Concealment, The Truth & Lies About EPA's Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison NJ

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to establish a toxic sludge dewatering plant in a residential community directly across the street from modern luxury apartment buildings in the Town of Harrison NJ. Mayor James Fife and Councilman James Doran, one a former educator and the other the former Superintendent of Public Schools in Harrison and now its Director of Personnel (the switch was to avoid a Governor Christie Superintendent of Public Schools salary cap) have known about the plan for over two years but have NOT informed the residents of the one square mile town of Harrison NJ. They have concealed, failed to speak the truth about the EPA's project, and lied to the residents of Harrison while defaming a long-time Councilman and his friend, an attorney.

EPA’s Plan Was Supposed To Be Secret

When the EPA’s Toxic Sludge plant plan was inadvertently revealed by Mayor Fife who is also the long-time Chairman of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency almost two years ago at the August 29, 2022 meeting of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency, Councilman James Doran was livid at Mayor Fife. Doran was running Mayor Fife’s 2022 Re-election Campaign against then-long-time Councilman Anselmo Millan who was running for Mayor of Harrison in the 2022 General Election. Doran was also on the ballot as Harrison’s 4^th Ward Councilman. Doran wears a lot of hats in addition to being a Councilman, and Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel, he is also the Harrison Regular Democratic Organization’s Chairperson and President of the Town Council. He is also a Commissioner of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission which is located across the Passaic River from Harrison in the Ironbound Section of Newark NJ. Let us not forget that he is Chairman of the Harrison Housing Authority which operates Federally subsidized housing at the Harrison Gardens. At one time he was also the Hudson County Adult School Supervisor. Journalist Brian F. Donahue did a video entitled 4 Public Jobs for 1 Man? What A Scoop,! It's a must-watch.

Doran Devises A Plan To Put The Cat Back In The Bag

After Doran calmed down about Mayor Fife “letting the cat out of the bag” i.e. revealing the EPA plan to dump Toxic Dioxin-Laden  Agent Orange Sludge in the Town of Harrison for dewatering, Doran came up with a plan to have Mayor Fife state that he had not made such a statement.  Town of Harrison meetings are not usually audio or video recorded and thus it’s easy to state that an attendee at a Town meeting had misheard or was lying about Mayor Fife’s statement. It is a tactic that has been used before. You can’t go to the videotape because normally there is no videotape of Town of Harrison meetings. Nor is there an audio tape recording.  Transparency is not a forte of Mayor Fife's administration. Meeting Minutes have no specifics on what was discussed at the meeting and/or the public session. As of the publication of this article, there are no Minutes of Harrison Mayor & Council meetings published online since the beginning of the year. The minutes of meetings do not contain any detail of what a public member asked about at a Mayor & Council meeting or a Harrison Redevelopment Meeting. There is only an indication that the person spoke without even the topic spoken about.

Harrison Mayor & Council Meeting of September 20, 2022

Denying the Truth: Cue The “It Wasn’t Me” Song

At the September 20, 2022, Mayor & Council meeting, then Town of Harrison Attorney and Town Clerk read a prepared statement which in effect tried to walk back Mayor Fife’s statement about EPA’s plan to dump toxic sludge in Harrison previously made at the Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting on August 29, 2022.  The problem with walking back the statement was that, unlike most Town of Harrison meetings, the August 29, 2022, Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting was audio and video recorded because it was held on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. During the public session of the September 20, 2022, Mayor & Council meeting, attorney and Harrison stakeholder John M. Pinho confronted the Mayor & Council with the fact that the Mayor’s statement was recorded on Zoom and pointed out that Mayor Fife had stated clearly that EPA planned to use the PSE&G property for toxic sludge. The word Mayor Fife used was "dredge".

Mayor Fife's Statement On EPA's Plan to Dump Toxic Sludge in Harrison NJ

A month earlier at the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency Meeting, Mayor Fife stated the following: “Of course, you have the biggest piece Public Service,  the EPA is holding that up.  We were going to do some planning over there but the EPA is going to using it for the [Passaic] river dredge [aka sludge].  We don’t know how long that is going to be it could be 10 years.  But It is up to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)  and PSE&G (Public Service Electric & Gas)  to decide what is going on there.”

