TOMS RIVER, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is trying to sell a plan that would see the 1,250-acre Ciba Geigy federal superfund site turned over to the state but will also give the owner of the property 250 acres to build a new community.
Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, a Phil Murphy political appointee, is telling Toms River residents who saw the site pollute their water supply in the 1970s and 1980s as “A very, very good deal.”
It’s an offer Toms River residents can’t refuse, mostly because they don’t have any power to refuse the deal being brokered by the Murphy administration and BASF, the owner of the toxic superfund site.
Don’t worry, Toms River, the Murphy administration says the 250 acres it will be given to BASF to build housing developments and strip malls is pretty safe to develop…most likely.
The NJ DEP and the Murphy administration said those 250 acres “meets residential standards”.
If BASF gets the sweetheart deal with the state of New Jersey, we can see thousands of new housing units on the former Superfund site. That’s because local zoning laws allow for it.
A reworking of the Toms River Township master plan in the early 2000s, led by current Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill not only allows for it, the town’s economic development plan calls for it.
Under that plan, Toms River seeks to expand the Route 37 economic corridor to include the development of Ciba Geigy to conduct a ‘detailed market analysis for potential CIBA/BASF site users’ and create a redevelopment plan for the property.
It also supports setting aside ‘a portion’ of the CIBA Geigy superfund site as a wildlife refuge.
In that plan, item 5 calls for ‘prioritizing the redevelopment of Ciba-Geigy site as a mixed-use economic center.’
Now, Hill, one of the architects of the township’s master plan and economic redevelopment plan says he opposes the state’s settlement with BASF.
Hill wants to see the 250 acres instead be turned over to the township, but has not said what he intends to do with those 250 acres if that happens.