EDISON-METUCHEN — The residents of Edison and Metuchen have come together to save a 20,000-year-old pond in the Oak Hills neighborhood.
A property on 110 Clive St., is the site of a redevelopment plan, which includes filling in or disturbing the Lucille Ball pond to build more homes.
Residents are unhappy about this development. They’ve come together to preserve the pond and protest the proposed project.
Recently, Metuchen Mayor Jonathan M Busch raised concern over the project.
“We continue to raise concerns with respect to an Edison developer's plans to fill-in and develop the Lucille Ball pond, an environmental treasure to our region since the ice age (nearly 20,000 years ago) which must be preserved,” Busch said in a Facebook post.
Busch said he had the Borough engineers evaluate the pond to confirm “what we have always known: it is a glacial kettle pond which drains into the preserved Dismal Swamp wetlands. The Dismal Swamp serves as a surface water tributary to the Raritan River.”
Neighbors have created a Facebook group to organize. Signs like “Save Lucille Ball Pond” are placed across properties in the neighborhood.
The Facebook group, which is more than a 1000 member strong, has been actively inviting residents to make their voices heard.
Last month, an environmental consultant sent letters to residents living within 200 feet of the property, as well as Edison boards, indicating that S&A General Construction and Development of Edison is applying to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a freshwater wetlands general permit to fill in or disturb non-tributary wetlands on the property.
Although named after her, the property was never actually owned by iconic actress Lucille Ball, say reports.
According to the letter, residents have 15 days to respond with their comments. They need to send comments to the DEP's Land Use Regulation Program in Trenton before a decision is reached.
Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey and Busch sent a letter to the DEP on Feb.19, objecting to the permit given to S&A General Construction and Development.
The mayors said that S&A’s activities would “cause substantial adverse environmental impacts to the property and cause considerable impacts to freshwater wetlands.”
The letter also says the S&A mischaracterized the property by not “depicting the pond as being part of a surface water tributary system.”
“Neighboring residents in both municipalities have voiced their concerns that any development of the property would be detrimental to the fragile ecosystem within the community and would result in the destruction of the pristine wetlands,” the mayors wrote.
According to the mayor, the wetlands is home to more than 175 species of birds, two dozen species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and a dozen endangered species like the bald eagle and spotted turtle.
The DEP will notify both towns of their final decision.
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