'Stop The Quarry Plan' Sends Petition To NJDEP

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Residents in Basking Ridge have sent over their petition, in opposition to the proposed redevelopment of the now defunct Millington Quarry, to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The NJDEP confirmed receipt of the petition that was signed by dozens of area residents within 200 feet of the proposed development.

"NJDEP is currently reviewing the petition. No formal NJDEP action is expected until after Jan. 1, 2018 due to the holidays," Friends of Stop the Quarry Plan, LLC (Friends of STQP) reported. View the petition here.

STQP is a group of residents that formed over concerns that the long planned 50-acre lake "will not be properly investigated, tested and monitored to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public."

STQP also sent a letter to Millington Quarry’s Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP), Joseph Sorge asking "why he has not proposed any further testing, investigating or monitoring of a surface water body that has been forming over a large area of contaminated soils since April of this year."

See the letter sent to Sorge here.

The group also claims Sorge submitted a Remedial Action Workplan in September 2010 to Bernards Township asking for further monitoring and testing during the "filling period" of the body of water once operations at the quarry ceased. However, STQP says no further testing or monitoring was conducted.

STQP also claims that "massive amounts of commercial fertilizer" was applied to the entire 95-acre meadow in an attempt to remedy barren, inadequate soils.

"We are very concerned that large quantities of fertilizer were discharged into the new surface water body," said a STQP spokeswoman, "and that MQI plans to dump even more fertilizer over the area.”

Friends of STQP believe the NJDEP is unaware of the newly formed surface water body or MQI's
application of commercial fertilizer to the 95-acre meadow and potential for discharge into the water.

For more information visit www.stopthequarryplan.com and contact info@stopthequarryplan.com.

After residents packed a Bernards Township Committee meeting on Oct. 24, another meeting was held at the Ridge PAC to accommodate the large crowd.

• Read more: Residents Not Happy With Proposed Quarry Plan In Basking Ridge
• Read more: Hundreds Fill Ridge PAC To Discuss Quarry Plans

Due to the large public interest the quarry plan will not be discussed until 2018. At the committee's reorganization meeting on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. further review of Quarry Redevelopment will be discussed and future meetings will be scheduled.

(Image via PowerPoint presentation of Quarry Redevelopment Plan)

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