Caven Point | 2019

A proposal to develop Caven Point was put on hold in April of 2018, but resurfaced again in December 2019 as park advocates worked to pass the Liberty State Park Protection Act. Liberty National Golf Club lobbied to have the Caven Point Natural Area exempted from the Protection Act, promising “improvements” elsewhere in the park in exchange for the land. A misinformation campaign was staged that included a petition which omitted the fact that Caven Point would be destroyed along with the “improvements” that would be made. A rally in support of the law was held on January 11, 2020 and drew hundreds of people. On January 13, the Protection Act passed in the Senate but was not posted in the Assembly, so the entire process will begin again in 2020.

The misinformation spread included a claim that Caven Point is contaminated and in need of environmental cleanup. That is false; I noted it in my previous entry on Caven Point and it was confirmed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the New York Times article about the current threat to the area:

Golf course officials also say that contaminated land at Caven Point would be remediated, but a state spokesman said the plot was cleaned and deemed safe in 2004 for its current use. “Additional cleanup is not required,” Larry Hajna, a D.E.P. spokesman, said in an email.

–Tracey Tully, New York Times, 01/09/2020

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What you can do

• Please sign the petition at change.org to support the Liberty State Park Protection Act.

• Please read more about the efforts to pass the Liberty State Park Protection Act in the following articles:

Why won’t the state Legislature protect the birds of Caven Point? (Bergen County Record, 01/16/2020)
northjersey.com/story/news/columnists/mike-kelly/2020/01/16/how-golf-course-blocked-nj-protecting-wildlife-habitat-caven-point-jersey-city

Golf Club for the 1 Percent Wants to Seize a Migratory Bird Habitat (New York Times, 01/09/2020)
nytimes.com/2020/01/09/nyregion/liberty-state-park-golf-course.html

Billionaire Wants to Expand Golf Club into Liberty State Park Wetlands / Protections for Liberty State Park fail amid billionaire’s push to expand golf course into park (Bergen County Record, subscriber only, 12/02/2019 and 01/13/2020; (PDF 1 at at folsp.org) (PDF 2 at at folsp.org) northjersey.com/story/news/environment/2019/12/02/billionaire-wants-to-expand-golf-club-into-liberty-state-park-wetlands/4297868002/

Bill Protecting Liberty State Park from Privatization Moves Along in Trenton (Jersey Journal, 12/06/2019)
nj.com/hudson/2019/12/bill-protecting-liberty-state-park-from-privatization-moves-along-in-trenton.html

Protect Liberty State Park from Developers (Jersey Journal, 12/05/2019) nj.com/opinion/2019/12/protect-liberty-state-park-from-developers-jersey-journal-editorial.html

Liberty State Park is Not For Sale. At Any Price. (Star Ledger, 12/05/2019) nj.com/opinion/2019/12/liberty-state-park-is-not-for-sale-at-any-price-editorial.html

Proposed Law Protects Liberty State Park (Hudson Reporter, 03/14/2019)
hudsonreporter.com/2019/03/14/proposed-law-protects-liberty-state-park/

Jersey City Council Wants Passage of Liberty State Park Protection Act (Jersey Journal, 02/28/2019)
nj.com/hudson/2019/02/jersey-city-council-wants-passage-of-liberty-state-park-protection-act.html