Make Like You Don’t Know Where The EPA’s Toxic Sludge Plant Is Going

At the September 20, 2022, Mayor & Council meeting John M. Pinho also got Mayor Fife to admit that the proposed toxic sludge dewatering plant was across from luxury apartment buildings in particular Steelworks.  The Steelworks building is in a residential community along with other luxury apartment buildings among them Vermella Harrison., The Cobalt, The Wydles Harrison, and other Advance Realty apartment buildings approved but have not yet been built. Initially, Mayor Fife attempted to feign that he knew nothing about EPA’s plan to put a Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison but when confronted with his earlier very clear statement at the Harrison Redevelopment Meeting less than a month prior, pivoted to feigning that he did not know the location of the proposed EPA plant.

Grandstanding & Blowhard Accusations

At the same meeting, Councilman Doran accused John Pinho of “grandstanding” and being a “blowhard“.  Councilman Doran stated, “John likes to grandstand and make it seem there is a public safety issue” and that John Pinho was “making a whole bunch of speculation”. John Pinho disagreed with the statement but the meeting was brought to an abrupt end and a “Motion to Dismiss” was made and then corrected to a “Motion to Adjourn”. The slip of tongue on the type of Motion made to close the meeting showed truly what Councilman Doran wanted to do. Luckily, this meeting was among the small collection of Harrison Mayor & Council meetings that were recorded (film or audio) and is available to be viewed on YouTube. You can also watch highlights from the meeting. The official full video of the September 20, 2022, Mayor & Council meeting is also available above and on YouTube.

The Evidence Proves Fife and Doran Hid EPA's Plan

You can judge for yourself whether Mayor Fife & Councilman Doran knew two years ago that a Toxic Sludge Plant was coming to what is now a residential community in the Town of Harrison NJ.  The evidence is overwhelming that they knew.  Mayor Fife made a very clear statement, at the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting, that revealed the truth. Both Mayor Fife and Councilman Doran knew of EPA’s plan over two years ago. Doran confirmed as much in his statements at the September 20, 2022, Mayor & Council meeting. Doran is a Commissioner of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority (PVSC) where EPA plans to place a 2nd EPA Toxic Plant in the adjacent City of Newark's Ironbound neighborhood. Doran mentions the PVSC plant in the September 20, 2022 Mayor & Council meeting.

The Cover-Up Plan

Mayor James Fife and Councilman Doran have known about EPA’s plan for over two years but have NOT alerted the public instead they have hidden EPA’s plan.  Mayor Fife’s statement at the August 29, 2022, Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting, demonstrates Mayor Fife’s knowledge of EPA’s plan predated his statement.  The second anniversary of Mayor Fife stating that EPA was coming to Harrison to use the PSE&G property, directly across the street from modern luxury apartment buildings, for dewatering toxic sludge from the Passaic River is coming up on August 29, 2024.

Mayor Fife was asked at the Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Mayor & Council meeting whether he was FOR or AGAINST the Toxic Sludge plant and he remained silent.  When asked if he has communicated with the EPA he said NO.  When confronted with his prior statement that EPA was coming to Harrison, he denied he made the statement. The only conclusion that can be fairly drawn is that Mayor Fife is FOR the toxic sludge plant coming to the Town of Harrison and is delaying advising residents to avoid the community rising in opposition to the Toxic Sludge Plant in a residential community. Why would Mayor Fife and James Fife favor a Toxic Dioxin Laden Sludge Plant in a residential community?

The Millan Stop The Sludge Plant Petition

In 2022, then-Councilman Anselmo Millan started a Petition in Opposition to the EPA’s Toxic Sludge Plant both online and in a paper petition.  Millan garnered over 1000 signatures (online and paper combined).  Councilman Millan was running for Mayor of Harrison at the time and had set up a website, ForABetterHarrison.com, with the top issues in Harrison.  At the beginning of the campaign, Lack of Parking was the number #1 issue but it was bumped to #2 after the news that Mayor Fife stated at the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting, that EPA was bringing a Toxic Sludge Plant to the Town of Harrison.

Doran’s & Fife's Plan: State Millan & Pinho Were Lying

Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel & Councilman+ other jobs James Doran devised a plan to state that Councilman Millan and attorney John M. Pinho were lying about EPA’s plan to bring a Toxic Sludge Plant to Harrison. This plan included the implicit farce that Fife's clear statement captured on Zoom video recording never happened.

