Township’s rules should apply to proposed severage plant in our neighborhood

On Dec. 7, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions’ proposal to build a large sewerage treatment plant on a property housing a preschool - and within feet of our homes - will be on the West Milford Planning Board agenda.

There are clear ordinances against this placement.

With very good reason, West Milford Code 300-18 emphatically states that new sewerage treatment plants shall not be permitted closer than 250 feet from a property line.

Veolia’s proposal falls far short of this protection.

For more than a year, their attorneys have sought exemptions from various governing boards who were elected to represent the people.

Obviously, the run-down Birch Hill plant needs remediation. But this remediation can be accomplished on their current site, which is in compliance with the distance requirement of the town ordinance, or, if they so choose, on the many industrial sites available to them nearby.

We are a residential community of hard-working taxpayers who simply ask that a multibillion-dollar corporation be required to follow the law.

We depend on the officials we have elected to represent our interests.

Common sense dictates that the unsettling and unhealthy disruption of a bio-waste facility should be as far as possible from anyone’s backyard.

Will the power of money and might make right? Or will the members of the board choose ethics over corporate influence?

Eighty-seven members of our peaceful residential community have signed a petition calling on the township to do the right thing: Protect its residents and abide by code 300-18.

If permitted to ignore the rules in our neighborhood, a Pandora’s box will have been opened. Codes and rules would mean nothing.

Therefore, this could happen not only to Birch Hill but to any neighborhood in West Milford.

Please stand up for our safeguards and not allow this travesty to occur.

Jackie McGraw

West Milford