On dredging plan, Burlington City has a warning for U.S.
Burlington City on Thursday issued a "cease and desist" letter to halt the planned clearing of 40 acres on Burlington Island for a dump site for Delaware River dredge material.
Burlington City on Thursday issued a "cease and desist" letter to halt the planned clearing of 40 acres on Burlington Island for a dump site for Delaware River dredge material.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract to clear trees and other vegetation from a southwestern portion of the island. The island is about 12 miles north of Philadelphia.
A spokesman for the Corps said the work is scheduled to begin Oct. 24.
City officials said they were not informed about the planned work by the Corps and learned about it only from a newspaper article.
The city's letter argues that the island is the property of the residents of Burlington City and that any work done there without the city's consent is illegal.
"Be forewarned that any person or persons attempting to enter the Island will be considered a trespasser and treated as such," wrote J. Brooks DiDonato, a lawyer for the city.
The letter also is directed at the State of New Jersey, which has a reported ownership claim for the portion of the island in dispute.
Tim Boyle, spokesman for the Corps' Philadelphia district office, previously said the dredging is part of "normal maintenance" of the river's shipping channel between Trenton and Allegheny Avenue.
The material was tested and found to be clean, Boyle said. The site would be capable of holding about 400,000 cubic yards of material.
On Thursday, Boyle said he did not know how the Corps would respond to the letter.
"The Army Corps is saying it is returning to dump dredge materials on Burlington Island because they did it in 1989, but that just doesn't work for me," Burlington City Mayor Barry Conaway said.
"Just because it happened once doesn't mean it is going to happen again - not on my watch," Conaway said.
The mayor said he wanted to know why there has been no call for an environmental impact study and why there was no consideration for potential historical artifacts.
The island is said to be the site of the first permanent European settlement in what is now New Jersey.
In the early 20th century, it was home to Island Beach Amusement Park, which was eventually destroyed in a series of fires.
It was inhabited until the 1970s, when a handful of houses were vacated and destroyed by the state because they had no sewage-treatment capacity.
The island is a home for bald eagles.
The city said it was launching a social-media campaign opposing the dumping.
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