Sen. Frank Lautenberg Day

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. . . . . for him. But I also want to say I'm just awarded you with my role here today as a service master of ceremony. So I'm going to be brief and that's an easy job to there. But I do want to acknowledge particularly a lot of the families who who have lived here over the years, some have moved away, some have stayed, some of those family. Massity, I want to salute them for their courage. I want to thank them and salute them for enduring this process that has disrupted their lives over the years. So I think they should be applauded and salute it as well today. Before I introduce the people who are sitting here before us, I would like to acknowledge a couple of people who have moved provost. Okay, and

someone else who was now living rich, what was here in Montclair for a long time and certainly is no stranger to this particular project, Mike Rohaw, who was a kinder, kinder, kinder, sorter. And what I'd like to do now is just introduce the people on the dyes on my right, your left, this is our Councilwoman Theresa O'Conn. And Colonel Pierce from the Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. John Rose from Senator Lautenburg's office, and Jean Fox, the regional director of the EPA, and Councilman Albertus Jenkins. This is not what I'm going to say, it's something I carry with me all the time.

First of all, my sincere gratitude to those of you who have been working side by side and helping me in a way that I guess I can never say thank you enough for. Working as a team with the U.S. EPA, Corps of Engineers and others, most of all the great-on task force, which is the town of Montfair, made a decision about back in 1983, where they wanted to have people involved with what's going on, so they had some input. That type of input that would make help the program and not deter it. We, as members of the great-on task force, thank also, we've seen many, many people come through, but there was more meant to add, this list just stands out since James John Christophe from the U.S. EPA.

The gentleman that's stuck with his word, I do specific things to make this a better job, make this a better neighborhood, and make this a place where, on the spot you're sitting on right now, this is one of the hottest spots in the United States. We can now have the children come and play baseball here. We can take a walk and take a walk and feel safe and not know that there's something out there in the air that might be effectiveness. This is a type of thing that when we start talking about history, history itself is a living thing. I have to look back because this whole thing began as the assumption was made in some of the historical facts, back in the turn of the century, where we had companies that were doing things that helped war efforts in World War I, World War II, and so forth, to bring in such things as green for sites and so forth. But it wasn't just a month that I was affected by it.

It was also a pilgrimage, orange, west orange, and monoclarum. So they went through some of the same things when we went through it. It looked like that, but on that map shows the contiguous areas that were examined. This type of work was done starting back in early 1884 or 1885 time frame, coming up all the way through the sites of 1887 when we had people from other towns join us. People from Vernon, Warwick, and so forth came in and said, specifically to us, how can we help? Who said money? It was a basic money. We need money to look at this project done, and we need money for other things, and specifically, the legal fees and things of that nature. So I want to thank the people from Warwick, New Jersey, excuse me, Warwick, New York, and Vernon, New Jersey, who had an affair up there inviting me to it,

where well over 1,000 people showed up. That has shown that, technically, it's helped make the collective approximately a thousand dollars of war that went into the legal fund that needed. So I'm not going to take more than the five minutes that I've allocated myself to this, because I can talk about history, 20 years worth of it, and you already know that you lived, and you are still a part of it. I'm looking forward to moving this entire thing in the matter in which all has been saying the streets are paying. I can get out there and park. I don't need to have to worry about if I have to get up early tomorrow morning, so they can come in and do their work. Or hearing this most significant thing, hearing some of the noises that occur early in the morning, and you're so patiently accepted it, and said, gee, is that going to be finished in a little chance? I thank you.

I thank you again. And I thank Senator Lautenberg. Senator Lautenberg and I met back when I was, actually, there's a year after he was voted in as Senator, his first term. At that time, he said, so I'm going to give you some advice, because I know you're going to need a lot of advice, and some of them I actually don't need at all. He said, for the key thing that says, in order to make this program a success, you're going to have to work with the people. I have followed that many times when I was sitting at home, and I turn around and say to myself, he was right. Here, I met many many times during the past 20 years, I guess you should be able to beat everybody into 20 years. But even in that time, his thoughts were always with you. We were sitting in Washington sometimes thinking about how we're going to do this, or what needs to be done, or how is funding going to come about?

That's what you might recall. Well, that was during that period, when funds were not that good and forthcoming. But he worked, he stopped with it, and I know if he was here today, he would say, thank you for your patience. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I would like to ask Donald Pierce, one of the Army Corps engineers to say a few words. He looked up here. I'm honored to be here to represent some of the five people in the Corps of Engineers, such as Michael Johnson and Gina Mannick sitting out in front of you who have worked here in the project that was so challenging to you all. In my travels as a military officer, I have been to many, many different countries,

and I always come back to the United States with a lot of gratitude, and really a lot of this in a country that has enough care and enough government to take care of its citizens, where the citizens can have hope that their government will take care of them when there are problems such as these, or when we all have to pull together to work a project such as Montclair. I know it hasn't been an extreme challenge for all of you. It's required a lot of persistence. It's required a lot of heartbreak at times, and I certainly admire the work that the people here have done. A lot of volunteer work, as we all know, a lot of sacrifice made by many people. We in the core are happy to work with our sister agency, the EPA, in order to work through the many challenges and many difficulties in order to finish this product so that the citizens of this town can enjoy their entire community. I thank you all. When the local government and the state government and the federal government get together to work,

