g Herald & Lantern 21 November '84

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IN HAPPIER DAYS — This December 1982 photo shows county GOP chairman Philip Matalucci presenting a seashell wreath to Gov. Thomas Kean while Thomas Levin and Kathleen Bogel look on. Their Cape May Elementary pupils made the wreath.

Cape May Teachers Out

CAPE MAY - Controversial elementary school teachers Thomas Levin and Kathleen Bogle were terminated at a special meeting of the school board Thursday night. The board approved, 8-1, "a leave of absence and termination," according to Anita deSatnick, board president, who said Friday that "because it's a personnel matter, we cap't say any more." Levin, a fifth-grade teacher and 11-year veteran in the district, did not return Herald-Lantern phone calls, and Bogle, a nine-year veteran at the school who taught remedial math, could not be located.

School board member y Perry Collifer said the two s tenured teachers were not e fi^ed, but declined to a discuss details because 2 "these are touchy things y when you get in a legal agreement." Levin, former i Democratic mayor of o Woodbine, but a j Republican for the last y several years, was in fre i- quent hot water in the y distract because he involved students in projects that skirtea close to politics, e He and his pupils made r Christmas wreathes from 3 seashells, for example, and n gave th£m to county a Republican chairman e Philip Matalucci, Gov. J Thomas Kean, and President Reagan.

Levin, Matalucci and Bogle presented the wreathes to Kean, but the school board refused to allow the class to make the December 1982 trip. Kean then flew to the city and visited the classroom, uninvited to thank the pupils. Levin and Bogle got into similar difficulties with a pupil-produced seashell flag for the governor. The school board last year told Levin not to conduct a student-oriented fund-raiser to help pay for refurbishing the Statue of Liberty. Levin also annually organized a visit of political candidates to the school to address pupils.

Polluted Cox Hall On Today's Agenda By E.J. DUFFY TOWN BANK — Local, county and state officials agreed to meet this Tuesday to discuss Cox Hall Creek conta# nation and tour the township MUA's sewage treatment plant in Villas. mi _ ... -i l.i.j t n - _ niirki iiaofi cturKr nf Pnv Hull Proolr rwillii.

meeting was scheduled for a.m. in Township Hall. Expected were Lower municipal officials, members of the township MUA, the county Mosquito Commission, county Health Department and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Mayor Robert Fothergill also wanted to talk about salt water intrusion of local wells (see related story below) but Clay C. Sutton, environmental program administrator with the county Health Department, said Friday that the agenda will be limited to the Cox Hall Creek issues. Salt water intrusion, he added, can be discussed at some future meeting between county and township officials. "THIS MEETING is to discuss possibilities for correcting the problems down there," explained county Health Officer Louis J. Lamanna. He referred to odors at the MUA plant off Bayshore Road and pollution from human waste bacteria near the bayfront outfall from Cox Hall Creek, There, the MUA plant discharges treated sanitary sewage. Health Department testers recorded several readings off the outfall during the summer that exceeded the state safety limit for fecal coliform bacteria in water, 50 MPN (most probable number). At least two water samples exceeded 2,400 MPN. Bathing was banned near the outfall in June. In mid-July, the DEP told the MUA to submit its conceptual report on solving the odor problem within 30 ddys and to come up with a final report on improving its treatment equipment in 90 days. "We'll see how they're (MUA official) progressing with their plan," Lamanna said of Tuesday's meeting, and MUA compliance with the DEP deadlines. Summarizing the Health Department's

of Hall pollution, i-amanna wrote in August: 'This study discovered the severe water quality degradation of the (creek) basin and, while results were inconclusive regarding delineation of the major (pollution) source, it was learned that the issue is highly complex with several sources of contamination." JOSEPH ROOP, outgoing MUA executive director, has protested that the authority's treated sewage, indeed, is not the only discharge into the creek, its lagoons, and Cox Hall tributaries that flow westward from the Villas plant to the Town Bank bayfront. "We are nonetheless erf the clear opinion," wrote Lamanna, "that the Lower Township MUA treatment plant, discharging into the headwaters of Cox Hall Creek, is the major source of the contamination eventually reaching the Delaware Bay. "It remains nnr preliminary opinion," he added, "that the long-term solution to this situation will be the elimination of this discharge into the Cox Hall wetlands and the piping of the effluent to the ocean or Delaware Bay. "This is not to incriminate the Lower Township MUA," Lamanna continued. "Current problems are undoubtedly affecting effluent quality; notwithstanding, the effluent quality of the plant is generally good and our testing confirms this. "We suspect, however, that the nutrients being discharged, coupled with oxygen demanding solids (waste), combine to create a high biochemical oxygen demand and a resultant anaerobic condition in the (creek) marsh," the health officer concluded. "Seeded with bacteria from, perhaps, other sources, the result is a severely degraded water quality condition."

