Bill Calls for Independent, State-Run Studies to Assess Impact of Privatization of 300 Housing Units on NWS Earle
The 12th District Legislators today unveiled a piece of legislation that they hope will offer insight into the actual impact of the privatization of 300 housing units on Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The legislation requires that before permits can be processed by either the State Department of Environmental Protection or the Department of Transportation, or any other State agency, that a series of studies and analyses be performed. Those studies include a cost-benefit analysis by the State Department of Treasury, a security analysis led by Homeland Security in conjunction with the New Jersey State Police and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and a study on the impact of the surrounding school systems and infrastructure by the Center for Government Services at Rutgers University.
“There were several assumptions in the Navy’s EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] that were not correct,” said Senator Jennifer Beck, “therefore, we believe it is critical to have an independent, unbiased study to review all of the impacts this plan may have the on the security and infrastructure of the surrounding towns. We don’t want another Fort Monmouth. There’s no where in the world that you can bring in an additional 300 families and not see a significant impact, regardless of the claims by the Navy. We are especially concerned about the fact that the Navy does not see the potential for security problems associated with bringing 1, 000 civilians within the property of an active military weapons station. The State really must perform an independent study.”
The legislation, S-3017/A-4159, is sponsored by Beck in the Senate and by Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande in the General Assembly
“The decision by the Navy stating that there would be no security problems allowing 300 civilian families onto the base,” said Casagrande, “does not seem to be substantiated by any real study, which is why it’s so vital that we conduct our own. The cursory analysis of security measures performed in the EIS is charitably described as insufficient. My family home is within close proximity to Earle. It is frightening in the light of the Fort Dix incident with terrorists disguised as pizza delivery men and the more recent plot in New York to blow up synagogues, that the Navy is being so cavalier with the safety of our residents.”
“It was a questionable plan from the start,” said O’Scanlon, “to have civilians living is such close proximity to a working military weapons station. When the navy first released its draft EIS, we saw some drastically inaccurate information, and we, along with municipal and school officials, told the Navy about these inaccuracies. When the final EIS was released, we saw that these errors were never corrected. It’s all well and good to accept public comment, but if those comments are dismissed out-of-hand, we have to find another way of gathering the correct information. We saw it with Fort Monmouth, when an arm of the federal government neglected the facts, and now we see the closure of the fort will cost double than originally expected. Obviously, the State needs to have some independent data to prepare itself for the future, and perhaps prevent the Navy from making a serious mistake in the present.”
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- Beck, O’Scanlon & Casagrande: NWS Earle Decision Is Wrong On All Counts
May 22, 2009 - NWS Earle Housing Bill Passes Senate
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November 30, 2009 - NWS Earle Study Bill Passed by Senate Community & Urban Affairs Committee
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March 4, 2010
