_opinion

Our Readers Write Hotels' Taxes I Paid on Time To The Editor I am writing to clarify an article published on the front I page of the Nov. 13 edition of the Herald-Dispatch regar- I ding Cape May City's Tax Sale. I The taxes on the Christian Admiral and Congress Hall I are paid through 1985 and have been paid on a timely I basis Payment of taxes has been a priority for our cor- I poration since 1 have been the facilities manager these I last years. Our listing in the Tax Sale advertisement was for I water sewer charges We paid those accounts in full on Nov. 4. nine days prior to your Nov 13 edition It is our feeling that minimal standards of journalistic | etiquette would have led your staff to call us to ask about the advertisement before singling us out for your story. THIS IS NOT the first time that a lack of attention to details has resulted in a misleading story about our company You erroneously reported in late June that we had applied for a fireworks permit. That was simply not true In a community the size-of Cape May your attention to details, especially details that affect the reputations of your neighbors, should be priority one as you seek to keep rhe public trust and your integrity as a newspaper. I challenge your staff to be more thorough and accurate in the future as you continue to develop what already is a fine paper ^ CURTIS BASHAW Facilities Manager Congress Hall/Christian Admiral Assistant Treasurer. Christian Beacon Press. Inc. Cape May f Letters Welcome \ I he Herald, lantern and Dispatch welcome letters to the editor on matters of public interest Originals, not copies, are requested. Writers must sign name address and phone number | , J v • J To Err is Human To The Editor : I'm appalled! I have just been reading local newspaper articles regar ding Sea Isle City's mayor and his attempt to show con cern for the way cases are being handled by our local court . I know Mayor Mcllale. I and many other Sea Isle residents can attest to his integrity I RESPECT THE Cape May County Bar Association for what it is. and the purpose for which it was formed. I have no knowledge of the persons comprising this association and can only assume they are fair and decent people But. I fail to understand how. as a body, they can chastise a man for his views. What has made our courts of Justice so sacrosanct that they dare not be challenged0 1 have read many times that to err is human - are we to assume that judges and lawyers, just by right of office, are not human0 ISABEL R GILLESPIE . f Sea Isle City

fHXai&vr™! PcbthlKd Emy W*dae*day , , % TW Sa«« Corporation Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Parrel! Kopp Publisher S*OW««*Corp IW A" "flfcn •'Bp*"* IOW#«l 0< *.1 DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly. $40: Six Month. S20 Call 465-5055 For News. Advertising or ^ Subscription Information Jf CAPE MAY |U twalft~Uts|iatrii I IMlto- of tke (ipe c<»«jr H«nM 11'^ ' twmrr •» TW hmn »■».«■■ ■ r. o ny. «w a— *uy co«n iwt.. w.j. —tin jM

9TAR OURS S6W6M-TiE«eO C *«*«£ LookirY and Listenin' Autumn Colors By DOROTHY I). PRE AS Looking from side to side as we rode along the wooded road near home, the foliage colors were strikingly beautiful, varying from brilliant yellow to copper, from orange to scarlet. This is the miracle of Autumn's arrival. There is so much breath-taking beauty as we see the mosaic of leaf colors that it surprises us to find that there are multi-syllabic chemicals involved in this change of color. All summer we watch green leaves as chlorophyll (Greek for "green leaf") manufacturers sugar and starch for the tree's nourishment and growth. WHEN FALL APPROACHES, the base of each leaf closes down many of the ceflls that carry water and food into the leaves. The green coloration fades, and yellow often replaces it. Red appears quickly and brightly in the leaves of some trees after a sharp drop in temperature. In fact, the leaves that manufacture large amounts of sugar, as on maple trees, turn to red and crimson, even through purple shading. The yellow le^f color is related to carotin which is the orange pigmentation of carrot roots. The compound in red and purple leaves is chemically related to the purple coloring of beets. With all this about autumn colors, whether you are very young and believe that Jack Frost did it. or old enough to know better, just enjoy this annual pageant on nature's calendar

