Crews restoring area of disturbance at park
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

Phil Del Turco

JACKSON - Municipal employees have started to restore land that was disturbed at Johnson Park as part of a project to create an additional means of access to the facility.

A spokeswoman for the state Depart-ment of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the agency is working with Jackson in an effort to mitigate any disturbance to wetlands that may have occurred.

Business Administrator Phil Del Turco said Township Attorney George Gilmore and township engi-neer Dan Burke have reached out to the DEP. He said township employees have started to restore the area that was disturbed off Butterfly Road.

"We've already pulled out the drainage pipes," Del Turco said, adding that the township was advised by the local DEP field office that it would be better to restore the site to its original condition. "We're complying. We're conducting a good faith gesture to restore it, so we hope there will be no fines in the future."

He said the work was intended to create an emergency access road for Johnson Park.

"I can even show you the aerial maps from 2002 where you can clearly see there was vehicular access going through there," Del Turco said. "Jersey Central Power and Light needed to get through there to do inspections and maintenance of the high tension lines."

The administrator said there is a right of way to maintain the power lines and added that there was no malicious intent on the part of the township in its plan to create an emergency access road.

He pointed to the success of the June 30 celebration of Independence Day and the need to have access by emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks or police cars. He said officials will explore other avenues for an emergency access road.

Del Turco said other options will be explored, although there is not enough time to get a DEP permit before Jackson Day on Sept. 8. He said it is anticipated there will be a traffic situation at the park on Jackson Day because many people will wait until after the fireworks display to leave.

Del Turco said Mayor Mark Seda and the police have expressed their concerns about the situation.

DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said, "We continue to work with the township on mitigation" of the land that was disturbed. "Negotiations are ongoing, which means we continue to work with them and (as of July 31) nothing has been finalized or determined as to whether the township will be fined."

Makatura said DEP personnel will continue to investigate exactly what happened in order to determine if fines will be imposed.

"There is no definitive time line," she said. "We are looking for compliance and for restoration. We have to look at what happened, why it happened and if permits are necessary, etc."