Cleanup affects local towns

Matawan and Aberdeen officials should make a point of attending a public meeting scheduled for tonight at the Marlboro municipal building about on-site and off-site cleanups at the Imperial Oil Superfund site in Marlboro.

Concerned citizens of Marlboro are scheduled to meet with representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Matawan and Aberdeen officials and residents should also be concerned because the cleanup involves Birch Swamp Brook, which runs through residential properties in those two towns as well as Marlboro, then empties into Lake Lefferts, a prime recreational body of water in Matawan.

Tina Freedman, president of the Monmouth County Environmental Coalition, who plans to attend the meeting, said Monday that the environmental agencies will be making decisions on how clean up the brook and that she thinks their decision "is going to be to leave it alone."

If that’s the case, Matawan and Aberdeen officials need to find out what that would mean for residents and their local environment, and also make sure they have a say in the matter.