as they have done here, certainly it takes leadership and the leadership that your senator has shown, Senator Lautenberg, to get this done is also truly admirable. And I thank you all, and certainly I am honored here to take part in that solid version, honoring Senator Lautenberg. Thank you. Applause. Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here. I want to thank Sam Pickert and the rest of the read on TASports. You did a marvelous job. It was a pleasure for them to work with you. You understood you got frustrated sometimes, actually. The employees for the government got frustrated sometimes, because they're definitely in your corner and far and far out of it. And I thank you guys to stay here for working hard. And I come here with mixed emotions today. I mean, the second is not here. Yeah. Yeah. It's always a pleasure to honor Frank Lautenberg.

He's a great man. As usual, administrative and agents of this, sometimes came under a lot of heat from Congress and elsewhere over the years. It's always been great, and we're assuring, to have Senator Lautenberg in our corner, which he clearly was. I say our corner because he's an E.P.E. corner, but also as a New Jersey resident, and he's a New Jersey corner, very much so. And also, as an environmentalist, he's in their corner, too. So it's more than a little sad to see him leave. Because he's done a lot for his own state and our environment. Some of that work's life is a perfect illustration of what the American Green made as well as the promises. He came from immigrant parents and Patterson. This pair is before the second in Patterson, Chris Clark's the state of New Jersey looking for work. He would think that those years ago that their son could be a New York center. His father was a mill worker,

and he went into the military, the Army signal corps, and worked with two. One of the GI Bureau of Columbia. And from there, went with two friends, started a company in a new area, automatic data processing, where they did pay world services. And we call that company ADP, for sure. ADP became one of the largest computing service companies in the country. While he was chair and CEO of ADP, ADP, Senate announced that it was also very active at national and in state politics. And in 1982, decided to run for public office in the rest of history. We won a seat in 1982, reelected in 88 and 94. During this three terms, the senator has been a very strong leader in the Senate, and I think in the last term, certainly, the strongest leader for environmental issues. He helped write many of our most important environmental bills, including super fun, the cleaner act, the state drinking water act,

and the nation's first right to no act. Also, the senator was the main sponsor for being in smoking on airplanes. And we all remember when, at least the older among us, we remember when smoking was allowed in airplanes and how it went, and how healthy that was. He also was the strongest Democrat leader, the transportation area, the senior Democrat of those committees. And he put a lot of money into mass transportation. And I think he voiced single-handedly saved and tracked several years ago. So if it was not for his important work in the environmental area, this state in the country could much worse off. Also, his work in super fun, much for that. I don't think, literally, we would be here today. Now we look at the final stages of a cleanup that's caused so far over $200 million. This site has been one of the most difficult super fun clean-ups around the country. And as many of you know, decades ago, radium contaminated soil from the nearby radon processing plants was used as fill in which these homes were built.

The radium decayed, releasing radon gas, which was a bi-potted gamma radiation as well. To date, we've excavated over 250,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and removed them from the area and shipped it for proper disposal. EPA has investigated almost 900 homes for radon gas irradiation. More than 250 residential properties were remediated and some work required the temporary relocation of about 100 families from their homes. While work among their end-west orange is reaching completion, we are continuing to work in bluefield and in Glenbridge. And you can see from the map of the point out one of the locations where we've done. And that's almost all of it, where there's residences. Senator Lautner was keely interested in this work here in the very beginning. Indeed, many New Jerseyans who live near the dozens and dozens of super fun sites we have in this state owe this senator a debted gratitude

for his work on super fun. Even after the super fun program was created, debate continued about who should pay at the high cost of these clean-ups. Throughout the battles over super fun reform, Senator Lautner has always maintained a simple rule and a power for principle that the polluter must pay. With his support, the super fun program has survived and has become much more effective. This administration has cleaned up three times as many super fun sites than the prior administrations. In fact, almost 90 percent of all super fun sites are now cleaned up or in progress. But still, it's sad to say that the debate in Washington over super fun continues to this day. And for this reason alone, this date of New Jersey is saddened by Senator Lautner's decision to leave Congress. We are losing a compassionate, powerful, and very effective friend. Although Senator Lautner will not work in the halls of the Senate next year, his legacy will live on in our safer water

and our cleaner air. I think I speak for the residents of Montpel, restaurants, language, and the rest of New Jersey. I say we'll miss the senator for his dignity, his commitment, and his willingness to fight for all of us. Thank you. Thank you, Ann. I would now like a resolution of appreciation and thanks to clearing October 23, 2000 as Senator Frank A. Lautner was there. Where Senator Frank R. Lautner was the Jersey Senate representative since 1982, and former Montpel resident, came to the assistance of the Township of Montclair, December 1983. When Montclair was notified that an aerial survey had disclosed that Radio Act of contamination was found in the South in the Montclair sections of West Orange and Green Ridge. And...

