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Jackson council adopts soil fill law in move to protect environment

JACKSON – Members of the Township Council have adopted an ordinance that replaces Jackson’s previous soil fill ordinance.

The ordinance was introduced on 28 at which time Councilman Alexander Sauickie said, “This is a revision of an ordinance I authored and the council unanimously passed in April 2020 … The ordinance passed was based on a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) template. It was in response to what residents had asked of the council, which was to protect the unique environment of Jackson.”

The ordinance was adopted on Oct. 26, at which time Township Council President Andrew Kern praised Sauickie for developing the ordinance.

“The amount of effort that has gone into this replacement ordinance, after the amount of effort that was put into the initial ordinance, just shows the measure of how much (Sauickie) cares about this town and everything that happens within it,” Kern said.

The new ordinance defines acceptable soil and/or fill as “Non-water-soluble, non-decomposable, inert solids such as soil, subsoil, topsoil, sand, clay, loam, gravel, humus, rock, concrete, brick, glass and/or clay or ceramic products, free of construction/demolition debris, garbage, refuse or sludge and not containing concentrations of one or more contaminants that exceed the DEP’s Residential Direct Contact Soil Remediation Standards or Non-Residential Direct Contact Soil Remediation Standards, whichever is more stringent.”

Anyone who violates any provision of the ordinance will be liable for a fine of not more than $5,000, or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days, or both.

And, the council members adopted an ordinance which amends the current ordinance dealing with garbage, rubbish and waste material to amend the municipal law regarding recycling.

The adopted recycling ordinance replaces the word “quarterly” with the word “yearly” in an additional provision regarding yearly reports which will be provided to Jackson’s municipal recycling coordinator.

The ordinance lists items that are acceptable for recycling: aluminum cans, tin cans, aluminum foil, aluminum trays; glass jars, glass bottles; No. 1 plastic (water bottles, soda bottles, condiment bottles, shampoo bottles, peanut butter jars, etc.). Plastic lids can stay on;

Also, No. 2 plastic (milk gallons, laundry detergent containers, shampoo bottles, cleaning product containers, vitamin bottles, etc.). Plastic lids can stay on; No. 5 plastic (butter containers, yogurt containers, fast food beverage cups, microwavable food containers, plastic lids, toys, etc.). Plastic lids can stay on;

And, newspapers; mixed paper; magazines; junk mail; paperboard/chipboard (cereal boxes, food boxes, tissue boxes, and the rolls from paper towels, toilet paper and gift wrap); and corrugated cardboard.

Batteries, electronic devices, aerosols, paint and rigid plastics will have to be brought to  Ocean County’s recycling centers.

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