Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment And Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents and Pinelands advocates urge county action to defend Kirkwood‑Cohansey aquifer; commissioners signal support for Green Amendment resolution
Summary
Speakers from the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and allied groups asked Camden County commissioners to oppose Winslow Township’s legal challenge to Pinelands Commission rule changes and to pass a resolution supporting the proposed state Green Amendment; Commissioner Nash said staff will work with county counsel on a resolution for August.
Speakers at the Camden County Board of Commissioners meeting on July 9 urged the board to act to protect the Kirkwood‑Cohansey aquifer and to back a proposed New Jersey Green Amendment that would, supporters say, provide constitutional standing to defend environmental rights.
Heidi Yeh, policy director for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, told commissioners the county’s Atlantic white cedar swamps are "the canaries in the coal mine for a looming water crisis," and said the aquifer that feeds many Camden County towns is being stressed by withdrawals tied to sand and gravel operations.
Yeh said the Pinelands Commission carried out more than a decade of scientific study and in 2023 amended its Comprehensive Management Plan to better protect water supplies. She urged Winslow Township to withdraw from a lawsuit challenging those new rules and asked Camden County commissioners to "exert whatever influence they may have" to protect the Pinelands Commission's action.
Interns and young advocates from the Pinelands Preservation Alliance echoed those remarks. Maya DeAndrea and Miracle Brown asked the board to endorse a Green Amendment and join Burlington County in a formal expression of support. Kate Delaney of South Jersey Progressive Democrats urged commissioners to pair any supportive resolution with tangible county action to defend the aquifer from legal challenges.
Commissioner William Nash (first reference: Commissioner Nash) responded at length, saying he lives in the Pinelands and called the Kirkwood‑Cohansey aquifer "perhaps the most important" ecological resource in New Jersey. Nash said his understanding of the Winslow‑related lawsuit is that it centers on a technical interpretation of Pinelands rules — specifically, whether a gravel operation can qualify for an exemption that requires measuring return flows when businesses return roughly 90% of pumped water.
Nash said he supports the Green Amendment initiative, called for work with county counsel to prepare a resolution and said he has spoken with colleagues who are receptive. He asked advocates to attend a July 30 town hall hosted by Green Amendment supporters on the Rutgers‑Camden campus.
No formal county resolution was adopted at the meeting. Commissioners indicated they will consider a resolution at the August meeting after staff and county counsel draft language.
(End)
