You Can't Take the Trash Out of Jersey - Or Replace It With a Golf Course
by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 21, 2009 2:22 PM EDT
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PrintLandfills are aplenty in New Jersey. That's how Jersey gets its distinctive statewide odor of burning sulfur and garbage. But, New Jersey was trying to clean up its act by replacing three landfills with billion-dollar golf course communities. And now they're under investigation by the federal government.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has the subpoenaness.
A federal grand jury is investigating three failed billion-dollar golf complexes - including two in Camden County - that were to be built atop contaminated sites using public financing, according to a subpoena received by the governor's office last week.
In May 2008, State Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper issued a 277-page report that accused EnCap Golf Holdings, a Cherokee subsidiary, and its attorneys of misrepresenting facts and strong-arming various review agencies during nine years of preliminary work on the Meadowlands project.
Five years ago, Cherokee also was involved in a billion-dollar project at the nearly 400-acre Petty's Island, located in the Delaware River off Pennsauken. But the project lost momentum after environmentalists protested the preservation vote and when a bald eagle nest was found at the site. The state Department of Environmental Protection review became difficult, Cummings said, and then the real estate market softened.
New Jersey is so lousy that even the majestic bald eagle has to live in litter-laden squalor.
This is kind of a no-win situation for Jersey. Either keep the contaminated land (and the smell) or build homes so that more women can realize the dream of being a Desperate Housewife of New Jersey.
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I hate this dump as much as anyone, but...
…most of the widespread odor is up north. Just wanted to put that out there.
We really need a huge, but leaky, cruise ship for all of these “environmentalist” whack jobs. I guess nobody told them that golf courses are covered in grass and all that other nature stuff. There would be plenty of trees for that Eagle’s nest. (don’t eagle’s migrate and build new nests with the seasons ?)
A billion dollars for a golf course ? That’s a lot of mafi…errrr…union labor hours. :-)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Well, some of the developments had like 5000 homes and retail space, too. So I could see how it would add up. But the environmental review was supposedly done in a shady fashion.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 21, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions
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