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Residents press Ridgewood for dust, noise and traffic protections ahead of Schedler cleanup
Summary
At a public meeting, residents asked for stricter air-monitoring thresholds, real‑time neighborhood alerts, school‑bus route changes and strict truck routing as the village prepares to excavate contaminated fill at the Schedler property; officials described perimeter monitoring, reverse‑911 notifications and police‑managed truck access from Route 17.
Dozens of Ridgewood residents at a village meeting urged officials on Wednesday to firm up protections for air quality, noise and school‑bus safety as the village prepares to remove contaminated fill from the Schedler property.
Residents repeatedly asked whether perimeter monitors will detect both particulates and chemical composition, whether neighbors will receive real‑time alerts and whether truck traffic will be kept off residential streets. "Within six months this area is gonna be contaminated," Dr. Salvo Infantino said, arguing that highway deposition could recontaminate remediated areas.
Matrix and LSRP staff said the air program will prioritize particulate monitoring and include lab analysis to characterize chemical content. Fiore described action levels that will trigger contractor notification and immediate mitigation: "We're going to have somebody on-site the whole entire time, that will immediately tell the contractor, halt what you're doing," she said. Consultants added that if action levels are exceeded and cannot be quickly corrected, work will stop and the village will notify residents.
On community notifications, Village Manager Keith Kausmark said Ridgewood can use reverse‑911, text and email mapping and distribution lists to target alerts to affected blocks. He invited residents with specific health concerns to register so the village can provide lower alarm thresholds for those households.
Traffic and school‑safety questions focused on truck routing and staging. Captain Glenn Ender said trucks are expected to enter and exit directly to Route 17, using the site driveway apron so heavy vehicles will not pass through interior neighborhood streets. The village also said it will consult the school district and police to adjust pick‑up and dismissal arrangements if needed to keep children away from truck traffic during the six‑week active remediation window.
Residents asked how many trucks to expect, where they would go, and whether cover failures could allow material to escape in transit. Fiore estimated roughly 1,110 truckloads for chemically driven soil (about 37 trucks per working day over six weeks), said roll‑up tarps will cover loads and that licensed transporters face fines for loose loads; final routes and disposal facility destinations will be set by the awarded contractor and provided to the public when known.
The meeting closed with officials promising to publish the finalized remediation plan and perimeter air‑monitoring plan, to post substantive DEP comments and to maintain an open Q&A channel for residents.
Next steps: the village will add monitoring action levels, notification procedures and traffic plans to the preconstruction discussion with the contractor and will post those details publicly before work begins.
