November 21, 2020 – November 27, 2020
Flare Said ‘Inoperable’ in Curtailing Emissions of Methane Gas from Southampton Landfill
‘AN URGENT CHALLENGE’
By Andy Milone Staff Writer
Photo By Shutterstock
FEMA Denies Woodland Fire Company’s Fourth Grant Funding Request for New Water Tender Despite Its Last One Going Out of Service Two Years Ago and Congressman, in Letter to FEMA, Writing, ‘Lack of Water Supply Has Created a Critical Risk that Threatens the Lives of Residents’ The Federal Agency Has, However, Already Given the Entity More Than $400,000 This Year Alone To Replace Expired Air Packs, Conduct Recruitment and Retention, and Acquire Supplemental PPE By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WOODLAND—It has been some two years since the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company had a water tender in service, and despite the purported nonexistence of a fire hydrant in Woodland Township, along with the municipality last year being the site of the state’s largest forest fire since 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied for a fourth time a request from the fire and EMS company for federal assistance to purchase a new one (though the agency has given the Woodland entity $403,462 in grant monies for other items during the latest grant cycle). Shawn Viscardi, chief of the fire and EMS company, which provides firefighting
and emergency medical aid services in Woodland, contended he “doesn’t know what else to do here,” while announcing during an Oct. 28 Woodland Township Committee meeting that he had received a denial letter from FEMA earlier that day for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for Vehicle Acquisition. Viscardi explained to the governing body that he completed the first grant application, but that the three that followed were all written by a paid, professional grant writer. “I tried getting that tender in place when it was in service, and it has been out of service now for two years,” Viscardi said. The fire company’s tender was placed out of service in January 2018 “due to mechanical, pump and tank issues,” states
a posting on the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company’s website. The Ford 1997 model, which held 4,000 gallons of water and had a 500 GPM Hale Pump with a 300foot, 3 inch Line; 200-foot, 1 ¾ inch line; and 100-foot 2 ½ inch line, was officially retired in June “due to a high cost to place back in service.” According to FEMA’s manual on the Safe Operation of Fire Tenders, such ground vehicles are used to supply firefighting water to rural and suburban locations not equipped with a fixed water supply system (which Woodland does not have). The most common water capacities of tankers in the U.S., according to the FEMA See URGENT/ Page 11
SOUTHAMPTON—A flare system used to control the emission of methane gas at the site of a former landfill in Southampton Township off Big Hill Road, just southeast of the LeisureTowne retirement community, is no longer functioning and is expected to be replaced, New Jersey Department of Envi ron ment al Protection ( NJ DEP) spokesman Larry Hajna acknowledged in emails to the Pine Barrens Tribune last week. It is not immediately clear, however, how long the system designed for flaring – a process which by definition uses high temperatures to burn off the decomposing waste’s methane gas, and disseminate carbon dioxide (CO2), a less potent greenhouse gas, into the air – has been “inoperable.” It has also not been disclosed how the NJDEP first become aware of the problem, which a solar farm developer discovered in the process of performing a due diligence investigation at the for mer Bu rlington Env i ron me nt al Ma n age me nt Se r v ice s (BEMS) landfill. The Pine Barrens Tribune, as of press time, has been given no answers to either of these questions, nor to another query regarding the extent of what was described by an environmental consultant at a meeting in another town as methane building up underneath the impermeable landfill cap and “seeping out.” However, Hajna did note that the NJDEP is currently “working with a contractor on the design” of the replacement flare, but he could not provide a date for its installation. He also revealed that the NJDEP has secured a permit from Southampton Township to install See GAS/ Page 11
INDEX Business Directory... 18
Holiday Gift Guide.... S1
Marketplace.............. 16
Christmas Countdown... 3
Job Board.....................16
Thanksgiving Cheer........4
Games..........................15
Local News................. 2
Worship Guide.......... 15
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