NJ to force closure of illegal landfill

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Catherine McCabe have jointly announced the state has taken legal action to force the closure of a 75-foot-high pile of soil and solid waste in Sussex County that its owner has refused to remove.

In an “Order to Show Cause” filed in New Jersey’s Superior Court, the DEP alleges that property owner Joseph Wallace is operating an unlawful solid waste dump at his property in Vernon Township, New Jersey, near the New York state border.

The state’s filing seeks to force Wallace to cease operating the alleged solid waste dump and immediately ban any further dumping at the site; to test for contaminants and dispose of any solid waste; and to give DEP access to the property for inspections and sampling.

The Order to Show Cause builds on two Notices of Violation DEP issued the property owner on Feb. 20, 2019. The first was for the maintenance of an unlicensed solid waste facility, and the second was for the failure to permit entry to DEP inspectors.

“Today’s Order to Show Cause and the Notices of Violation issued are the culmination of several months of proactive investigation and the discovery of some contaminated soil at this site,” says Commissioner McCabe. “This legal action is intended to stop the accumulation of unpermitted solid waste at this site and to protect the environment in response to the concerns of Vernon residents.”

“State law is crystal clear: No one has a right to operate an unlicensed solid waste dump, and especially not in a residential area,” says Attorney General Grewal. “So today, we’re going after an operator to stop building his 75-foot-high pile of soil and solid waste and start removal of contaminants—immediately.”