Laxed Security At Chemical Plants

[A. Realist]

Thank you Mr. Ferreira for bringing to our conscious awareness something that many of us were subconciously cognizant of:MAYOR SANTOS AND HIS CROANIES HAVE MADE KEARNY INTO A VERY UNSAFE, UNPROTECTED LIVING ENVIORMENT.THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY OUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY HOSPITAL ROOMS AND COMPLETELY LEFT US AND OUR FAMILIES VULNERABLE TO A CATASTROPHIC CHEMICAL EXPLOSION.THEY HAVE RAISED OUR TAXES MORE THAN ANY OTHER SURROUNDING MUNICIPALITIES AND COMPLETELY DISEMPOWERED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.Thank God, though, at least we did get Applebees built!!!!!It must have been all those "rebate" monies circulating around town.Keep up the good work, Mary Torres and Mayor Santos, I hope we do NOT get chlorinated food served at Applebees...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wait, let me digest this. It's Santos' fault that the hospital isn't functioning? That may come as a surprise to the private entity that runs the Clara Maase Network and the State of New Jersey which oversees its operations (no pun intended).

And I suppose that the chemical companies were brought in by this administration; and that the State and Federal governments summarily turned over their authority to Al Santos. Don't think so! What the Santos administration has done is to be in constant communication with Senator Corzine, one of the authors of the pending regulatory legislation. Why is it that none of you critics took the time to go to the council meeting that was attended by Corzine's representative who addressed this very subject? You had a golden opportunity to ask all the questions you wanted. Hell no. Then you'd actually have to deal with the facts.

I suggest that you check the percentages of property tax, water rate and sewer charge increases in recent years in Harrison, North Arlington and Belleville (to name just a few) before you malign Kearny. Rising taxes are a fact of life for New Jersey municipalities. Let's face it---if you guys could get a better deal somewhere else, you'd be gone.

Bert, please, stop this unprofessional, grammatically challenged, verbal carnage. You're beginning to remind me of Professor Irwin Corey, the King of the Malaprop; and frankly, you're giving educators a bad name!

[Guest Guest]

Thank you Mr. Ferreira for bringing to our conscious awareness something that many of us were subconciously cognizant of:MAYOR SANTOS AND HIS CROANIES HAVE MADE KEARNY INTO A VERY UNSAFE, UNPROTECTED LIVING ENVIORMENT.THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY OUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY HOSPITAL ROOMS AND COMPLETELY LEFT US AND OUR FAMILIES VULNERABLE TO A CATASTROPHIC CHEMICAL EXPLOSION.THEY HAVE RAISED OUR TAXES MORE THAN ANY OTHER SURROUNDING MUNICIPALITIES AND COMPLETELY DISEMPOWERED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.Thank God, though, at least we did get Applebees built!!!!!It must have been all those "rebate" monies circulating around town.Keep up the good work, Mary Torres and Mayor Santos, I hope we do NOT get chlorinated food served at Applebees...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Vote republican! Vote Forrester into the statehouse. This will show the HUdson County Bosses just what is going onhere in Kearny!!

[Guest dump Santos now]

Thank you Mr. Ferreira for bringing to our conscious awareness something that many of us were subconciously cognizant of:MAYOR SANTOS AND HIS CROANIES HAVE MADE KEARNY INTO A VERY UNSAFE, UNPROTECTED LIVING ENVIORMENT.THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY OUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY HOSPITAL ROOMS AND COMPLETELY LEFT US AND OUR FAMILIES VULNERABLE TO A CATASTROPHIC CHEMICAL EXPLOSION.THEY HAVE RAISED OUR TAXES MORE THAN ANY OTHER SURROUNDING MUNICIPALITIES AND COMPLETELY DISEMPOWERED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.Thank God, though, at least we did get Applebees built!!!!!It must have been all those "rebate" monies circulating around town.Keep up the good work, Mary Torres and Mayor Santos, I hope we do NOT get chlorinated food served at Applebees...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

another Santos scew-up on this issue

Some say public wasn't kept adequately informed

Saturday, October 01, 2005

By JARRETT RENSHAW

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

KEARNY - Alex Goodman drove to work yesterday morning, listening to radio news reports about some kind of a chemical accident in Kearny - just down the street from the trucking company where he works as a business manager.

