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Residents press council after court hearing on affordable-housing site and PFAS concerns
Summary
Residents urged Lambertville officials to address what they described as inadequate court preparation and long-running PFAS contamination on the hill site proposed for affordable housing, while the mayor said a judge will reserve decision and the city will submit DEP letters to the court.
Lambertville residents used two public-comment periods to press the City Council on a recent court hearing over an affordable-housing site and on alleged contamination of private wells uphill from the proposed development.
At the start of public comment, the mayor read a statement from the citys affordable-housing attorney, saying the city argued it remains substantially compliant with the settlement and that "the judge indicated that he was going to reserve his decision" and would review residents correspondence and recent DEP updates before ruling. The city said it will transmit DEP letters to the court.
Multiple residents criticized the citys preparation for the hearing and urged more aggressive steps to protect neighbors. "We're going to stick 200 low-income people up on that hill with poisonous water," John Towns said, accusing the council of failing to address polluted groundwater. Others said the citys oral argument appeared weak and lacked supporting professional studies. "It should have been a slam dunk for us, and instead it looks like somebody's throwing the game," Sean Ellis said.
Speakers described well tests that they said show contaminants above acceptable limits and alleged past unregulated dumping uphill from Quarry Street. John Hencheck told the council the DEP has no records of municipal waste sites before 1982 and said neighbors have observed blasting and drilling activity that he worries could mobilize buried drums.
Council members and staff acknowledged the seriousness of the residents concerns and discussed short-term supports: one councilmember offered to help residents complete paperwork for available assistance, and the mayor and others pointed to a small city emergency fund as a potential interim resource. The mayor also said the DEP has provided a nine-page plan about testing and follow-up and that the city would coordinate with residents to identify who needs help.
The council did not take any formal action on the development at the meeting; the mayor said the court had reserved decision. The planning board had adopted a housing element/fair-share plan the night before and the council is scheduled to consider endorsement on June 26, after which additional ordinances to implement the plan are expected.
The mayor and council asked city staff to compile information about available funds and to work with residents and DEP officials. Residents said they will continue to press for more testing, clearer communication from DEP and faster help for households that lack the means to pay for filtration systems or remediation.
Ending: The council closed the public-comment period after an extended discussion and said it would provide updates as the court and DEP processes proceed.
