At the board of commissioners’ monthly meeting in November, Mayor Richard DiLascio told concerned residents that the township would soon be looking to remedy issues both the commission and residents have taken with the Bedroc Group on Orient Way. The company, which is most recognizable for its large scale industrial building labeled with large "Bedroc Contracting" on front, conducts brownfield remediation and building demolition, and houses a Class B recycling center.

DiLascio, echoing resident complaints, said many of the oversized trucks that use Orient Way traveling to and from Bedroc are now beginning to deteriorate the road and cause public safety concerns. The other issue, especially apparent for anyone that lives near the facility, is the multiple mountains of construction waste and debris housed in the company’s yard.

Unsafe travel

Last month, residents voiced their concerns over what they view on a day-to-day basis as visible increased truck traffic on the roadway.

"Where are all those trucks coming from that are hauling all that dirt on Orient Way?" asked Page Avenue resident Elaine Stella.

In August, a dump truck loaded with soil and stones en route to Bedroc on Orient Way tried avoiding a car that had run a stop sign at New York Avenue. The truck was struck and subsequently stopped by hitting a tree. However, the driver was issued a summons after the truck was weighed. It was carrying 94,000 pounds, 14,000 more than its given weight limit.

"There’s nothing really we can do, it’s a county owned road and the most we can do and what we have been doing is asking Bergen County to come down and weigh the trucks that are using the roadway," said DiLascio. "It’s a quality of life issue for not only the residents that live along there, but the roadway itself was not built to support that truck traffic."

Because Orient Way is a county road, the township cannot determine that trucks are not allowed to take the thoroughfare and cannot even regulate weight restrictions. Interstate commerce laws prohibit the traffic from ceasing, said DiLascio.

According to Police Chief James O’Connor, the force has been overwhelmed in what he calls a substantial amount of increased traffic along Orient Way. In addition to assisting Bergen County police with the weight inspections, police have been authorizing citations for other offenses that fall within the township’s powers.

"From a law enforcement point of view, I’m not a proponent of the operation," said O’Connor. "We’re doing everything in our power to control the noise, the dirt from the trucks, and it’s generally just not in the best interest of the township and the safety and comforts of the residents."

Just in the last two weeks, O’Connor said the township had to cite one truck driver from Bedroc for causing a hazardous condition along much of Orient Way after he left a mud trail on the roadway from his tires. It resulted in an order to cease operations at Bedroc until the company installed a wash rack for the trucks. Last Saturday, O’Connor said four patrol cars had to be taken off regular duty when they were summoned to the entranceway of Bedroc after a truck’s tailgate opened and spilled about two yards of rock onto the roadway.

"That took officers off patrol and diverted traffic onto Ridge Road on one of the busiest days of the year," said O’Connor.

Questionable debris storage

Although it is named Bedroc Contracting on site, the business offers several services and one is the subsidiary of its recycling center. The recycling center has township officials worried the most. Bedroc runs a Class B recycling center at the site, which is permitted to take construction debris including wood, metal, masonry and concrete materials.

"What you have is Bedroc bringing in tons of construction debris down there, and there’s really nothing we can do about it, it’s in a Meadowlands Commission zone," said DiLascio. "When you go down there, you can see the piles, multiple piles that look like mountains now and I’m not so sure what’s there is safe."

DiLascio said the powers of the township do not extend to inspecting or citing the facility as far as its land use and the operations that go on there. The facility is located in the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s (NJMC) jurisdiction and the recycling facility itself is registered with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Christopher Gale, a spokesman with the NJMC said the agency had granted a zoning permit to Bedroc in July 2006 to house the recycled materials outside and another permit for storage of heavy equipment and a repair facility. In the past six months, the company has racked up several violations of that permit, according to Gale. Two include the absence of fencing screens and landscape screens to contain debris on site, both of which are still not remedied. The NJMC also require Bedroc to water down the grounds and piles and install a 25-foot marker at the piles, the limit for their heights under the zoning permit. Gale said a recent inspection at the site is still not complete, so could not comment on whether Bedroc is also violating the height provision. As for permitted materials on site, Gale said the DEP is responsible for inspecting that aspect.

"If the NJMC was to suspect any of the material in there was not permitted, we would have to notify the DEP and we have already notified the DEP as a cautionary measure," said Gale. "We have the same concerns as the township, that’s why we’ve been doing what we have for the last six months."

Karen Hershey, a spokesperson for the DEP said the facility, like all other Class B recycling centers, is inspected quarterly and there have not been any violations imposed on Bedroc by the DEP.

One of the main concerns now is that the outdoor containment of the mountainous rubble is clearly visible from the site of the recreation fields. The fields are currently under construction at the foot of Valley Brook Avenue behind the old Prevost Bus Terminal. That building now serves the township as recreation center and pre-kindergarten/special education center and partial construction of the surrounding fields has recently ceased once EnCap stopped work there, but the township plans to finish them. In the southwest corner of the fields, giant backhoes can be seen atop the piles working on most days at Bedroc.

"All anyone needs to do is go down Valley Brook Avenue and take a look at these mountains. We know a percentage of the material down there is used in some type of roadbed, but who’s watching what the rest of it is and where it’s going from there?" said O’Connor. "The question is what’s going into those piles. A lot of the drivers we talk to tell us the things are coming from New York. What if the company goes out of business tomorrow? What happens to those piles? Will it be a blight the township will have to take care of?"

Residents are not pleased either, as many have not only complained about the truck traffic, but are now concerned about what the township’s children could be playing next to in the future. DiLascio said there would be only one course of action he would prefer if the company were found to be processing anything other than materials authorized under a Class B license.

"If it’s out of compliance, I want it shut down," he said.