His wife, well aware that her husband works near Kuehne Chemical - described by some experts as one of the area's biggest terrorist targets - called him on his cell phone, urging him to turn around and come home until officials figured out what was going on.

Goodman said he then called the Kearny Police Department to find out what he should do.

The police officer, he says, told him that the winds took the chemical clouds north and that he was in no danger.

Goodman replied, "What if the winds turn south?"

Goodman pressed on, asking the officer if he should go to work or not. Finally, he said, the cop told him to do whatever he thought best. "Don't put your life in my hands," the officer reportedly told him.

Goodman said he was "shocked" by that response, and told his truck drivers to stay away until they figured out what was going on. Eventually, he went to an area diner and waited until officials gave the all-clear about 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, across the Hackensack River, police in Jersey City were using squad car loudspeakers to tell residents to stay indoors, close their windows, turn off their air-conditioners and tune in to local television and radio stations for the latest updates.

The Jersey City Board of Education told schools in the area to close their windows, and several offices at the foot of Duncan Avenue, including the Hudson County public safety building, were briefly evacuated.

Officials also closed the Pulaski Skyway at 8:30 a.m., worried that rush-hour traffic would snarl any chance of an evacuation should something go wrong.

Goodman and other workers in South Kearny said town officials should have done more to notify them about what was going on.

A security guard at the Port Kearny container storage facility on Hackensack Avenue learned of the details of the incident from the reporters assembled near the company's property.

"We should be notified," he said. "This could be life or death."

Kearny Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Osborn said that officials concluded that no chlorine had been released and that people in the area weren't in any danger.

"If we needed to call these companies and evacuate, we always play it on the safe side, and we would have did just that," Osborn said. "We knew from an early point that the area around the company was a 'cold zone.'"

Osborn added that he kept the media informed on a routine basis in order to alleviate the public's fears and to keep area residents and workers informed.

Kearny Mayor Albert Santos said that emergency officials "did their job and informed those who needed to be informed."

As for the cop who spoke to Goodman, Santos said officials will "look into it" if he files a complaint. All phone calls are recorded, Santos said, so that if the officer didn't give Goodman an appropriate response it would be on tape.

"But that would surprise me if it happened," he said.

[A. Realist]

another Santos scew-up on this issue

Some say public wasn't kept adequately informed

Saturday, October 01, 2005

By JARRETT RENSHAW

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

KEARNY - Alex Goodman drove to work yesterday morning, listening to radio news reports about some kind of a chemical accident in Kearny - just down the street from the trucking company where he works as a business manager.

His wife, well aware that her husband works near Kuehne Chemical - described by some experts as one of the area's biggest terrorist targets - called him on his cell phone, urging him to turn around and come home until officials figured out what was going on.

Goodman said he then called the Kearny Police Department to find out what he should do.

The police officer, he says, told him that the winds took the chemical clouds north and that he was in no danger.

Goodman replied, "What if the winds turn south?"

Goodman pressed on, asking the officer if he should go to work or not. Finally, he said, the cop told him to do whatever he thought best. "Don't put your life in my hands," the officer reportedly told him.

Goodman said he was "shocked" by that response, and told his truck drivers to stay away until they figured out what was going on. Eventually, he went to an area diner and waited until officials gave the all-clear about 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, across the Hackensack River, police in Jersey City were using squad car loudspeakers to tell residents to stay indoors, close their windows, turn off their air-conditioners and tune in to local television and radio stations for the latest updates.

The Jersey City Board of Education told schools in the area to close their windows, and several offices at the foot of Duncan Avenue, including the Hudson County public safety building, were briefly evacuated.

Officials also closed the Pulaski Skyway at 8:30 a.m., worried that rush-hour traffic would snarl any chance of an evacuation should something go wrong.

