Re: In-Progress Review Comments
Helen Neuhaus & Associates
432 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
Dear Ms. Neuhaus:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide written comments on the progress of the Penns Neck Area EIS.
The Central Jersey Group of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey Chapter has several important concerns about the EIS process.
First, it appears that the environmental evaluation process and methodology are deeply flawed. DMJM + Harris Consulting has less than a stellar record of Environmental Assessments. Their report to the Federal Aviation Administration on the potential environmental effects of expanding the Trenton-Mercer Airport was rejected by the FAA at least once. The EA released to the public contained questionable forecasting methods, numerous ambiguities and easily challenged conclusions. Their EA for the Millstone Bypass was soundly rejected by the public and by then NJ Governor Christine Whitman.
DMJM + Harris, having been hired to perform the Penns Neck Area EIS, appears woefully unprepared. The most glaring example is their apparent refusal to collect water chemistry data for the Millstone River and Little Bear Brook within the primary study area. Since the main objections to the Millstone Bypass EA concerned environmental impacts to the study area, it is imperative that DMJM + Harris collect and evaluate water samples from these sites. When questioned about the lack of study area water sampling, DMJM + Harris was not prepared to explain why samples have not been taken; surely if the current sampling sites (several miles upstream and downstream) were sufficient, the consultants would be prepared to explain why. It is obvious that they are neither willing nor prepared to perform a thorough, unbiased environmental impact evaluation. Shoddy data collection now will result in egregious conclusions and protracted disputes later. DMJM + Harris must collect and evaluate data properly, despite their record of being unable to do so. Roundtable members must be given the opportunity to evaluate DMJM + Harris’ environmental data; while the Roundtable might boast few environmental experts, enough members have appropriate backgrounds and keen minds and are able to pose appropriate questions.
The Roundtable’s role in the EIS process is the Sierra Club’s second concern. The pronouncement by the DOT that the EIS would receive top priority has resulted in a rushed process. As a result, Roundtable members are not given presentation materials prior to presentations, which are then read by the presenter verbatim from the documents given to the members at the meeting, with not nearly enough time given to questions from the Roundtable members. As each meeting reaches the prescribed three-hour limit, the presenter is forced to hurry through the slides and the Roundtable members told to “hold their questions.” Many requests and concerns are dutifully “acknowledged” by the Project Team and then disappear (for example, the repeated request by the Sierra Club for a map of the water chemistry sampling sites and continued requests by Roundtable members for presentation materials ahead of time).
The Sierra Club’s third concern is with the Section 106 process. Consulting parties have not been given sufficient time to evaluate such a large document. Consulting parties should be given the opportunity to meet with FHWA, either singly or as a group, and should be allowed time to discuss preservation plans with the FHWA and the SHPO.
The Penns Neck Area EIS must be performed slowly, carefully, openly, and without bias. The DOT must not command TPI to rush the process in order to meet a deadline. A project sacrificed to time restrictions runs a grave risk of being faulty. It would be best to allow the EIS process to take as much time as the Roundtable and the public need, to perform the evaluations correctly, and to create a solution that protects and preserves the environment, cultural resources, and the character of the neighborhoods. The traffic problems and environmental impacts from construction in the Penns Neck area are substantial and they deserve careful attention. Roads are forever; let’s do this correctly.