NAACP NJ President Richard Smith On NJDEP’s Announced LSP Plan: I Question Whether It Would Even Meet The Standards of NJ Environmental Justice Bill

JERSEY CITY, NJ – NAACP New Jersey State Conference President and Liberty State Park For All Coalition member Richard Smith issued the following statement today regarding the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) announced plans around the Interior portion of Liberty State Park:

“Only two weeks ago the state was touting itself as a leader in environmental justice. Now, the DEP releases a plan on Liberty State Park that, yet again, does not include a full and complete clean-up of the Park. I question whether the DEP’s plan would even meet the standards of the environmental justice bill that passed in August.

“Even more disappointing – though not surprising – is that the DEP appears to have put together this plan without input from communities of color. They have announced there will be public meetings, but it sounds like most of the plan has already been decided, internally, without feedback from Black or brown people.

“How could the state possibly ignore the very real need to clean up all contamination at Liberty State Park while calling itself a champion of environmental justice? No plan is acceptable unless it cleans up every last drop of pollution at the Park, specifically lists where and what kinds of active recreation there will be and ensures that communities of color are listened to on future Park decisions. Anything less than this will continue a long history of ignoring the needs, concerns and demands of communities of color in Jersey City.

“I welcome the comments of Jeff Tittel and the Sierra Club that they will be calling for a full clean-up of the Park. We need the rest of the Park’s advocates to join them and us in this fight. Accepting the bare minimum or a lesser standard than full clean-up is a slap in the face.”

The Liberty State Park For All Coalition was created to increase awareness about the broken promises of Liberty State Park and to ensure the community has a voice on the decisions around the Park. The Coalition wants a plan that will fully clean-up Liberty State Park and create recreational, cultural and economic opportunities and accessibility for everyone. Learn more about the Coalition at https://libertystateparkforall.com/ follow us on Twitter @lspnj4all and Instagram libertystateparkforall and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/LIBERTYSTATEPARKFORALL