Letter to the Editor: How Did Dynamite Become an Option?

Dear Editor:

How did dynamite blasting secure a place at the table in Millburn and Short Hills?  I am sure that Stewart Hartshorn would roll over in his grave if he were privy to the latest controversy going on.  Our municipality was meticulously planned to become an idyllic, understated, quiet and naturally elegant community.  Over the past sixteen years I have enjoyed the modern day version of Stewart’s vision and watched the town develop in many positive ways through resident’s personal and some built-to-specification projects.  However, some builders are going rogue lately, displaying lack of architectural integrity and vision, wasting treescapes; creating visual pollution and chipping piece by piece at the beauty of the town.  While this is distressing, the latest rogue movement of scheduled dynamite blasting at 30 Dorison Drive is out of control and we must draw the line here.  Dynamite blasting should never occur for the purposes of extreme frivolousness at the expense of potential physical and environmental harm and property damage to others. The state laws were not developed to allow dynamite blasting for personal luxuries, they were intended for commercial purposes, such as mines, tunnels, and roadways created for the betterment of the general public.

This week I sat through the 2nd town hall meeting regarding the concerns around blasting at Dorison Drive.  The residents that will be directly impacted by these blasts, painstakingly presented credible legal arguments and concerns about safety and imminent damage that would occur.  They were prepared and articulated multiple directions that our township committee could take in stopping this.  Throughout the meeting the township committee was ever gracious, yet appeared to placate the group with generalized statements and indicated on multiple occasions that there was nothing they could do legally.  Only state Senator Codey had highly creative suggestions to halt the project. The residents questions were not answered and no actionable list of To Do’s came out of the meeting.  I left terribly distressed about the potential losses those directly affected would have.  

I was under the impression the township committee's purpose is to ensure the protection of the Millburn resident's way of life, education, safety and property.  They have successfully set aside time and funds to accomplish this on occasions; such as finding the perfect location for a parking deck, to limit intrusion on the lifestyles of the Cape Court and Glen Ave residents, fighting the Royal Ahold Corporation from building a Stop and Shop that could negatively impact the Glenwood area or taking a stand against a religious institution being developed, subsequently creating traffic and noise disruption on Jefferson Avenue.  

Yet in the face of this monumental issue, why is it out of their hands?  The potential for trees falling down, foundations cracking, sewer damage, window blow outs, ground water and air contamination, and humans being hit by debris seems a heck of lot more dangerous than noise and traffic disturbances.  I hope that Millburn township will support their residents, allocate funds and take risk on this issue immediately.  While there is no line item for blasting appropriations under public safety, during the next meeting (May 29th) I hope that we can walk line by line through the 2013 budget to allocate funds for this.  Maybe the $1.8 MM reserve for improvements and repairs can be tapped or funds can be shifted from less critical allocations.  There are always solutions and I hope that we see some creative options and an executable plan presented by the township.

It would be ideal if we could explore the options of the town challenging state laws and arguing that the law was not for the intent of unnecessary residential blasting and that under common law that people cannot use their property in ways that damage their neighbors property.  Perhaps they can demand that the property owner / builder provide a cost analysis of the multiple alternative means of bedrock excavation assessed in contrast to the current blasting methodology; possibly influencing the builder to utilize the safer option.   Or maybe the committee can explore immediately enacting a local law protecting Millburn citizens similar to ones that Franklin Lakes and Montville township have added to their codes.

All those concerned invite and hope to see many more residents stand up with the Dorison Drive residents and shake off  the “it is not in my backyard” standard that we can all easily take.  Do it for them, but also for yourself, because if it is not stopped, dynamite blasting will be coming to a neighborhood near you soon.

Sincerely,

Christine Best

Short Hills