Liongate Development

Bloomfield environmental activists joining forces

02/18/01

BY JEFFERY C. MAYS
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

For the past few days, blue and green ribbons have appeared on poles, houses and storefronts around Bloomfield.

The ribbons symbolize an ongoing fight by the Third Riverbank Association to prevent a 150-unit condominium development from being built near the Third River off Broad Street. The group complains the project will worsen area flooding.

While homes in the immediate area will be most affected by the development, the issue is far from limited to one particular neighborhood.

"We are bringing people together from all parts of the community," said Nick Joanow, who heads the association. "The same concerns have been going on for 30 or 40 years. Maybe the players have changed but the issues haven't."

In fact, walk to just about any part of Bloomfield and there's a group with an environmental issue.

The Watsessing Heights Neighborhood Association is looking for clear answers about the fecal contamination level of Wigwam Brook, while the Friends of Clark's Pond are in the process of turning the pond and the wetlands surrounding it into a nature reserve. The long-running battle over the contaminated Westinghouse site is still going strong more than a decade after the plant closed.

Although these issues aren't new, the way they're being addressed is.

Instead of working separately, residents say there is a renewed spirit of environmental activism and cooperation invigorating their efforts these days.

Groups now share ideas on how to get things done. When a group decides to show up at a council meeting to voice their concerns, members of other groups are now likely to be there to speak as well.

"As time goes on and you start sharing ideas, things just start to gel," said Lois Ross, president of Friends of Clark's Pond. "It's a new power base whose time has come. Just call it grassroots democracy."

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said many of the environmental issues that make it to the big stage start with a neighborhood resident asking questions.

"In New Jersey, protecting major natural resources falls on the backs of local grassroots groups," Tittel said. "New Jersey is a home-rule state and most of the issues are fought at the local level. We found a lot of time that the state couldn't even get involved."

Local activists help promote environmental concerns at Pyramid Mountain in Kinnelon and the Newark Watershed in West Milford. Residents in Phillipsburg helped save the Pohatcong Grasslands from a 1,400-unit development.

In Bloomfield, all the local talks have led to the development of the idea of a Greenway, or a project that would connect all the natural, historic, cultural and recreational areas in town, such as the town Green, the areas along the Second and Third Rivers along with the town's parks and other historical sites.

"People are beginning to realize that if we don't work together it's going to affect our town, our taxes and our lives," said Thess Prince, chair of the Watsessing Neighborhood Association's environmental committee.

Another slogan is: "Keep the 'Field' in Bloomfield." A reference to the fact that 95 percent of land in the town is developed. Residents would like to see that remaining 5 percent stay as open green space.

"The Greenway idea is symbolic of the new communication between the north and south side of the town," said Mary Shaughnessy, a member of the Third Riverbank Association. "Bloomfield is on the brink of something great, and we are discovering each other and saying, 'Lets work together.'"

Many groups credit the better lines of communication to the formation of the Bloomfield Neighborhood Association, a loosely organized coalition of many of the neighborhood groups that meets on a regular basis.

The group formed out of efforts to get the former Westinghouse site cleaned.

"There's a tendency that one end of town doesn't identify itself with the other side of town," said Carolyn Vadala, one of the founding members of the Bloomfield Neighborhood Association. "There was really no sharing."

But after meeting for a little over a year now, things are starting to change, activists say. "We want to find our similar visions while at the same time respecting our differences," Vadala said. "All of the different groups should ask, 'How can we help the town do better?'"

And these groups just aren't spinning their wheels.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated Clark's Pond as a participant in the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program, which is designed to provide funds and technical assistance to return the pond to a more natural state.

The Third Riverbank Association's concern over development prompted the town council to hire an environmental consultant to protect the town's interests. The consultant also will be looking for funding to help the town purchase one of the township's last few pieces of open space left on Lion Gate Drive, off Broad Street near the former Scientific Glass site.

"We really need to prepare the future for our kids," Prince said. "We have to start thinking about 50 years from now. Do we really want to be wrestling with these same issues?"

So when Ross received a call from a newly formed neighborhood group, the Mills Homes Association, asking for help on how to deal with flooding near the Third River in their part of town, she knew exactly how to plug them into the township's network of environmental activists.

"Each one of us should not have to spend time reinventing the wheel," Ross said. "I think we've got all of Bloomfield covered and leaders are popping up from all over. It's a really exciting time."

Jeffery C. Mays covers Bloomfield, Belleville and Nutley. He can be reached at jmays@starledger.com or (973) 392-4149.

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