EPA audit finds DEP flawed

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's hazardous-waste and wetlands programs lack effective oversight and quality control, according to a federal audit released yesterday.

In a routine review, the Environmental Protection Agency found flaws in the way the state runs the federally funded programs. It also said DEP had failed to correct similar procedural and policy problems identified in water programs in 2006.

"This audit should set alarms off for New Jersey residents," said state Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel, citing "disasters" such as Kiddie Kollege, a day-care center built on a former thermometer factory in Gloucester County.

"The lack of oversight may allow people to live on sites that have not been properly cleaned up," he said.

Environmental groups point to DEP's overreliance on what the groups call an "honor system" to evaluate projects. On toxic sites, for example, none of the DEP bureaus interviewed for the audit had done independent "field audits, split samples, or internal assessments," relying on "the word" of hired contractors.

The DEP received EPA's report yesterday morning and had not had time to review it, spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said. The department will respond within the 60 days permitted by law, she said.

EPA will work with the state on quality-control improvements, said spokeswoman Bonnie Bellow. The federal government takes no punitive actions, even for failure to complete "corrective actions," such as those ordered in 2006, when Lisa Jackson, now EPA administrator, directed the state DEP.

"It's Lisa Jackson's new agency criticizing her old agency," Tittel said. "Her new agency is doing its job."

The audit identifies "potentially significant vulnerabilities in the collection and use of data for environmental decision making at NJDEP," acting EPA regional administrator George Pavlou wrote in a letter accompanying the audit.

It comes amid lingering controversy over a bill Gov. Corzine signed in May that overhauls the troubled state program to clean up toxic-waste sites. The new law empowers licensed private consultants hired by polluters to both determine how to clean up properties and certify that they are safe. The goal is to speed cleanup of about 20,000 contaminated sites, ranging from homeowners' oil-tank spills to Superfund sites.

At the same time, Corzine signed an executive order strengthening DEP oversight of sensitive land that may be used for housing, schools, day-care centers, playgrounds, or athletic fields.

If DEP is "not following procedures now and taking the word of applicants, it's going to be a blank check for polluters or developers in the future," Tittel said.

The state's big problem is lack of DEP staffing, according to Emil DeVito, an ecologist with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.

"They're doing their best. It's triage," he said.

Makatura said DEP had faced budget and staff cuts "like every other government agency these days." She would not go into specifics.

"There are definitely instances where the letter of the law isn't being followed," but DEP workers can't necessarily detect that from aerial photos and other documents in a case file, said DeVito, who has evaluated other consultants' reports for the DEP near the Pinelands and elsewhere. "You need to field-check everything."

Land owners or developers aren't required to disclose reports upon completion, so they can hire multiple consultants until they get the result they desire, DeVito said.

An accurate wetlands evaluation sometimes requires a year-round survey, because water levels vary by season, he said. Similarly, endangered species migrate and hibernate.

"If DEP had enough resources, we have pretty good laws," DeVito said. "The problem is, consultants are smart. It's not a science. It's an art. There are a lot of close calls out there."