Goodman and other workers in South Kearny said town officials should have done more to notify them about what was going on.

A security guard at the Port Kearny container storage facility on Hackensack Avenue learned of the details of the incident from the reporters assembled near the company's property.

"We should be notified," he said. "This could be life or death."

Kearny Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Osborn said that officials concluded that no chlorine had been released and that people in the area weren't in any danger.

"If we needed to call these companies and evacuate, we always play it on the safe side, and we would have did just that," Osborn said. "We knew from an early point that the area around the company was a 'cold zone.'"

Osborn added that he kept the media informed on a routine basis in order to alleviate the public's fears and to keep area residents and workers informed.

Kearny Mayor Albert Santos said that emergency officials "did their job and informed those who needed to be informed."

As for the cop who spoke to Goodman, Santos said officials will "look into it" if he files a complaint. All phone calls are recorded, Santos said, so that if the officer didn't give Goodman an appropriate response it would be on tape.

"But that would surprise me if it happened," he said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you schizophrenic, or what? You post an innuendo of epic proportion inferring catastrophe, incident mishandling and secrecy and then run a news article which disproves your whole theory.

Everyone from the local fire and police emergency personnel to County and State agencies praised the response and overall performance of the responders. Are you saying that our emergency management teams didn't do their job?

If Mr. Goodman wanted to check on wind direction, he should have called the Weather Bureau, not a police department that was in emergency mode. Was the officer supposed to stop what he was doing to weigh Mr. Goodman's decision for him? Grow up!

[Guest hunter]

Wait, let me digest this. It's Santos' fault that the hospital isn't functioning? That may come as a surprise to the private entity that runs the Clara Maase Network and the State of New Jersey which oversees its operations (no pun intended).

And I suppose that the chemical companies were brought in by this administration; and that the State and Federal governments summarily turned over their authority to Al Santos. Don't think so! What the Santos administration has done is to be in constant communication with Senator Corzine, one of the authors of the pending regulatory legislation. Why is it that none of you critics took the time to go to the council meeting that was attended by Corzine's representative who addressed this very subject? You had a golden opportunity to ask all the questions you wanted. Hell no. Then you'd actually have to deal with the facts.

I suggest that you check the percentages of property tax, water rate and sewer charge increases in recent years in Harrison, North Arlington and Belleville (to name just a few) before you malign Kearny. Rising taxes are a fact of life for New Jersey municipalities. Let's face it---if you guys could get a better deal somewhere else, you'd be gone.

Bert, please, stop this unprofessional, grammatically challenged, verbal carnage. You're beginning to remind me of Professor Irwin Corey, the King of the Malaprop; and frankly, you're giving educators a bad name!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dear A Realest,

The buck stops with Mayor Santos on the Chemical incident. He and his council cannot hide when things happen.

That is what happened in New Orleans. They canot refuse to do the right things to prepare for an incident such as this. Then cry it is not their function

The hospital deal is a different animal he and many other officals from other communities tried to stop it and failed.

The State failed us all in this respect. The people spoke and their elected officals representeted their interest ( for once ) to no avail. I was at those meetings. I know this for fact.

hunter

[Guest Guest]

another Santos scew-up on this issue

Some say public wasn't kept adequately informed

Saturday, October 01, 2005

By JARRETT RENSHAW

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

KEARNY - Alex Goodman drove to work yesterday morning, listening to radio news reports about some kind of a chemical accident in Kearny - just down the street from the trucking company where he works as a business manager.

His wife, well aware that her husband works near Kuehne Chemical - described by some experts as one of the area's biggest terrorist targets - called him on his cell phone, urging him to turn around and come home until officials figured out what was going on.

Goodman said he then called the Kearny Police Department to find out what he should do.

The police officer, he says, told him that the winds took the chemical clouds north and that he was in no danger.

Goodman replied, "What if the winds turn south?"

Goodman pressed on, asking the officer if he should go to work or not. Finally, he said, the cop told him to do whatever he thought best. "Don't put your life in my hands," the officer reportedly told him.