Whereas during the last 17 years, Senator Lautner has made himself accessible to and supportive of Montclair's governing body, and the volunteer members of the radon task force, as they worked together to address the murid issues which arose as the Township gradually learned the full extent of the radon contamination, affecting over 416 properties on 120 acres of residential land, which comprised the Montclair, West Orange, Superfund site, and... And then, as Senator Lemphausen, as Senator Frank Lautner broke day in Montclair New Jersey's sign by the entire council, we're going to present this to John Loroz as a representative of Senator Lautner's office. Thank you. Thank you very much. We have another presentation, also, John, for you to stay up here and receive from us. We've got a token of our...

Good morning. The Senator is very sorry that he couldn't be here today, but he was hoping that I could have the opportunity just to say a few remarks in his behalf. Essentially, what I will do is read to you what the Senator dictated to me over the telephone this weekend when he realized that he was not going to be able to get here today. Good morning. I'm very sorry I'm not able to join you today, especially if you have the time and trouble you've got to develop such a wonderful program. Unfortunately, I found out this weekend that this morning at the White House President Clinton will be signing several bills into law, which in which I was very involved, and I was asked to join him on that occasion. They include the Transportation Appropriations Bill, which includes several hundred million dollars for New Jersey, as well as my effort to raise the blood alcohol content from driving to point away. A blow that will save hundreds of lives on our highways. I hope I had no choice but to honor the President's request and to be with him in Washington. Please accept my apologies.

However, this is the day of great celebration. We are entering the final phase of the Superfund cleanup and the streets you see before you are nearly complete. I know this cleanup has caused great displacement and hardship for many people among Clara. If we could have done it any other way, we would have. In spite of this inconvenience, this cleanup was absolutely necessary to assure your safety in your homes and your yards. The good news is that the contaminated soil is largely out of the community, and people were back in their homes. The cleanup was nearly finished, and we are on the brink of a new future for Montclair. However, without the Superfund program, and the great assistance from Gene Fox at EPA, Colonel Pierce at the Corps of Engineers and their staffs, this cleanup may not have happened. In this case, the plunder who caused this is long gone, and the cleanup just wasn't about to begin. That's where Superfund came to the rescue. Since I came to the Senate 18 years ago,

protecting the environment has been one of my top priorities. I work to make sure we put the health and safety of citizens first, and I am proud we kept Superfund strong despite the many challenges, by setting stringent cleanup standards and by making plunders pay impossible. But it's not a luxury to want safe places for our children to play in and safe in order to drink. It is a rate, and I have worked hard to make sure that rate is protected. There are so many people who have worked hard to get the job done here in Montclair. Particularly, I want to commend Sam Pinkard, of the mayor's task force for pushing EPA to get the cleanup done as quickly as possible without sacrificing their illness. Mayor Russo, you are indeed lucky to have Sam on your side, and I want to commend you and all of the residents and elected officials of Montclair for working together to make this day possible. I wish you all health and happiness in your community and your homes, and thank you very much for inviting me here today to receive this honor.

But please, again, accept my apologies for not able to be here in person. I hope I'll be able to visit Montclair soon to see firsthand this completed project and to thank again all of you for your support during my years in the Senate. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Again, our former Mayor Larry Olo is here, and he went through a lot of this with people who have been in the neighborhood, including former Mayor Jackson, who lives in this neighborhood. I just want to acknowledge that we have our police chief Tom Russo here, who's worked with the community in making sure it's a safe area to work in, and our fire chief LaGloca is here. Another council member has joined us since we began in Councilman Remson. I'd ask you to come on the front, but Councilman Ed Remson is here from the second room. So many members of the council have been involved in this few years. Councilman Don Zief is in the general area. I couldn't make it today. But I do want to acknowledge, before we leave, again, that Senator Lautberg worked in partnership

with our Township Manager, our Township Public Works Director. Township Manager Reed has been here six years working on this problem. During that period of time, for a while, there was work done by Mike Rohal, who's now in Glen Ridge, who understands the problem as our Public Works Director. So many of our folks, our Parks Director, Lonnie Brandoos here, who's involved with this. I think that the Township worked together with the community the best we could. I've been on the council almost nine years now, and it's my fortune to be mayor during the time that this is coming to a conclusion, but it was such a struggle for previous mayors and council members. But there's one person who stood out during all of this will help us really get through this period, and it's the gentleman that Senator Lautberg referred to in the remarks that Mr. Moro's read. And I want to give special recognition again today, and we're going to do more for you, Sam, and the future. But I'd like everyone to give a tremendous round of applause and appreciation to Sam Pinker for all the good things.

Thank you. I just want to thank everyone again, Gene Clarks for coming in front of me. John, please bring our regards to Senator Lautberg and tell him the great band and music and food he missed today. Thank you. Thank you. It was quite a good question to be back. And just... Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.