' I . / Herald - lantern - Dispatch 15 May '85 ^ 1

Your Gape May County Municipal Utilities Authority Wants You To Know ... * : • . > • V * Sw

%» Clearing the Air . . . For more than 13 years, the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority has been working on a number of projects to help clean and protect the environment of the Jersey Cape. During that time, it has become a leader in the field, in truth, far outdistancing any other county in New Jersey in the battles against water pollution and the safe disposal of solid wastes. Despite the accolades the authority continually receives from municipal and state officials throughout New Jersey for the thorough and efficient manner in which it is attacking the problems of iiouid and solid wastes, it remains a target of heated debate and criticism within the boundaries of Cape May County. While the authority is always open for constructive criticism, the barbs so easily huried at theCMCMUA are. unfortunately, toooften based on misinformation. Recently there has been a new wave of misinformation. some of it printed in the press and some fostered by disgruntled officials in the lower part of the county who are attempting to undermine the authority's legally-mandated responsibility for planning r" and implementing an environmentally acceptable solid waste disposal system capable of cost-effectively addressing the needs of the entire county. If there is criticism that we do perhaps deserve, it is for not doing more to educate ana inform the public, who will be the ultimate benefactors of the work being performed by the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority. We are working to clean up the environ ment for all of us. the citizens of Cape May County, and you deserve to have the facts 7>f the authority's work at your disposal so that you can better understand the complex problems being addressed by the CMCMUAon your behalf and to enable you to judge the validity of the criticisms which continue to Indirected at the CMCMUA. Item: In a recent editorial criticizing the ( 'MCMl'A for the cost of demolishing the former menhaden plant to prepare for the construction of a wastewater treatment facility for the Wildwood 'Ia>wer Region, there was a host of misrepresentations which, when corrected, dismissed the conclusion drawn by theedi torial writer. It said, for example, that the cost of the menhaden plant was $4.4 million when, in fact, the cost was SI. 4 million, an editorial error of exactly $3 million. The purchase of this site was one of the subjects of an investigation by a Cape May County grand jury which led to a number of indictments and is still under scrutiny by the New Jersey Attorney General's office. The record will show that the current board of the CMCMUA as well as its staff has and continues to cooperate fully in these investigations. That, however, is history and the current board must move ahead to complete this region's wastewater treatment plant in time for a July 1. 1988, deadline set by the federal Clean Water Act. This same editorial stated that the CMCMUA also approved a $.1.4 million contract for the demoli tion at the site of the treatment plant when, if the writer had taken the time to check facts, he would have found that considerably less than SI million in the contract was for demolition with the remaining funds designated for the extensive bulkheading and site preparation work anticipated in the original facility planning and design phase. It is this type of misinformed rhetoric printed under the protection of a free and fair press that makes the CMCMUA's already complex, highly tech nical. and difficult mission even more so and misleads the public, whose welfare is central to this mission Item: Another article attributing remarks to a Lower Township official set forth statements con cerning the CMCMUA's intentions relative to. an incinerator at the farmer magnesite plant site in the township which were entirely incorrect since our stud tea do not recommend the use of this site at all! 1 his article also stated that rather than answer a question * concerning the CMCMUA's projected tipping fees, two Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority members at a meeting with lamer Township repre sentatives "put their heads down on the conference table and hid their eyes in gestures of embarrassment.'' Not only did this not occur hut the reporter who wrote the article was not even present at the meeting As a point of fact, the CMCMUA is not embar rassed by its procedure of thoroughly studying viable alternative waste disposal systems prior to committing the use of public funds. In this regard, it is worth noting that the tipping fee at the CMCMUA's sanitary landfill is now $28.75 per ton compared to costs of $35 to $50 per ton at other southern New Jersey solid waste disposal facilities with even higher costs projected for environmentally secure landfills. Item: At the urging of an official from the lower part of the county, several township officials recently signed a resolution which was based on inaccurate information. Bizarre as it may seem, the resolution called on the CMCMUA and the county Board of