Goodman said he was "shocked" by that response, and told his truck drivers to stay away until they figured out what was going on. Eventually, he went to an area diner and waited until officials gave the all-clear about 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, across the Hackensack River, police in Jersey City were using squad car loudspeakers to tell residents to stay indoors, close their windows, turn off their air-conditioners and tune in to local television and radio stations for the latest updates.

The Jersey City Board of Education told schools in the area to close their windows, and several offices at the foot of Duncan Avenue, including the Hudson County public safety building, were briefly evacuated.

Officials also closed the Pulaski Skyway at 8:30 a.m., worried that rush-hour traffic would snarl any chance of an evacuation should something go wrong.

Goodman and other workers in South Kearny said town officials should have done more to notify them about what was going on.

A security guard at the Port Kearny container storage facility on Hackensack Avenue learned of the details of the incident from the reporters assembled near the company's property.

"We should be notified," he said. "This could be life or death."

Kearny Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Osborn said that officials concluded that no chlorine had been released and that people in the area weren't in any danger.

"If we needed to call these companies and evacuate, we always play it on the safe side, and we would have did just that," Osborn said. "We knew from an early point that the area around the company was a 'cold zone.'"

Osborn added that he kept the media informed on a routine basis in order to alleviate the public's fears and to keep area residents and workers informed.

Kearny Mayor Albert Santos said that emergency officials "did their job and informed those who needed to be informed."

As for the cop who spoke to Goodman, Santos said officials will "look into it" if he files a complaint. All phone calls are recorded, Santos said, so that if the officer didn't give Goodman an appropriate response it would be on tape.

"But that would surprise me if it happened," he said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

HOLY SHIT! WE CAN DIE HERE PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE OF KEARNY WEREN'T NOTIFIED! JERSEY CITY HAD BULLHORNS. KEARNY HAD BULLSHIT!! JERSEY CITY SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED. WHAT ABOUT KEARNY???? WHAT ABOUT OUR KIDS??? I GUESS THEY SHOULD HOLD THEIR BREATH!! SANTOS HAS TO BE THE WORST F****** MAYOR THIS TOWN AS EVER SEEN!!!!

[Guest Guest]

What the Santos administration has done is to be in constant communication with Senator Corzine, one of the authors of the pending regulatory legislation. Why is it that none of you critics took the time to go to the council meeting that was attended by Corzine's representative who addressed this very subject? You had a golden opportunity to ask all the questions you wanted. Hell no. Then you'd actually have to deal with the facts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

we were at the Council meetings long before Corzine was involved. the meeting where santos told frank ferrieira and john pinho they were grandstanding. another ball dropped. and now it's damage control.

[Guest Guest]

HOLY SHIT! WE CAN DIE HERE PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE OF KEARNY WEREN'T NOTIFIED! JERSEY CITY HAD BULLHORNS. KEARNY HAD BULLSHIT!! JERSEY CITY SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED. WHAT ABOUT KEARNY????  WHAT ABOUT OUR KIDS??? I GUESS THEY SHOULD HOLD THEIR BREATH!!  SANTOS HAS TO BE THE WORST F****** MAYOR THIS TOWN AS EVER SEEN!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Our Kids" were EIGHT miles away, in the direction opposite of the wind, not to mention WELL out of the reccomended evacuation zone from the "Hazardous Materials Response Guidebook (The same book the PD, and FD use to determine their response) even if the wind DID change directions. Just like the yells and screams about the Sexual Predotors housed in South Kearny, It'll affect Newark and Jersey City LONG before it affects anything un Uptown Kearny....But heey, why let facts and the truth get in the way of a good hysterical rant eh????

[A. Realist]

Dear A Realest,

                    The buck stops with Mayor Santos on the Chemical incident. He and his council cannot hide when things happen.

                      That is what happened in New Orleans. They canot refuse to do the right things to prepare for an incident such as this. Then cry it is not their function.

                                                            hunter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you not hearing, seeing, processing this information? Try to compute this. A procedure was in place; it was executed meticulously; the incident went off without a hitch---no serious injuries, no property damage.

