07/28/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Activist joins Christ Church fight
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record
ROCKAWAY TWP. -- A prominent environmental activist who played a key role in garnering legislative support for the Highlands bill is coming out against Christ Church of Montclair's controversial building plan on Green Pond Road.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said Wednesday he is concerned about potential groundwater contamination and other issues pertaining to the 5,000-member church's proposed campus.
Church officials maintain the plan would not harm the environment.
Tittel charged that any groundwater treatment plan at the environmentally sensitive, former Agilent Technologies site -- currently under a $14 million purchase agreement with Christ Church -- would contaminate nearby streams and wells.
"We think we should be building these kinds of facilities in places like Dover and Morristown, where there's existing sewer and water and where people already live -- where there's buses and trains," Tittel said.
"Just like we're critical of malls and shopping centers, it's no different with a church," Tittel added.
Planning board hearings on Christ Church's proposed 3,000-seat sanctuary, private K-5 school and other facilities are on hold until September, pending review of the Highlands bill, which lawmakers approved in June and Gov. James McGreevey has pledged to sign.
The bill, aimed at protecting drinking water, places strict restrictions on development in a 395,000-acre preservation area that includes the Agilent property.
In response to Tittel's remarks, Christ Church spokesman Marc Weinstein said the church's proposal could be carried out without adversely impacting the environment.
"The church's proposal … will be in full compliance with all environmental regulations. This will be made apparent in future testimony before the township planning board," Weinstein said.
Christ Church's pastor, David Ireland, said last month that the Highlands bill would result in only modest modifications.
"We believe Mr. Tittel's assertion that the church's building plan poses an environmental risk is essentially without merit," Weinstein said.
Tittel countered that just because a building application meets the required standards doesn't preclude any impact on the environment. He speculated that nitrates, phosphorus, chemicals and dust from cars from the 107-acre site might end up polluting the Rockaway River and wetlands.
"Churches can cause environmental damage, just like office buildings," Tittel said.
"I don't think it's the appropriate place. That's an area that should be protected," he added.
Tittel added the Sierra Club had not formally taken a position against Christ Church's application but might oppose the wastewater treatment plan when it is discussed before the planning board. He didn't specify what led to the Sierra Club's interest in the application.
Tittel said the Sierra Club has a history of opposing large developments, including the Rockaway Townsquare mall when it was built in the 1970s because it impacted wetlands.
Tittel said he didn't know whether his organization had opposed Agilent's plans -- the company employed 1,000 people in a large building at the site in its heyday -- but noted that the Sierra Club had generally objected to development in the Green Pond Road area.
Tittel's advocacy for the Highlands bill last spring put him at odds with almost the entire Republican legislative delegation in Morris and Sussex counties, though Rockaway Township Mayor Louis Sceusi, a Republican, was a bill supporter.
Tittel said his group currently opposes a sewer plant that a church wants to build in Bernardsville, near the Great Swamp.
"I don't have anything against churches," Tittel said. "It's no different than if somebody is building a concert hall or a movie theater. You have to look at the use it generates, not what it is."
