Can we still BLOCK Bridge Point 8 from being built? YES! with your help. By Tirza Wahrman

We live in precarious times. If you live in Central New Jersey, you likely have been impacted either as a motorist, pedestrian or homeowner by sudden flood events. I have, and they are frightening.

The Bridgepoint 8 application, to construct seven warehouses, totaling 5.5 million square feet, with 910 loading docks, was approved by the West Windsor Planning Board by a 6 to 2 vote on June 29 of this year. The applicant and the planning board took the position that the applicant could legally rely on flood maps that were issued in 1999--- 23 years ago.  That's unthinkable.  Reliance on outdated flood maps on an ecologically sensitive site, that contains 164 acres of wetlands and flood-prone lands combined, already subject to intense flooding will endanger our community and surrounding area at large.  After years of study and presentations, and in spite of intense pressure from the builders' lobby, the DEP is finally poised to issue newly updated flood maps under its Inland Flood Protection Rules. (dep.nj.gov/inland-flood-protection-rule/ ).  

Call to action: Those of us who live in the surrounding area must be submitting our comments to the DEP to urge them to fast-track the implementation of the new, updated flood maps.

Feel free to quote Jim Waltman of the Watershed Institute in his letter of opposition to the project, addressed to our County Executive, “The addition of this massive area of impervious cover threatens to exacerbate severe flooding that West Windsor, Princeton and Lawrence already experience during extreme storms." The new flood maps incorporate climate-informed precipitation data to better align with current precipitation conditions and the expected effect of climate change on precipitation events.

On Thursday, December 1, to the disappointment of many, the DEP granted a flood hazard area permit for Bridgepoint 8 under the old flood maps! However, a second freshwater wetlands permit remains outstanding. Until it is granted, the applicant cannot start work on this project. We still have a chance to implore the DEP to fast track the Inland Flood Protection Rules, to protect this region from certain devastation. We  don't need protection from storms of 23 years ago.  We need to responsibly plan for today and for the future. This mammoth project is forever. We won't be able to undo the damage. Let's get it right the first time. 

Here's what you need to know:

DEP Docket Number: 08-22-10.

Proposal Number: PRN 2022-156.

A public hearing concerning this notice of proposal will be held on      January 11, 2023, at 1:00 P.M. 

The hearing will be conducted virtually through the Department of Environmental Protection's (Department) video conferencing software, Microsoft Teams. A link to the virtual public hearing will be provided on the Department's NJ PACT website. (https://dep.nj.gov/njpact/)

Submit comments by close of business on February 3, 2023, electronically at www.nj.gov/dep/rules/comments. Each comment should be identified by the applicable N.J.A.C. citation, with the commenter's name and affiliation following the comment.

The Department encourages electronic submittal of comments. As an  alternative, comments may be submitted on paper to:

Lauren J. Zarrillo, Esq.
Attention: DEP Docket No. 08-22-10
Office of Legal Affairs
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 East State Street, 7th Floor
Mail Code 401-04L
PO Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402

If you are interested in providing oral testimony or submitting written comments at the virtual public hearing, please email the Department at Peter.Demeo@dep.nj.gov, no later than 5:00 P.M. on January 9, 2023, with your contact information (name, organization, telephone number, and email address). You must provide a valid email address so the Department can send you an email confirming receipt of your interest to testify orally at the hearing and provide you with a separate option for a telephone call-in line if you do not have access to a computer that can connect to Microsoft Teams. Please note that the Department will take oral testimony at the hearing in alphabetical order of the testifying person's last name. Further, this hearing will be recorded. It is requested (but not required) that anyone providing oral testimony at the public hearing provide a copy of any prepared remarks to the Department by email.

The notice of proposal may be viewed or downloaded from the Department's website at http://www.nj.gov/dep/rules.

ALSO... Please email TODAY: Call and send snail mail too... inundate them with what is obviously the only decision that is logical and in line with their obligation to the communities they serve. (For additional contacts click here: https://www.nj.gov/dep/easyaccess/landuse.htm) Let em know your discontent!

Shawn LaTourette, DEP Commissioner, at shawn.latourette@dep.nj.gov, and Peter Demeo, Supervising Environmental Engineer at:  Peter.Demeo@dep.nj.gov and implore them to fast-track the implementation of the updated flood maps, so that DEP can apply them to the pending freshwater wetlands permit. Public safety demands it.