The State We're In Strengthen Superfund By DAVID F. MOORE Executive Director New Jersey Conservation Foundation Pollsters tell us that two major environmental issues are on the top of the list of public concern: acid rain and toxic cleanup. And by some lucky coincidence. Congress and the administration in Washington are trying to deal with the same problems. Right now reauthorization of the Clean Air Act and Superfund are on top of our Congressmen's lists too. The trouble is that the public agenda and that of some Congresspersons and the administration seem to be out of step. Meanwhile, our world in general and this state we're in are suffering. EVER NOTICE that when the president (or any other politican, for that matter) doesn't want to do something, there's no money? When he does, dollars aren't a problem. Despite overwhelming evidence that sulfur dioxide emissions from midwestern industry and utility coalburners need to be reduced, lots of people in power say it costs too much. The costs outweight the benefits, they say. What's more, legislators pushing for a weaker version of Superfund reauthorization are accusing environmental groups of sabotaging"... one of the most environmentally protective pieces of legislation ever considered by Congress." That sounds a bit far-fetched to me! The reason is that environmental lobbyists down in Washington know the difference between a Superfund bill which has the money and provisions to do the job we so desperately need, and one which is essentially a sham. There's an old political/polluter adage: "If we are going to have to submit to environmental legislation, let's make sure it's so weak that it won't cost us too much, but will fool most of the poeple most of the time." ( I made that up. but it's an accurate paraphrase of the back-room thinking!) Last year the House of Representatives passed a good Superfund bill, by a margin of 323-33, but it got nowhere in the Senate. This year what some are calling the "sham bill." H.R. 2817, is being pushed as a substitute for the good bill of 1984. It is not a good bill, and we all deserve better. As a practical matter, New Jersey has more toxic waste to clean up and treat than anyone else in the country, especially when you add in what is happening on federal lands, like Lakehurst. There. 3 million gallons of toxic waste was dumped by the military, and it's slowly seeping into the Cohansey aquifer (Page 51 Please)

—And We Pay All Year Long Politicians Love Us in October

By JOE ZELNIK „ "Cleanup Study Begins" said a headline in the Atlantic City Press of Oct 22. two weeks before the gubernatorial election. The paper reported that a RIFS ( Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study > for the cleanup of the Williams toxic dump in Swainton was "under way" and quoted a DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) spokesman as saying it would be completed in "midFebruary." (The DEP subsequently told this reporter that was an error, that the study will probably take 36 weeks, until next July. » THE EFFECTIVENESS of the Kean administration's toxic waste cleanup program was a major issue in the recent political campaign. Locally, the state had been reporting for more than a year that the Williams dump study would begin "next month." "Next month" was being compared with "the check's in the mail" and local Republicans were becoming more and more embarrassed. The Williams dump was discovered in 1979 and designated a "national priority" site. By last month a freeholder imposed ban on construction within a one-mile radius of the dump was 20 months old. and controversial. In September. Middle Township officials, who are Democrats, held a public gripe session to castigate the state for its "runaround." The study's mid-October "start" helped to defuse that issue BI T THE "START" really amounted to a one-shot visit from the Jersey City drilling firm of Warren George Inc. It came to Swainton. drilled one monitoring well, and left ■ That would be like you or I driving to Gimbels in NewYork to buy one sock. "One well, before the gubernatorial election, seems to me an effort to pacify us." commented Middle Mayor SORRY ABOUT THAT (ED. NOTE: A photograph in this space last week incorrectly identified Cesar Romero and Betty Grable. in the movie "Springtime in the Rockies" as columnist Joe ' Zelnik and his wife. It was an understandable mistake due to their close resemblance, but we regret the error. )

Mike Vol!. He also is county Democratic chairman, it should be pointed out The Wayne (New Jersey) firm which won the $483,886 I contract < federal money ) to c|p the RIFS could not explain why it had one well drilled when it did. "That's what our client ( DEP) asked us to do. and we , did it." said an official of Woodward-Clyde, an international firm of consulting engineers, geologists and environmental scientists with plenty of RIFS experience "You have to discuss motivation with the state." added the official. vB i WOODWARD-CLYDE geologists on tlescene two I weeks later conceded it was "not normal to do one well. " Usually, they told this reporter, geophysical work ; precedes well drilling, "to get a better feel for the geology, . to get some feel for where you want to put the wells " There will be 14 more. A DEP spokesman said the monitoring well was placed "halfway between the (Williams) site and a row of homes to make sure we would detect anything well before they i were threatened." I But the DEP has been doing quarterly monitoring of i those homes' wells and found them "absolutely clean." MORE ELECTION EVE concern for Cape May County i surfaced on Oct. 25 when the governor announced he had $1.75 million in federal funds for the county It came from » the 1985 Small Cities Block Grant Program and included ■ $350,000 apiece for Cape May. Wildwood, Woodbine, and Lower and Middle townships. L Wildwood. Woodbine and Lower will use theirsr for housing rehabs. Cape May's share will go toward the Cape t Island Creek project. And Middle's will help bring public ► water to some of the homes within that William dump mile-circle development ban. The absence of shame for obvious use of taxpayer money to win and influence voters reached a new height > ( or depth ) this summer when the county hurriedly applied ■ for and received a $250,000 state grant for a maritime museum at Historic Cold Spring Village. Local elected officials — assemblymen and freeholders — openly referred to the grant as a "peace offering" from the governor "in compensation" for county disappointment that a state aquarium would go to Camden With Trenton's election-time concern for the hinterlands in mind, it would be in Cape May County's interest to have annual, rather than quadrennial, gubernatorial elections.