There's a report in tomorrow's edition of Inside EPA, a Washington-based publication that follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that former New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Bradley Campbell is on the short list to become EPA Administrator if Barack Obama becomes President. Campbell served as Regional EPA Administrator in the Clinton administration before Gov. James E. McGreevey named him to his cabinet in 2002. 

Campbel's desire to run the EPA is not exactly a secret.  But don't expect Campbell's name to remain on the short list for long, if it's really there now: he's made some powerful enemies among New Jersey Democrats after Campbell went public with his opposition to the controversial EnCap project in Bergen County.

Campbell told The Record last October that he viewed EnCap as a "terrible bait and switch" by the developer and wanted to stop public financing of the plan because it was "a scandalmonger's dream" that could cost taxpayers upwards of $70 million. And Campbell says that the deal "could expose 'pay to play' aspects of the financing plan by drawing attention to the involvement of the politically connected DeCotiis law firm."

It's no secret that former state Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell wants to be the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under a Democratic President. That might explain why Campbell has gone public with his opposition to the controversial EnCap project in Bergen County.

Campbell told The Record that he viewed EnCap as a "terrible bait and switch" by the developer and wanted to stop public financing of the plan because it was "a scandalmonger's dream" that could cost taxpayers upwards of $70 million.

Bradley Campbell, who was James E. McGreevey's Commissioner of Environmental Protection, is on New York Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer's short list to head New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, according to a source with knowledge of Spitzer's transition.

Campbell worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as Region 3 EPA Administrator during the Clinton administration and was living in Pennsylvania when then-Congressman Robert Menendez urged McGreevey to bring him to New Jersey.

The 45-year-old Campbell has been a partner at the West Orange law firm of Wolff and Samson since Governor Jon Corzine replaced him last January. Among his law partners is David Samson, who served in the McGreevey cabinet with Campbell and was Attorney General of New Jersey while Spitzer held the post in New York.

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Democratic sources say that Lisa Jackson, now the Assistant Commissioner of Compliance and Enforcement, has emerged as a top candidate for Commissioner of Environmental Protection in Jon Corzine's administration. Jackson worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1987 to 2001, serving as Acting Director of Enforcement in the New York regional office run by state Board of Public Utilities Chairman Jeanne Fox. Jackson has an influential backer: former U.S. Senator Bob Torricelli. This could help Torricelli, who is seeking DEP permits for his client, Matrix Developments. The current Commissioner, Bradley Campbell, may want to stay on -- although it won't necessarily be his choice.

By Carl J. Mayer

The first tests of Governor-elect Corzine's leadership will begin before he takes office.

One of the keys will be who Corzine appoints to lead the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

New Jersey has more environmental problems than any other state in the country, thus this position is vitally important.

The current Commissioner Bradley Campbell has failed to safeguard New Jersey's environment and wildlife and needs to be replaced by someone who will actually protect the environment of the state rather than do the bidding of developers and special interest groups.

Herewith the top five reasons Corzine ought not to re-appoint Campbell:

5. Campbell recently approved New Jersey's first bear hunt in almost 35 years. You can’t be an environmental leader and work to destroy wildlife. Yosemite Park has thousands of people and bears in close proximity; they routinely manage by using non-lethal methods.

4. Commissioner Campbell not only approved the slaughter of Deer in New Jersey in 2001, but he approved a vicious method called “Net and Bolt� that is condemned by the Humane Society and virtually every other animal welfare organization in the country. Under "Net and Bolt" animals are wrestled to the ground after being trapped under a net and then an eight-inch steel rod is exploded into their heads, causing a gruesome, painful death.

3. Campbell is controlled by the bosses who have corrupted New Jersey politics for decades. The best example of this is the proposed development of Petty Island in South Jersey. News outlets reported earlier this year that Campbell opposed preserving this island – home to nesting bald eagles – in favor of developing it after he was lobbied by notorious political boss George Norcross (currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney). The development will be done by Cherokee Partners – a firm that has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Norcross and Campbell’s party.

2. Campbell is a McGreevey appointee and was close to the Governor and the corrupt bosses that control politics in New Jersey. Outside his office, Campbell had a framed picture of Jim McGreevey, addressed to Campbell that said: "Thanks Brad." Corzine cannot call himself a reformer if he re-appoints McGreevey holdovers.

1. Campbell approved the worst environmental law in the modern history of New Jersey and maybe the country. This so called "fast-track" bill allows developers to bypass the ordinary legal and environmental protections afforded land in New Jersey and continue to build uncontrollably. The Sierra Club and the entire environmental community opposed this measure because it endangers the remaining 20% of New Jersey that is open space. It was passed in a back-room deal, written behind closed doors, with the exclusive input of industry and without the environmental community.

I personally have witnessed Campbell’s failed management style.

In 2001 I represented, as a lawyer, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and various groups in New Jersey that wanted to stop the "Net and Bolt torture of animals. We had a meeting with a Commissioner Campbell at his office.

Rather than listen to any of the facts or evidence regarding the costliness and ineffectiveness of killing deer, Commissioner Campbell spent the entire meeting ranting and raving about how “Net and Bolt’ was actually humane, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Campbell has a history of these outbursts. When Governor McGreevey was on statewide radio call in show, I called the show and pointed out that McGreevey had himself called the “Net and Bolt� deer slaughter “heinous� and he agreed that it was.

Minutes later I received a call from Campbell screaming about how I dare call the Governor and threatening to cancel a previously arranged meeting.

You can’t run a government agency by calling environmental advocates and shouting at them. You can’t be an environmental leader and favor torturing wildlife and loosening controls on developers.

Campbell tried this. It didn’t work. He must go and Corzine should find a new leader to protect the environment of New Jersey.

Carl J. Mayer, a lawyer, runs the blog devoted to ending corruption in New Jersey: www.newjerseyuntouchables.org.

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