MORIARTY/LOVE BILL MAKING IT A CRIME TO KNOWINGLY EXPOSE RESIDENTS TO TOXINS ADVANCES

MORIARTY/LOVE BILL MAKING IT A CRIME TO KNOWINGLY EXPOSE RESIDENTS TO TOXINS ADVANCES

Bill Crafted in Response to South Jersey ‘Kiddie Kollege’ Debacle

(TRENTON) –Legislation Assembly members Paul D. Moriarty and Sandra Love sponsored to make it a crime to knowingly expose residents to toxic pollutants and require new procedures for contaminated sites that are to be used for educational or day care purposes is advancing.

The measures stem from the 2006 case of the Kiddie Kollege day care center in Franklin Township, Gloucester County. The facility was shut down after state environmental officials discovered it had been operating in a bankrupt thermometer factory for two years, even though the building was previously classified as a toxic site.

Roughly 60 children tested positive for mercury exposure, and the building registered a level of mercury 27 times above acceptable limits.

State law enforcement officials later said state law was inadequate for them to prosecute Kiddie Kollege’s owners, whom the state Department Environmental Protection said knew about the site’s polluted past.

“If anything positive can come about from the Kiddie Kollege calamity, it exposed a weakness in state law that we are seeking to correct,” said Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden). “We need an immediate change to our system to allow for the swift prosecution of anyone who knowingly puts lives – especially the lives of children – in real danger.”

One bill (A-2951) would create the crime of exposure to toxic pollutants. Under the legislation, any person who intentionally exposes residents to any toxic pollutant listed under the state’s Water Pollution Control Act would be guilty of a crime of the second degree; a person who recklessly causes such exposure would be guilty of a third degree crime.

Second degree crimes are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $150,000; third degree crimes can lead to five years in prison and fines of up to $15,000.

The measure was recently released by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee by a vote of 7-0.

The other bill (A-3519) would expand current law concerning the issuance of construction permits for sites that are contaminated or are suspected of being contaminated when the site is to be used for educational or day care purposes. It would tighten the rules to also cover instances when developers seek to build residential properties on land that could have been contaminated by industrial or agricultural chemical waste. The panel released it 5-1-1.

“The state needs every tool at its disposal to go after people who recklessly put the health of others in real danger,” said Love (D-Camden/Gloucester). “There can be no wiggle room or uncertainty. Putting lives at risk – such as was done at Kiddie Kollege – must be met with a strong response.”

The measures now head to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post them for a floor vote.

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