Health, Planning Split over Home

(From Page 1) that Court House Associates' original ap^ plication was predicated on the nursing home connecting to the Middle Township Sewage Treatment Plant. The fact that was found impossible and the switch to an on-site sewage disposal system were not reviewed by DEP, Jarmer said. "WE THINK THIS IS a significant CAFRA error," said Jarmer "It's inexcusable that this mistake w|$ made. It can't remain unanswered." Jarmer said Court House Associates partner Benjamin Miller "asked us not to appeal until Tuesday night Whe board meets tonight, Nov. 20), but I've been directed to file it. We're not going to sit on an appeal while the applicant is working on the site." Jarmer and county Health Department officials met with Court House Arsociates representatives Nov. 7. At that time, Jarmer said, "I said to the applicant . (Miller), 'if you can present anything that shows this has been met ... ' They said, they have addressed it. I said, 'fine, show ' me.' They haven't. "WE ARE CONCERNED about too • much water from the septic system going into too small an area," said Jarmer. "It won't provide proper dilution of the effluent and proper treatment through the soils. There are only two places for waste water to go: off to one side and into Crooked Creek, or filter down into the ground Weingart told the Herald-Lantern th$t, "yes, acreage is a factor" (in its permit review procedure). In a related matter, Bill Cabiness, manager of the New Jersey Water Company in Linwood, Said he has "no fear of contamination (of the company's Court House wells) at this point in time." Querried by the Herald-Lantern Cabiness said the company has a 791 -footdeep well north of the intersection of Route 9 and Stone Harbor Boulevard and "a

backup on Hand Avenue." He said the company has been contacted by Court House Associates in regard to water service. JARMER'S APPEAL stated that responsibility for enforcing state/federal water quality standards "rests solely with the Department of Environmental Protection." The could be one of the issues since a DEP summary report on the proposed nursing home stated that "this project will not require any permits from this office for the wastewater disposar systems and such systems can be approved solely by local authorities. " The "local authority" presumably would be the county Health Department which last week approved the project after the owners . agreed to increase the septic system capacity by 50 percent, from .100 gallons-per-day-per-person to 150. Jarmer contrasted DEP's quick approval of this CAFRA permit 'with its meticulous involvement in the Eastern Shores Nursing Home CAFRA permit for 'the same builder. Jarmer said DEP turned down a Dennis Township site for the home in 1981, and in 1982 required almo6L 20 acres for the home in its current location in . Swainton. It was purchased for $275,000 from Philip and Anthony Matalucci, partners in several businesses. Philip Matalucci is county treasurer and county Republican chairman. Court House Convalescent Center, Jarmer pointed out, is similar in size, but will be located on 2.5 acres. Realtoi in both sales was Thomas J. Repici of Court House who, along with Schmidt and Avalon Realtors William H. Tozour Jr. and David J. Kerr, owned eight acres on Magnolia Drive from which the 2.5 acres for the nursing home were obtained. They paid $167,000 for the eight acres in June 1983 and sold the 2.5 acre last month for $235,000.

Building Ban Opposed

(From Page 1) sewage system," added Freeholder William E. Sturm Jr. "Even though they're polluting the waters anyway," responded Mamolou. He asked about "Wisconsin mounds," a procedure of adding soil for a septic system to land with a seasonal high water table, and was told it would not be permissible. "Why not?" Mamolou asked. "They work some places." "Wisconsin is 53 feet above sea level,' " said Jarmer. "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE the sajhe problem all along the Delaware Bay," skjc J/Q Mamolou. ' 'This will take a lot of potential ra tables away from the county." "I want to take a look at the costal beaches," said Jarmer. "We will address that issue." Sturm questioned how the Planning Board intended, as its amendment read, "to objectively and scientifically determine the level of seasonal high water." "A guy comes down from Philadelphia in July," he said, "sees a lot, loves it, buys it, moves in. In April, his toliet won't flush. "» Jarmer pointed out that the county has only 30 days to respond to a subdivision or site-plan proposal and, therefore, cannot wait for the wet season. "AN EARLIER DRAFT provided that if -the percolation tests were taken during a drought," said Clay C. Sutton Jr., environmental program administrator for the county Health Department, "the pits would remain open for an inspection from January to April." " The Upper Township letter said "there is no valid scientific study that will support the premise that there is any difference in - < the effectiveness of septic systems built < upon naturally occuring high ground or those built upon artificially created high ; ground." , "There is evidence," Jarmer disagreed. i "We have a pretty good survey and a study I we conducted shows some just don't work."

GILBERTSON WROTE that "if the proposal is intended to protect the ground water as a water supply for the county, then the freeholders and the county Planning Board are hypocritical in supporting a county sewage authority which takes thousands of gallons of fresh water daily and pours it into the ocean where it is lost forever for public use." ' * "I agree with that," said Jarmer. "That's a valid point." "We made application to the federal government for an alter - --native system/but it was rejected." , /An earlier draft to the amendment said ^aat^Spprdximdtely 54 percent of Cape J May County contains soils with a seasonal high water table ranging from 0 to 2Vz feet. This is significant because most of the remaining 46 percent has either been developed or subdivided. Some 81 percent of the sites field surveyed revealed nitrates above ambient levels or manifested classic system malfunction." THAT DRAFT'S conclusion said: "Cape May County, like 60 percent of New Jersey, depends on ground water for its water supply. Virtually all of the Mainland area of the county relies upon on-site wastewater disposal. These facts, combined with the seasonal water table for most of the county, pose a real threat to the potability .of the county's water supply." Jarmer. said there will be further revisions to the proposed amendment over the next two weeks at which time there either will be second public hearing or a recommendation that the freeholders adopt the changes. / Paving Ditched WILDWOOD CREST - They'll start digging up the streets Friday to lay an ocean outfall sewer line along ParkBoulevard, and the job is expected to be a muddy mess. That might cause the ditches to settle, as they once did in Ocean City, so only the ditch strips will repaved afterwards, not the entire street, the county Municipal Utilities Authority said.