« Herald & Lantern 28 November '84 .

DEP Weighs Appeal

(From Page 1) 1^. Answers sometimes depend on who you ask and how you ask," said Zlotnick. "If there is a communications problem." said Jarmer, "We should certainly cl^axjhat up." /^We^f^el all the information was presented to Water Resources (of DEP)," said Benjamin Miller, Court House Associates partner. "It may not have gotten into the report. " "It could be some typist left out some typing." suggested Zlotnick. IN ADDITION TO maintaining that DEP had, in fact, adequately considered ground water quality. Zlotnick offered a number of other arguments in favor of speedy resolution of the problem : • Size of the project, "over $5 million, substantially funded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA). The stakes are really high here. It's very important for my clients. Their reputation is at stake. There is the potential for default of thesfe bonds. " (Actually, the money is private money invested in bonds which the EDA qualified as tax-free. ) • Need for the project: "We've had a rocky road on this jqj), and we're trying to get it open and firifill the need of the county." • REPUTATION of the developers: "Let me give you some background so we all understand the stakes involved. These are not like some developers who walk away and leave problems. This is a responsible company and responsible individuals. We have no intention of running away from problems. This is no fly-by-night. They will be here for the foreseeable future." (Court House Associates builds the facility; Hospicomm Inc. will operate it, as it does three other nursing homes in the state including Eastern Shores in Swainton. The principals are the same Philadelphia partners: Miller aiyi Eugene Mayer.) "We're not judging the quality of the project," said board member Frederick A. Long Jr "That's not the issue. If you had been here the last four or five years, you'd know that water quality is our main, consistent concern. Water quality is the single issue of our appeal, whether the DEP properly considered water quality. You say they have; we understand they haven't." • The fact that it,is already under construction: "It's under way," said Zlotnick. "There's been clearing; the fill is in. Footings are being put in. They're in the middle of it, so to speak, and we thought we had left our problems behind." (Later, in response to a question from Long, Zlotnick corrected that tq.say that there were "footing preparations, not footing. I was incorrect ") "I'M CONFUSED," said board member Ellwood Shephard. "When ' you started selling bonds, constructing, weren't there any loose ends?" "The record indicates permits were in place," said Zlotnick. "There was nothing to indicate negative comment until Nov. 9." "They made a decision to proceed before the 30-day appeal time," said board attorney Fitzgerald. "What was the hurry?" asked Shephard.

"No hurry," said Zlotnick. "They had a i certain schedule they wanted to meet. There was the winter onset. Bond interest rates were changing. There were business considerations." "We had no appeals four miles north ; ( Eastern Shores)," said Miller. "What reason would we have to suspect ... After ; we started construction, it is a surprise." "It was a surprise to us that CAFRA did not consider water quality," said Long. BOARD MEMBER John MacLeod commented that the anticipated sewage flow of 18.000 gallons a day equaled six million I gallons a year. "To a radius of 40 acres," said Miller (see below). "Was there any consideration of other septics in the area?" asked Planning Director Elwood Jarmer. "They did take Jamesway into consideration," said Miller, referring to the i shopping center across from the proposed home that has had considerable septic difficulties. Miller pointed out that Court House Associates was leasing an additional acre besides the 2.5 acres it was buying, in order to have adequate ground for septic 1 beds. Freeholder James S. Kilpatrick Jr. asked if the builders would agree to a "CAFRA condition" that they would "connect to public sewage as soon as it's available. "Yes," said Miller. Stephen Ewing of Joseph L. Lomax and Associates of Court House, environmental consultant that prepared the CAFRA application, submitted a three-page letter, the text of whicn appears in today's issue, and five exhibits : • A Sept. 1, 1983 Middle Township Sewerage District No. 1 resolution allocating the home space in the treatment plant. • A July 4 Herald-Lantern article reporting the sewage plant was over capacity. • An Aug. 24 letter from DEP concluding, "This project will not require any permits from this office for the wastewater disposal systems and such systems can be approved solely by local authorities." • DEP's Oct. 17 CAFRA permit. • The county Health Department's Nov. 15 sewage disposal system permit. THE LOMAX and Associates letter said that "the four wells that supply the New-" Jersey Water Company in the Cape May Court House area are located in the vicinity of Hand Avenue and the abandoned Conrail Railroad Line. These wells, located approximately 3,500 feet from the proposed project site, are south of the Crooked Creek. Therefore, the water quality of the wells supplying the potable water for the municipality will not be impacted by the discharge of effluents by the proposed onsite septic system." Jarmer said he understood the main wells were located elsewhere. And the Herald-Lantern was told last week by water company manager Bill Cabiness that the main well was on Route 9 north of the intersection with Stone Harbor Boulevard. Zlotnick said he had spoken with the Water Resources Association and four permits "at Hand and the railroad are the on-

