RE: Visual, Environmental and Economic Impact on Tinicum Township Resulting from the New Jersey Department of Transportation RT. 29 Rockfall Mitigation Project in Kingwood Township.
 
We, the undersigned, respectfully request the Tinicum Township Board of Supervisors:
 
·      Adopt a resolution expressing concern over potential damage to the Tinicum Township visual and natural environment and other economic interests (home values, tourism revenues), and to request that Tinicum be kept informed by the NJDOT about project plans, progress, any public information meetings and to share the resolution with NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Chair Kathryn DeFillippo, Congressman Tom Malinowski, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Governor Tom Wolf, Governor Phil Murphy, the Bucks County Commissioners and the National Park Service.
 
·      Also, as a municipal member of the Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic River Management Council, we request the resolution include strong language that NJDOT complete an “Environmental Impact Statement,” before moving ahead and have the findings addressed in any future project plans:

Additional Background:
New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is planning a mitigation project along sections of Route 29 in Kingwood Township, New Jersey beginning in Byram and proceeding north through the Devil’s Tea Table area. While this project is designed to improve public safety by remediating the rockface and installing rockfall control measures, this area is within the Lower Delaware Wild & Scenic River corridor and provides “remarkable scenic values.” The area also parallels the Delaware River Scenic Byway, a designation by the USDOT, endorsed by the NJDOT. The area also has unique local, historical and geological significance, and is believed to hold religious significance to Native American peoples. The area to be impacted contains at least three tributaries to the Delaware River and a number of endangered species inhabit the impacted area.
The area is widely regarded as one of the most scenic areas in the country and attracts thousands of tourists to our river corridor.
 
The project is a massive undertaking and will dramatically affect the “remarkable scenic values” we all enjoy.  It will include:
·      Widespread removal of trees and vegetation,
·      Blasting on much of the rockface, rock removal, scaling and reinforcement,
·      Installing metal mesh or “draping” materials to the rockface, the creation of a new barrier or a “catchment ditch,” and,
·      Applying concrete(shotcrete) to the smoothed rockface around and including the Devil’s Tea Table geologic structure.
·      Disrupting the flow of three stream tributaries to the Delaware River
When and if complete, the mitigation as planned will radically change the visual nature of the river valley in the area, forever.
 
Residents living in Kingwood Township, NJ and Tinicum Township, PA, anyone driving, hiking, or biking on either side of the river and the adjacent trails and anyone boating, fishing, tubing, swimming in the river will see a very different, industrial-looking rockface after the mitigation project is complete.  
 
The project will negatively impact wildlife including a number of endangered species of plants, animals and fish living in the area, and could damage wells, septic systems and homes of residents in the area.
 
The project will negatively impact tourism businesses in the area and could negatively affect property values in Tinicum Township.
 
The pending closures and delays along RT 29 will cause traffic to divert along RT 32 for several months. This will increase traffic on our already beleaguered roads and bridges - especially at the Golden Pheasant bridge.  
 
NJDOT contends they do not need public hearings or any environmental impact studies to move ahead with the project as it is a public safety issue, yet an OPRA request revealed NJDOT has no records of accident or injuries from rockfall incidents in the area, and NJDOT presents minimal and questionable rockfall data to justify this dramatic project, now priced at $33 million federal dollars and will commence in 2023 or sooner.
 
Since March 2021:
 
Kingwood Township passed a resolution opposing the project based on failure by NJDOT to answer pressing questions raised by Twp. stakeholders, and NJDOT’s desire to have the project excluded from environmental assessment. 
 
The Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic Partnership-of which Tinicum is a founding member – sent a request to Hunterdon County raising many serious concerns about the project and urging the county to get involved.  
 
On April 20 Hunterdon County Commission voted unanimously to enact a resolution requesting NJDOT halt the Rt. 29 rockfall mitigation project until it is further reviewed by the community, its agencies and elected public officials, and appropriate environmental assessments are conducted.  
 
On May 5th, at the urging of the Frenchtown Environmental Commission, that borough passed a resolution supporting Kingwood and Hunterdon and echoing their concerns and requests.
 
Also, extensive reporting by USA Today reporters over the last year has revealed serious questions about how the NJDOT has developed several rockfall projects including the Rt. 29 project. All are using federal funds and all similarly avoid consultation with local officials, resist environmental impact reviews, are based on very questionable rockfall data, are not based on a cost benefit analyses, start small and grow exponentially in price and scope, and benefit the same group of contracting firms.

Link to further information on the issue: https://www.lowerdelawarewildandscenic.org/index.php/devil-s-tt-full-article