Emails To Harrison Residents

As the Mayoral Election date approached in 2022, a flyer and letter were distributed via email lists used to communicate with the residents of apartment buildings in the Harrison Redevelopment Zone also known as SOHA (SOuthern HArrison). To add credibility to the letter and flyer Doran used both his Council President James Doran’s title and Doctor of Education degree title were put on the flyer. Doran is proud of his Doctor of Education degree and insists that he be addressed as a "Doctor". Mayor Fife opted out of putting his name on the letter.  

What The Letter & Flyer Stated

The letter signed by “Jim Doran, Council President, Town of Harison” and also “James P. Doran, Ed.D”. with Doran’s Town of Harrison address, email and phone number stated that Doran had been approached by many Harrison Residents regarding a recent talk of “Dredging” the Passaic River at the PSE&G site in Harrison and stated that “Once again Milan (sic) and Pinho are trying to create an issue that does NOT exist. Quite honestly, there is just no truth to this story.  This is clearly a made-up fictitious story by Pinho and Millan to scare you into voting for Millan.”

The Doran Letter to Residents of Harrison in 2022

The letter goes on to state: “I can say with 100% surety that there are NO plans to ‘Dredge’ or place any toxic waste anywhere in Harrison.  They are trying to scare the people with lies and made-up stories at election time!  The people have had enough of their lies and scare tactics.  I am sure the Fife Team will again expose them for the lies they tell.  Just like the recent story of Millan yelling about the fire department was completely made up by the person who told it! Pinho.  He doesn’t live in Harrison, but surely would like to have Millan appoint him to a legal position- even though he was fired in the past.”

Knowledge of Falsehood From The Head of The Harrison Public Schools

At the time James Doran made the above statements he knew they were false. Doran the Harrison Public School Director of Personnel and its former Superintendent of Harrison’s Public School outright lied to residents using both his Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel and Councilman James Doran title. Doran knew that Mayor Fife’s statement at the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting was the truth.  Doran confirmed Mayor Fife’s statement one month later at the September 2022 Mayor & Council Meeting by stating that every town had to have “some skin in the game” for EPA’s Passaic River cleanup.  Harrison’s “skin in the game” was a Toxic Sludge Dewatering plant in a residential community.

Ironically, Doran stated in his emailed letter that the Fife Team would expose the lies they (Millan & Pinho) tell. Doran wrote the latter sentence with full knowledge that he was the one lying to the residents of Harrison to the detriment of the community. Quite a deviation from ethical rules governing elected officials and educators in the State of New Jersey.

The Proported Clean & Honest Campaign Illusion

Doran thanked residents for taking the time to read his letter. After he closes the letter with the following paragraph: “Please stop trying to divide our townspeople with scare tactics and lies at election time. We all know the reason that they want you to sign a petition is so that they can collect your personal information in order to contact you with political ads. As he stated in a recent TV interview, Mayor Fife is committed to running a clean and honest campaign about real issues affecting our community, without any lies or political trickery.”

Now, how crazy is James Doran’s letter?  Every accusation is false coming from an educator who holds several public jobs simultaneously one of which is Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel. James P. Doran, Ed.D. sends out a letter to residents replete with false statements designed to hide crucial information on EPA's Toxic Sludge plant and slander then Councilman Anselmo Millan and attorney John M. Pinho.

Fact-Checker Flyer

Councilman Doran was not taking any chances that residents would not hear his message. He opted to include a Fact Checker Flyer with his email.  Doran stated in the Fact Checker Flyer that he wanted  to “set the record straight, the Harrison Team has utilized independent fact-checkers to determine the truthfulness of certain “facts” alleged during this Election.” Doran stated as one of the Fact Checks Claims “Pinho attended a Redevelopment Meeting in Harison, got wrong information and now Millan is misquoting Mayor Fife, claiming that the Passaic River will be “dredged” leaving toxic chemicals on the PSE&G Site in Harrison. This claim asks Harrison Residents to sign a Petition that they are against the Dredging Project, a project that we found, does not exist.”

Mayor Fife's statement at the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency Meeting was very clear as to EPA's plan to place a Toxic Sludge (dredge) plant in Harrison at PSE&G property for at least 10 years.  There is a Zoom video that captured the statement verbatim (see video above). James P. Doran, Ed.D (Dr. Doran) knew he was lying but he went ahead and lied in the strongest way possible to the residents of Harrison.

James Doran 2022 Fact Checker Flyer

The Flyer goes on to say that “Several independent State agencies including the EPA and PSE&G stated that there is NO Plan to dredge the River on the PSE&G site” and links to two websites that purport to support the statement. An information flyer about the PSE&G cleanup (see below) and a Press Release for the Passaic River Clean Up which within their content describes the plan to clean toxic dioxin-laden sludge from the Passaic River does not mention the Town of Harrison.

