Middletown Mayor Exploring Legal Options to Fight JCPL Plan

Middletown, NJ - Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger said Friday the township is exploring its legal options in regards to JCP&L's deeply hated transmission line proposal.

"We are looking into our legal options," Scharfenberger told Patch. "We're looking into what legal standing we have and what avenues we can explore. This is just to see what we can and can't do."

"I don't want this to get contentious or adversarial," he added, referring to a possible legal battle with JCP&L. "But this is a very serious issue. What they are proposing is extraordinarily ambitious."

The township has requested studies from the National Institutes of Health to learn just how dangerous electromagnetic field radiation from power lines really is. Radiation from the lines is a major concern of many.

He also arranged a meeting, scheduled for the middle of next week, of all the mayors in the Bayshore region affected by the power lines; Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini and Union Beach Mayor Paul Smith are already confirmed. Scharfenberger said he's spoken to Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, an outspoken critic of the plan, and state Senator Joe Kyrillos, and briefly spoke to former Middletown mayor Rosemarie Peters. Peters spent tens of thousands of dollars in township money fighting the proposal back in the '80s when it was first introduced.

Calling this "an incredibly intense time for Middletown," Scharfenberger said he found out about JCP&L's plans only shortly before the public did.

"We got a small heads up before residents did, but not much," he said. "This came up very suddenly and we found out in increments just what was involved. It's almost mind-boggling trying to get all the information about the project."

He said he's been inundated with phone calls on the matter. And he promises to call every person back who contacts him.

"We are on top of this," he vowed. "Our residents are the lifeblood of this town, and they deserve to have representation that is well thought-out and methodical, and not just scattershot."

And for the mayor, like so many Middletown residents, the power lines battle is personal. Scharfenberger's daughter recently bought a home along the corridor where the 230,000-volt, 200-foot tall wires will run.

"She and her husband want to have kids one day," he said. "So certainly I'm concerned as an elected official, but I'm also concerned as a father."