by Brian T. Lynch, MSW

IT’S DONE!

It has been done since September 2023.

Ashland Chemical, the private company that bought the highly polluted Hercules property more than two decades ago, finally created its first public information website about its clean-up operations in Kenvil. The public website, they said, was to be the centerpiece of Ashland’s first-ever public meeting to discuss their operations and take questions from the general public.

Despite a successful petition drive in late Sumer by the Raritan Headwaters Association, which legally obligated NJDEP to arrange that public hearing, Ashland Chemical has yet to set a date for that meeting. They did promise to create a public-information website, but they launched their new website into obscurity within the vast internet universe. You can find it if you search for it, or I can just give you the link here: [ www.hercules-kenvil.com]

Please! Take some time to explore the new website. Admire the photographs. Read the history. Wonder (as I did) if the subtitle "Committed to progress since 1871" contains a typo on the date. 

Just be sure to visit the library section. That's where the real treasure is. It contains many documents, some over a thousand pages long. These are the documents that Ashland has chosen to make public from the tens of thousands it submitted to NJDEP regarding clean-up efforts. Even though the volume of these documents may overwhelm you, they are a fraction of the total. I can't in good conscience hold on to this information any longer. I have waited for Ashland's to launch this officially for the past three months. The year is drawing to a close, and the company has had plenty of time to hold its public meeting. 

You will notice that the website contains no Q&A feature to carry on a dialogue with the public. It doesn't even have a Frequently Asked Questions section curated by the company. What it does have is a "Contact Us" feature with a privacy disclosure statement that guarantees no one else will ever see your question or any response you might receive. Public communication is now open, but only in one direction.

CALL TO ACTION:

If all your questions are answered after browsing the "Kenvil Works Facility" website, then maybe Ashland and the NJDEP have met their public obligation. If you still have questions, please use the Contact Us feature to ask them your questions and demand a public hearing to discuss the answers. Let them know that, for you, the website doesn't replace a public meeting. Take a screenshot of your writing and save it, or post it online. Once you hit send, you may never see what you wrote again. 

If you are reading this on my blog, please add your comments on the blog page or go to my Facebook group, Mine Hill Environmental, where you can leave your comment or participate in the chat box I will open there.