AR-News: (NJ) Unique land swap saves sanctuary

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By JULIE LANGE , Staff Writer 10/09/2003



HARDING TWP. - Thanks to some out-of-the-box thinking by officials, the 
township will be able to finance its share of the remediation costs to clean up a 
polluted landfill, a pristine wildlife sanctuary will be saved from development 
and 64 acres will be added to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.



As part of a land swap deal which appears to benefit everyone, especially the 
environment, the township is about to purchase a 64-acre wildlife sanctuary, 
located on Long Hill Road and surrounded on two sides by the Great Swamp 
National Wildlife Refuge, for $1.75 million from Wildlife Preserves Inc., (WPI) a 
non-profit New Jersey corporation dedicated to preserving wildlife and 
waterfowl areas. 
The township will then turn the property over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, which owns the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, in lieu of 
payment for the town's share of the $2 million cost to remediate the former Harding 
Landfill in the summer of 2000. 
The former Harding Landfill is located about 500 feet northwest of Long Hill 
Road on land adjacent to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Service. The 
.6-acre tract was a municipal trash dump for several decades until 1969 when it was 
acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to Mayor John Murray, WPI had previously tried without success to 
get the federal government to buy the property with certain restrictions, but 
the government would not agree to those terms.
Housing Avoided
The township's 11th hour deal with Wildlife Preserves' came after the 
organization already had signed a purchase agreement with Woodmont Builders LLC, who 
wanted to build houses on the property. But WPI founder Robert Perkins still 
wasn't willing to give up on preserving the land.
"He came to us in a last ditch effort to try to preserve that property," 
Murray said. "When we sat down with him, it occurred to us that we had a valuable 
opportunity to buy the land and transfer it to the federal government to 
satisfy our obligations for the landfill."
Murray said WPI had to buy out its contract with developer Don Widmondt, who 
heads up the Parsippany-based Woodmont Builders, but "he was a real gentleman 
to negotiate with."
"He's very concerned about the environment and about responsible 
development," Murray said of Widmondt.
The next step was negotiating terms of the property transfer with U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife. Murray said WPI wanted to stipulate that no plants or wildlife 
could be removed and that there would be no building, habitat disturbance or 
deer management within the preserve. But the federal government didn't like the 
conditions, and the negotiations continued for several months as the two sides 
inched closer to an agreement, Murray said.
The terms finally accepted by both sides include no hunting, trapping or 
poisoning of any species and no removal of specimens, not even for research, on 
the 64-acre tract, Murray said. The federal government will reserve the right to 
build up to four houses on the land, such as ranger housing, but there are no 
plans to do so, he said. 
"The government was very clear that they have no intention of putting 
anything on that property," Murray said. 
The deal is subject to the approval of a federal judge, following a 30-day 
comment period that ends on November 3, and Murray anticipates closing by the 
end of the year.
Some of the funds to purchase the WPI tract came from donations by neighbors 
and other interested parties who realized the value of the property to the 
township, Murray said, adding that neighbor Bobby Irwin was especially generous. 
The township came up with the rest of the money by issuing a bond.
Between 1991 and 1999, environmental testing was done and a number of 
contaminants were discovered, including DDT and other pesticides as well as cadmium, 
lead and zinc.
Murray said the Army Corps of Engineers ran samples and tried to determine 
the source of the contaminants, but never discovered evidence of any pollution 
beyond its use as a municipal dump. 
Harding and government officials negotiated an agreement to share the 
remediation costs, which totaled about $2 million, Murray said, and the work was 
completed in August of 2001. The land is now returning to a more natural state.
"I went back there in August of 2002 and took pictures," Murray said, 
describing a big grassy dome surrounded by ponds and grassy swamps. "I saw frogs 
jumping in the water and it really looked neat."

©Recorder Newspapers 2003 
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