Report: Bergen County Fined $88K Over Lead Pile Deemed 280 Times Above Federal Regulation

Bergen County was fined $88,000 by U.S. regulators after an exposed pile of lead containing nearly 280 times the federal regulation was left outside a Mahwah facility for almost a year, a recent report says.

Bergen County's Law & Public Safety Institute in Mahwah.
Photo Credit: *Google Maps*

Cecilia Levine

08/16/2019 1:04 p.m.

The 42 cubic yards of sand was pulled from the gun range at the Campgaw Road training facility without a permit and left outside the county's Law and Public Safety Institute (where the Bergen County Police Academy is based), NorthJersey.com reports.

Federal law requires the installation of specific safety measures to block the runoff pile, which the county apparently did not have, the media outlet says.

Environmental activist and director of the Seirra Club Jeff Tittel called the violation outrageous and shameful.

Environmental agency the Sierra Club and Mahwah Township officials revealed the pile in a news conference in April 2017, which subsequently launched an investigation.

The fine, which has been paid off by the county, ends the investigation, NorthJersey.com says.

The Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel called the violation outrageous and shameful considering "they violated their own oath," he told NorthJersey.com. "And they did it at a place where people are trained to protect health and safety."

Click here for the full report from NorthJersey.com.

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