By Bill Cleary
Who is responsible for Dead Pond/Aquarium Fish-This past summer a number of Gloucester City residents alleged that the City’s water was responsible for killing their aquarium and pond fish. Some of those same residents filed a claim against the City seeking reimbursement for their loss. A number of the fish that were killed were Japanese Kio fish. A fully matured Kio is priced as high as $3000.
Judy Baker, who lost her pond fish, filed a $350 claim with the City’s insurance carrier, Scibal Associates.
This past week Judy received the following letter denying her claim against the City.
As we have advised, Scibal Associates is the claims administrator for the City of Gloucester. We have investigated your claim for damage to your fish after adding tap water to the pond. The City has advised that they do not add chlorine or ammonia to the water. They confirm that the water met required standards for human consumption; unfortunately, it is not warranted for us in fish ponds. We find that the duty to test the water for fitness for use in a fish pond rests with the owner of the pond and must deny your claim. I regret that we cannot inform you more favorably.
The letter was signed by Robin Sulzer.
If any other resident received a letter from Scibal either denying or approving their claim please send it to me at [email protected] so I can share it with our readers.
Following an outcry from the fish loving public and from residents complaining of the ammonia/bleach smell when they shower, the City released a letter on July 9th, 2009. The headline I wrote above that letter read, Gloucester City Water Responsible for Killing Pond and Aquarium Fish.
The City’s letter reads in part,
Recently on or about the third week of June to the first week of July, possible water problems have been reported concerning loss of aquarium and pond fish. Resulting from our investigations, we believe that the combination of chlorine and associated by-products had an acute affect on fish. This situation in no way suggests that there is a health concern to the residents of the City.
I believe the City admitted in that letter that the water was responsible for the fish dying but that is my opinion.
$400 Million for Radon Cleanup in Gloucester City/Camden City…The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are building a temporary football practice field and a temporary Tee-ball field in that area so that the hazardous waste from some of the playing fields at the north end of Johnson Blvd. can be removed. The temporary fields will be used during the 2010/2011 seasons. The approximate cost for the temporary fields is $50,000, according to Brian Duffy, spokes person for Army Corp of Engineers.
Between the 1890s and 1940s, the defunct Welsbach Co. manufactured gas mantles at its facility located at King and Essex Streets. Presently the area is being used by Holt Cargo Systems. The gas mantles contained the radioactive elements thorium and radium. These elements give off gamma radiation and radon gas as part of the process of radioactive decay. These wastes were used as fill material in some area in Camden and Gloucester City. In 1996 the site was placed on the EPA’s Superfund Site List, a list of the nations’ most hazardous waste sites. Around 2002 the remediation work began on the homes in the Essex and Brown Streets area including the City Swim Club property.
Duffy said the cleanup of all the sites is expected to take another 10 years. The projected cost $400 million. Of that amount an estimated $350 million will be spent in Gloucester City. The remaining amount, approximately $50 million is allocated for Camden City sites.
Several people asked if the local question on the November 3 ballot pertaining to the volunteer firemen in Gloucester City passed. The final vote was 1105 yes and 822 no. As a result volunteer firemen who qualify will be eligible to join the Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP). The program rewards members of the volunteer firefighter organization for their loyal, diligent and devoted services to the residents of Gloucester City.
The LOSAP will provide for fixed annual contributions to a deferred income account for each volunteer member that meets the criteria. The estimated cost of the program has been calculated at $25,000 per year. Membership start date shall be November 1 and the firefighter must serve one full year to be eligible.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE…The Camden County Recycler newsletter was released last week. According to an article in the paper recycling has increased in all county municipalities by 32 percent since the year 2006. The increase is attributed to the single stream recycling program. In one article Freeholder Jeff Nash states, \”Due to the ease of single stream recycling, (placing newspapers, glass, and cans all in one container) we are seeing an increase in homeowner compliance with recycling requirements.\”
If compliance is up throughout all Camden County communities by 32 percent one would ask why then did Gloucester City feel the need to a hire a Sanitation Enforcement Officer in August. The individual hired at the time for the $300 a week part-time job was Jim Rauchet, the president of the local Democrat Club.
Come to find out two weeks after he was appointed Rauchet quit. Then in September the City advertized the position on the NJ Civil Service website. And from what I been told some members of council still feel the position is needed.
I hope that isn’t correct. If people are complying with the law as Freeholder Nash states then this position is not needed in the City of Gloucester City or in any other county community.
And if our mayor and council say it is then they should prove it to the public by releasing the recycling tonnage figures for the last three years. And before hiring anyone go to the residents and asked them to increase their effort before wasting their tax dollars on a \”trumped up\” position.
The French novelist Alphonse Karr (1808-90) said it best, \”The more things change, the more things stay the same.\”
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