I would like to share my experience with the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) department. I had made a request for records to be sent in PDF format on a site in Edison, but instead I got information on a site in Millville. The DEP office also has been making money on “extraordinary time” open public records requests by charging $68 an hour, which does not include gas money for your car if you have to drive to Trenton to pick up records. I think people would stop asking for records if the DEP was doing its job. There are many sites in New Jersey that need cleaning up. Instead of fines for violators, they should close the factory or business down till the problems are fixed or cleaned up. Even a $10,000 fine is nothing for a large company and much cheaper than a full toxic waste cleanup. The main reason New Jersey has so many toxic sites is that all major companies have been moving factories out of N.J. and the United States to countries that have little or no environmental laws.
Ernest R. Docs
Metuchen