Victim: Caught in the Environmental Web

by Bruce G. Siminoff

The siren song of "Environmentalism" has enamored many. The Environmental Clean-Up Responsibility Act became law in New Jersey in 1983, but a myriad of complex regulations have created a hysterical torrent. Constitutional protections have been breached while a patchwork of rules and regulations has caused serious dislocations to commerce, jobs, and the lives of many ordinary citizens. In New Jersey, the storage of mounds of dirt can be illegal; failing in business can land a person in jail; grass clippings and leaves have become regulated waste products; to move a rock in a stream or to cut down a tree can bring heavy fines; and a farmer using water to grow blueberries or cranberries can be fined millions of dollars for despoiling "wetlands." Cities cannot foreclose on companies that neglect to pay real estate taxes because, upon doing so, they become the present owner and hence responsible for clean up costs. Owners of older buildings have become financially responsible for the pollution of others. A Pennsylvania man is facing jail because he unwittingly filled in a wet area even while improving it. A New Jersey businessman currently faces a criminal indictment for the crime of "going out of business." Victim takes the reader through the hysterical, convoluted process of present day environmental regulation, while attempting to seek a better solution. Bruce G. Siminoff believes it is possible to clean up the environment.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1993