ly ones they made us aware of." Freeholder Kilpatrick and Clay C. Sutton Jr., environmental program administration for the Health Department, both indicated, without mentioning the Herald-Lantern, that they disagreed with its Nov. 21 story reporting a PlanningHealth "split" on the nursing home. "The record should reflect," said Sutton, "that the applicant project has met all standards of 199 (the state sewage disposal system code). "THERE IS CONFUSION in today's newspaper," said Sutton. "Chapter 199 is separate from what the board is asking. It does not address nitrate pollution. While Health is the enforcing agency, it has never been involved in enforcement of dilution standards. That is something we're looking into and we probably would have jurisdiction under the Environmental Health Act. We're looking into that now." The county Health Department and state DEP announced Jan. 24 that the county Health Department "has direct respon-/^ sibility for the coordination and enforce/ ment of various environmental regulations^ within the jurisdiction of the county." A news release distributed at a luncheon at the Lobster House in Lower Township to celebrate the awarding of new powers from DEP to the county, read: "Under the Water Pollution Control agreements, the county will have direct authority to monitor and enforce physical connections, . non-community water supplies, well installation permit compliance and water pollution complaints. " Three members of the public questioned the advisability of the nursing home at that site, including A1 Karaso and Karl Faust, both of adjacent Romney Place. "We would all like to be assured it is efficient and safe," said Faust. "We have enough pollution in this country now." DR. RUSSELL DOWNS, who identified himself as having "a place on the waterway east of here," asked a number of questions. Referring to the 40-acre radius that the developer said was considered by DEP, Downs asked, "Are we to write off future generations that might want the right to draw (water)? Dennis Township requires three acres per house even if there's no house around for 40 acres so you don't infringe on someone at some future date." Downs said "sewage isn't necessarily harmful, but a nursing home has highly pathological sewage from sick people, requiring a few added safeguards." He questioned the comparison to a 20acre requirement for Eastern Shores and • said this proposed Magnolia Drive site "should be more stringent in a populated town than an area in the boondocks. "I wonder if the people building this home know of any other instance to put 18,000 gallons a day into 34 acres of swampy head waters of a creek in the center of town. "This was not built upon before because of its lowness, like the hole in a donut. Historically this would have been built up before now. They were waiting for property values to rise," Downs concluded.

Lands Late — « (From Page 1) ty. Some low-lying areas were evacuated by rowboat, others by National Guard trucks. Trees were uprooted and automobiles inundated. One woman woke up in bed to find herself floating in several feet of water. She paddled the bed to a window and climbed out. because sparks were shooting from electrical outlets in her home. Roy said he and a secretary, Dawn Jordan, "have been attempting to locate any county residents who have sustained any damages from the March flood." Flood? What flood? There was a wave of insurance premium stress syndrome. That was when the owners of salt-water damaged cars learned their rates were going up. IF YOlfjBE STILL paying for property repairs a^ cleanup, you could be suffering from end-of-the-month installment loan neurosis. "We have sent letters to some residents jwho-bave had uamages; however, we woukuike to have, some more responses /tefMheseietterg^Jt will take time," Roy d. rhe purpose is "to meet with and discuss the concerns of the residents victimized by the flood. However, for the convenience of those residents who are unable to meet us in our Ocean City office, arrangements can be made to join us in Wildwood or Cape May Court House," he said. Roy continued: "Additional arrangements can be made to use church meeting halls or public meeting halls in areas where the residents will be able to feel more confortable to discuss their concerns over the March flood." Flood? What Flood? Inquiries about the trauma counseling are being accepted by telephone at 398-4200 and 398-4201. • "We are beginning to get a few calls," said Dawn J onion, the project secretary. "it probably would have helped if we had gotten the money back then (when the flood occured). It would have been more timely." The application for the grant was tied in with Passaic County where a river overflowed its banks. Passic suffered far more than Cape May County. Applicants were St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic and the office of Cape May County Mental Health administrator, Patricia Devaney. When the grant came through early in October, it was for $71,250, with Passaic getting two-thirds of that, and Cape May County, one-third. The funnel led from the National Institute of Mental Health to the state Division of Mental Health and Hospitals. The state then gave the contract at this end to the county, Ocean City where Roy and Jordan work full-time. "It's really their project now," Devaney said. As for locating people who may still be suffering mentally or emotionally, from the flood in Cape May County eight months ago, she added: You should know about these things There could be people still working around who suffer from-it, especially if they lost a lot."

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