The Santos Administration has worked municipal law to the limits; has met with chemical industry leaders; and most importantly has lobbied our legislators to enact the new regulatory laws as soon as possible. So what are you so pissed about? What, they didn't run it by you first?

Who's "hiding"? the Mayor and Council have been discussing this openly for some time now. I'll repeat my earlier question: if you are so concerned about this subject, why didn't you come to the highly publicized council meeting at which Corzine's representative answered questions about it?

[Guest Guest]

Are you not hearing, seeing, processing this information? Try to compute this. A procedure was in place; it was executed meticulously; the incident went off without a hitch---no serious injuries, no property damage.

The Santos Administration has worked municipal law to the limits; has met with chemical industry leaders; and most importantly has lobbied our legislators to enact the new regulatory laws as soon as possible. So what are you so pissed about? What, they didn't run it by you first?

Who's "hiding"? the Mayor and Council have been discussing this openly for some time now. I'll repeat my earlier question: if you are so concerned about this subject, why didn't you come to the highly publicized council meeting at which Corzine's representative answered questions about it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I never heard about it, perhaps you needed to know someone to know about this "highly publicized" meeting.

[Guest Guest]

Are you not hearing, seeing, processing this information? Try to compute this. A procedure was in place; it was executed meticulously; the incident went off without a hitch---no serious injuries, no property damage.

The Santos Administration has worked municipal law to the limits; has met with chemical industry leaders; and most importantly has lobbied our legislators to enact the new regulatory laws as soon as possible. So what are you so pissed about? What, they didn't run it by you first?

Who's "hiding"? the Mayor and Council have been discussing this openly for some time now. I'll repeat my earlier question: if you are so concerned about this subject, why didn't you come to the highly publicized council meeting at which Corzine's representative answered questions about it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My advise to Al blame Mangin!

[Guest Guest]

I never heard about it, perhaps you needed to know someone to know about this "highly publicized" meeting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey guest would you shut up and stop posting.

Can't you understand the powers to be don't want any question. Just sit back and enjoy the cool fall air.

I'm sure there is a place for you in the evacuation plan, if it is ever needed. Unless you post again,that is!

[A. Realist]

I never heard about it, perhaps you needed to know someone to know about this "highly publicized" meeting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was in the newspapers and was announced at two (possibly three) council meetings. You were expecting a personal engraved invitation, maybe?

The meeting was attended in about the same manner as the meeting pertaining to the housing of sexual predators. You're all talk except when it counts.

[A. Realist]

My advise to Al  blame Mangin!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmmm......come to think of it, there was a report of a slightly portly red-faced gentleman in the vicinity of Alden Leeds muttering something about a "spill in aisle three."

[Guest Loki]

Hmmmm......come to think of it, there was a report of a slightly portly red-faced gentleman in the vicinity of Alden Leeds muttering something about a "spill in aisle three."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember all the meetings where the Mayor has said we need to increase both police and fire protection, I don't even need a good memory, it's right around re-election time. Or, when manpower levels are considered too low for their respective chiefs to handle; as overtime is expensive.

Regarding South Kearny though, both departments are woefully inadequate, given the amount of rateables this industrial area supplies; to say nothing of the dangers.

The residents would be paying much higher taxes without S. Kearny, minus the facilities that the County and State have saddled us with of course.

[Guest Guest]

Hmmmm......come to think of it, there was a report of a slightly portly red-faced gentleman in the vicinity of Alden Leeds muttering something about a "spill in aisle three."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That spillin aisle three routine is good. The spill in alden Leeds is no laughing matter. That is not clorox. That clorine can take the skin off your bones and turn your lungs to mush.

Take it seriously Realist.

[Guest guest]

That spillin aisle three routine is good. The spill in alden Leeds is no laughing matter. That is not clorox. That clorine can take the skin off your bones and turn your lungs to mush.

