On behalf of the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association (EWA), a state leader in toxic cleanups, I am deeply troubled by the recent report that yet again sheds light on the failure of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The DEP's mission is to protect our state's environment, as entrusted by the families of New Jersey. The residents of New Jersey rely on the DEP to tell them whether the air they breathe, the water they drink and the beaches they enjoy are safe.

Instead, as a scathing federal report recently noted, the DEP never took crucial, federally ordered steps, leaving the public exposed unnecessarily to risks from our 25,000 known contaminated sites in New Jersey. If the DEP is failing in its most basic responsibilities, how can the public accept its assurances of safety and minimal health impact from these uncontrolled and barely regulated toxic disasters? How can New Jersey families feel safe about the serious public-health threats caused by the chemicals found at high levels in the contamination at many of these sites?

With New Jersey's population density and abundance of highly toxic waste sites, this issue touches every resident in the state. The DEP's failure to properly oversee polluters has forced our environmental advocacy group to take legal action to clean up toxic waste and protect the health and safety of New Jersey families. Specifically, at the Basell-Akzo Nobel site in Edison, where the DEP is responsible for oversight, toxic cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and toluene are discharging into the Raritan River just 100 yards upstreamfromthe Edison Boat Basin. EWA was forced to file a federal lawsuit simply to get the DEP's attention and provide minimal oversight. Two years later, the chemical seep continues to discharge just feet away from children playing and families fishing and boating.

Only after two years of ongoing litigation was EWA able to convince the DEP assistant commissioner of site remediation to even visit the site and see firsthand the blatant and noxious ongoing seep. On that very day, dozens of families were out fishing, crabbing, boating, jet-skiing and hiking here on the only public-access point on Edison's seven miles of Raritan riverfront. Yet shockingly, the DEP refuses to acknowledge its failure in overseeing the cleanup and still claims the site is under control, based solely on the claims of the polluter. As a result, EWA must continue our long fight to clean up the Raritan River, as the DEP continues to drag its feet on enforcing New Jersey's laws and regulations.

The failure is not the DEP's alone. Our elected representatives also have a clear responsibility here, and that is to strengthen, not weaken, the DEP authorities. The solution is surprisingly simple. DEP programs could be fully funded if the state returned to using the fees collected for permit review and oversight directly for the DEP, rather than diverting them into the New Jersey bureaucratic abyss.

Instead, the lesser funding allows the DEP to continue its retreat into ineptitude, putting the politically connected polluters in charge of our environment. That is why it is so critical to demand that our state leaders provide strong direction for the DEP and appoint qualified and motivated officials to the DEP's highest levels. Even as you read this, powerful chemical lobbies are swarming the halls of Trenton to weaken and dismantle the environmental protections many take for granted.

I urge all concerned residents to immediately contact your local assemblymen and state senators (whose names you can find at votesmart.org) to fully implement the recommendations outlined in the federal report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report can be found on the NewGreenMedia.tv website.

It is time for the taxpayers and voters to demand accountability and put the health of New Jersey families before the profits of polluters.
Robert Spiegel
Executive Director
Edison Wetlands Association