Freeholders to look to incineration as a means of disposing of solid Wastes, something that has been an integral part of the CMCMUA's planning since 1982. Even though these officials have been provider! with accurate information which has been well covered in the press and CMCMUA news releases, certain of them continue to stir up the citizenry <lf Cape May County through the use of information that is not based on fact and. indeed, could be construed as having been promoted with the specific purpose to mislead or some other arcane rationale. These and other misrepresentations of the issues do a disservice to the people of ( "ape May ( "ountv and often prove costly to the CMCMUA. which has at times been forced into the position of having to initiate new studies to overcome the false impressions left by the misstatements. The CMCMUA. however, has now implemented a wide-ranging public information program which should enhance our communications with and through the media, combat misstatements through rapid dissemination of the facts and help the citi/eim of Cape May County better understand the mission ana the activities of the authority Keeping the Cape Clean . . . As chairman of the Cape May ( 'ounty Municipal Utilities Authority. I think you. the residents of the Jersey Cape, should know some of the facts that make me proud to be associated with this agency and should make you proud to be living in a county thai has taken hold action to clean up our environment and protect it for generations to come. Cape May County, through the actions of the ' CMCMUA, is indeed a leader in New Jersey in the battle for a clean and toxic free environment. TheCMCMUA has overseen the construction of quality wastewater treatment plants in Ocean City and Cape May. and is currently building facilities in the Wildwood lamer and Seven Mile Reach Middle ' regions. Before the plants in Ocean City and Cape May-, opened, the back bays were closed to shellfishing. in some cases the beaches themselves were polluted and the entire county was under a court order to develop a permanent solution for these problems These new treatment plants will guarantee clciui water and clean beaches for generations to come Being among the first in the state in the operation of an efficient wastewater treatment system will enable us and our tourist industry to advertise the fact that we have the cleanest waters and most desirable beaches in New Jersey, which should help enhance our valuable position as a tourist mecra In contrast to the rest of the state which is under/ going a solid waste disposal crisis. ( 'ape May ( 'ounty is the only county in New Jersey to have undertaken and fulfilled the difficult task of siting and building a secure sanitary landfill. It was a bold step by the authority, and has received the plaudits of state agencies, but at the same time it igas and is a step needed to help preserve our limited groundwater resources \ * And. only last week, tm- CMCMUA opened its composting plant in Middle Township, which em ploys an innovative and proven technique to produce a useable soil amendment with nutrient value from the dewatered Sludge from the county's treatment .plants.upK'0use of the CMCMUA's innovative tech nologycne county authority has been awarded addi tional grant funds to pay for this project equaling 93 " of the total cost for the facility. The authority hopes to make this product availa hie to Cape May County homeowners and farmers at minimal cost - , > , Contrary to the postulations of some municipal officials, because of its aggressive leadership, at a time when federal funding programs are being cilt hack. Cape May County will receive one third of the total amount of grant funds available to the entire state of New Jersey for wastewater treatment projects Wmm)

and has been consistently at or near the top of prior ity funding lists during recent years Our invaluable ocean and bay resources as well as our limited supply of pure groundwater demand that we continue to be a leader in this field, a position we don't intend to relinquish Producing Energy From Trash . . . The Cape May County Municipal Utilities Au thorit.v is now prepared to take another major step forward in its quest to protect tin- environment of the Jersey Cape in ax cost-efficient a manner as possible through the construction of an incinerator facility to produce salable energy from solid waste Since 1982. it has been the policy of the ( 'ape May County Freeholder Board and the CMCMUA to pursue and implement a count v wide-resource recov cry and recycling system for the long term manage ment and disposal of solid, waste from all Cape May County communities before 1990. Despite the misstatements of some municipal officials, state law mandates that the CMCMUA is the designated implementing agency for solid waste disposal and the only agency in Cape May County empowered Or oversee and implement this resource recovery facility. According to the New Jersey Solid Wiistf Man agement Act as amended in 1978. the reason county agencies were assigned the task of solid waste man agement is that "local units of government acting on their own. despite the most dedicated and sincere efforts, lack the financial resources, scope of alterna lives and expertise to plan, develop and implement efficient and effective solutions to their solid waste prohleins." Yet. becauseof the vigor and interest shown for a locaUincinerator bv officials in lamer Township, the CM< "MUA has. contrary to the continued comments of some officials there, reviewed their concept with interest and courtesy Indeed, the ( 'MUM U A took the t concept into consideration in its overall study of the count v mails J The CMI'MI'A, now that it is ne;ujv ready to move ahead with this bold new step nn«>Bhe future, feels you. the resident of Cape May County, should know and understand all the facts surrounding the CMCMUA's proposed approach to creating energy vfrom waste in' a resource recovery plant The feasibility study recently completed by the < 'MCMUA'sengineering consultant, a national well respected engineering firm, has found • The most economical approach would be the con struction of a single resource facility at the authori ty's sanitaiA landfill site to process the county's solid waste for the production of electric power for sale to Atlantic Electric Co and steam for use by the Woodbine State School • This single facility plan complements the new . environmental! v secure waste facilities already put in place by the authority and. following exhaustive # .exploration, is ami has been proven to be the least costly and most efficient long term approach to solid waste disposal in Cape Mav < 'ounty • Again, differing from misinformation which unfor \ tunately appeared in some of the media, and as has been suggested by I amer Township officials, this single facility plan would have a project cost of approximately $11 million less than building two resource recovery plants and would cost $1 25 mil lion per year less to operate than two facilities, and „ at the same time provide a .more efficient and mure reliable long term operation • An alternative plan under study in our 'far v reaching efforts toward th /■ most suitable and effi cient solution would involve the three counties of Cape May. Cumberland ajrid Atlantic, in a joint incineration enterprise possiolv located outside Cape May County Would You Like to Learn More? The Cape May County Municipal Utilities Au thority has members of its staff who would be glad to * attend meetings of your community or civic group and explain why we in the Jersey Cape are leading the nation in the battle against pollution For more information, please call 485-9026. William F X. Band Chairman Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority

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