Take it seriously Realist.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

incorrect

[Guest Guest]

Another issue the Mayor has failed to take a stand on: Why hasn't the Mayor and Council joined this Environmental group to insure that the site is cleaned up? Mayor take a leadership role and make Kuehne retrofit and make the Federal Government clean up South Kearny so you can return those parts that are environmental disasters into tax ratables.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcn...UVFeXk2ODE3NjA4

[Guest Guest]

For many years my father worked for the town and spent the better part of his life working in South Kearny as did most of the town workers, and you would be amazed at just how many men in my fathers age group all wound up with exactly the same health problems or simialr ones. I can remember years back a former town worker was looking into a law suit but the man passed away before he could do anything about it. I can vividly remember my father and the rest of the workers being covered in what they called yellow dirt turns out it was dixon and please don't tell me I'm wrong, I took care of my father till the day he died and I saw so many other men with the same types of cancer and kidney problems. I truly wonder if anyone will ever wake up and do the right thing. I also remember years back at Easter when they had a spill and we had to stay indoors I can remember the smell and the buring eyes and headache. What in gods name are we going to do if something a lot more serious happens? How are we going to get out if needed look at the mess down south roads were blocked with traffic and people could not get out. I'm going to speak to a lawyer and see if there is anything that can be done for these men and there familes. I feel someone has to pay for killiing these men. And yes I say kill because that's exactly what happened. I'm ready for the onslaught of people who are going to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about but I was there and remember.

[KOTW]

I was emailed the following links from WNBC reports. I will be adding them to the KearnyOnTheWeb's Enviroment page in the near future.

http://www.wnbc.com/video/6159979/detail.html

http://www.wnbc.com/video/6192827/detail.html

[KOTW]

If you are having trouble directly accessing the video, try the following:

1. click on the following link http://www.wnbc.com/video/index.html

2. Click on Search (on the right) and then type in the search box "chemical" (without the quotes) and click search

3. Two video choices should come up. Click one and the video should play.

If you have a blockup blocker installed or enabled in Windows you can turn it off temporarily to view the videos. Remember to turn it back on when you are finished.

KOTW

[Guest Guest]

For many years my father worked for the town and spent the better part of his life working in South Kearny as did most of the town workers, and you would be amazed at just how many men in my fathers age group all wound up with exactly the same health problems or simialr ones. I can remember years back a former town worker was looking into a law suit but the man passed away before he could do anything about it.  I can vividly remember my father and the rest of the workers being covered in what they called yellow dirt turns out it was dixon and please don't tell me I'm wrong, I took care of my father till the day he died and I saw so many other men with the same types of cancer and kidney problems. I truly wonder if anyone will ever wake up and do the right thing. I also remember years back at Easter when they had a spill and we had to stay indoors I can remember the smell and the buring eyes and headache. What in gods name are we going to do if something a lot more serious happens? How are we going to get out if needed look at the mess down south roads were blocked with traffic and people could not get out. I'm going to speak to a lawyer and see if there is anything that can be done for these men and there familes. I feel someone has to pay for killiing these men. And yes I say kill because that's exactly what happened. I'm ready for the onslaught of people who are going to tell me I don't know what I'm talking about but I was there and remember.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just wondering if your Dad worked at the sewerage treatment plant because alot of those guys died from all sorts of complecations. You know exactly what your talking about, I to worked in south kearny and know what went on down there. And if something happens in that area the up lands are screwed if the wind is blowing in that direction.

[Guest bleh]

look, i'll agree that the laxed security at chemical plants in the area are scary as hell, but seriously stop saying "before 9/11" and "after 9/11." When are you people going to realize that it's all the same in regard to our safety? Stop being pussies and slaves to our shitty government. stop being manipulated by fools like dick cheney and president bush. they're co*******s and if you're scared now, you should have been just as scared before. we're going to war with iran in a few months... tat's hot.

KOTW Note: The above post was edited for content.

[Guest Kuehne in the news]

An article on chemical plant security has picture of Kearny's finest guarding the Kuehne Chemical Plant.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6032200407.html

[KOTW]

For those who are still following the Kuehne Chemical plant security efforts, here is the link to an article from this week

NJ officials want tougher safety rules