Palmyra nature park battle on tap for Tuesday

An environmental group vowed today to fight a plan to deposit dredge spoils in Palmyra Cove Nature Park.

"We will be in the park tomorrow morning at sunrise to meet the bulldozers to prevent them from taking over the 20 acres," said Cove Action Network spokeswoman Courtney McLaughlin.

McLaughlin's comment came after local residents packed a conference room at the Burlington County Bridge Commission to question the dumping plan. About 125 people attended the information session held by the bridge commission, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson used a poster-sized aerial photograph to show the area that will be used as a dump site for Delaware River-bottom dredge spoils. Site preparation is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

The 250-acre nature preserve at the foot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge will yield about 20 acres to the dredging project.

Jackson has called the plan a reasonable compromise that protects 50 more acres in the park originally targeted for dredge spoils dumping. The corps keeps the river channel at a 40-foot depth, sometimes by dredging material that builds up on the bottom.

Environmentalists say dumping dredge spoils in the park could destroy animal habitats and increase the potential for flooding.

State officials have said testing found that contents of the dredge spoils meet residential cleanup standards.

Palmyra Cove Nature Park was established in 1999 with more than $8 million in grants from federal, state and local agencies, according to Liz Verna, spokeswoman for the Bridge Commission. It has an environmental education center, nature trails and other passive recreational activities.