Mayor Fife’s statement at the August 29, 2022, Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting set the context by which a reader could surmise that EPA’a Passaic River cleanup project was going to use the PSE&G site in Harrison for Toxic Sludge dumping for dewatering. That did not stop James Doran from stating that several independent State agencies including EPA and PSE&G stated that there was NO plan to dredge the River on the PSE&G site.

The last part of the Flyer has very large letters “Conclusion: MILLAN IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH!”. What it should have said was “I, JAMES DORAN AM LYING TO YOU IN THIS LETTER AND FLYER.”

James P. Doran Takes To Facebook To Repeat His Lies

In 2022, Doran posted on Facebook to repeat the lies he had emailed to residents.  Here is what he wrote “Once again Milan (sic) and Pinho are trying to create an issue that does NOT exist. This is clearly a made-up fictitious story by Pinho and Millan. There is NO plan to place any toxic waste anywhere near Harrison. Stop trying to scare the people with your lies and made-up stories at election time! The people have had enough of you and your lies. I am sure the Fife Team will once again expose you for the lies that you tell. PS the story of Millan yelling about the fire department was completely made up by the person who told it. Pinho. Pinho doesn’t live in Harrison but surely, would like to have Millan appoint him to a legal position even though he was fired in the past.”

For completeness sake, the paragraph below the ALL CAPS and Large Letters Conclusion states: “Millan knows that he is not telling the truth.  Millan has NEVER attended a Redevelopment meeting himself.  The EPA and PSE&G have NO Plans to ‘Dredge’ the Passaic River for toxins at the PSE&G Site in Harrison. In fact, PSE&G is publicizing how they cleaned up this property on their own. Millan and Pinho are trying to use scare tactics to get people to vote for Millan. Shame on them!”

PSE&G Property Clean-Up Cost Between $357 to $400 Million Dollars

The only true statement in the last paragraph is that PSE&G did clean up its property.  It cost PSE&G a reported $357 million to $400 million dollars to clean up its property which is now ready for a Community Center / Green Space Park / A Path Train & Community Center Drop Off and Turn Around.

The Path Forward

There is no doubt that James P. Doran’s letter and flyer were very effective.  The Online Petition which was building momentum with each passing day slowed in the number of persons signing it.  The email campaign was sent late in the campaign and Doran targeted only the residents in the apartment buildings in the Harrison Redevelopment Zone.  It was very late in the 2022 Harrison Mayoral Election that then-Councilman Anselmo Millan became aware of Councilman James Doran's email campaign Letter and Fact Checker flyer. There was an attempt to counter Doran's false statements including the distribution of the Zoom video recording of the August 29, 2022 Harrison Redevelopment Agency meeting where Mayor Fife told the truth about EPA's plan to use the PSE&G property for sludge dumping. The effort to counter Doran's emailed letter and flyer hit a wall. Residents believed the lies.

James P. Doran's plan worked. The lies about Councilman Millan and John M. Pinho had been sufficient to elect Mayor Fife and his Harrison Team council candidates including 4^th Ward Councilman James P. Doran, Ed. D. It is good to know that the Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel knows how to lie when he needs to protect his interests. What else has he lied about through the years?

Harrison At A Crossroads

The EPA Remedial Project Manager Alice Yeh has confirmed that the EPA intends to use the Harrison PSE&G property to dump Toxic Dioxin-Laden-Sludge for dewatering. (see Video below) The cancer-causing Dioxin is a by-product of the production of the herbicide Agent Orange across the river in the Ironbound Section of Newark during the Vietnam War. It is a highly toxic, cancer and birth defect-causing dioxin.

 EPA's YES Toxic Dioxin Laden Sludge For Harrison PSE&G Property

If The Video Above Does Not Load Click Here To See It On YouTube.

Mayor Fife Continues To Deny His 2022 Statement

As recent as Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Mayor Fife once again denied, despite his August 29, 2022 Statement, that he knows anything about the EPA’s plan.  Three of the Eight council members from statements made at Mayor & Council meetings are FOR the EPA Sludge dumping. One of the three addressed members of the public at the meeting stating that he was a long-time resident of Harrison and would not want anything that would affect the health of his family including his grandchildren in Town and would vote against it when and if a plan was presented.  When asked to oppose the project now, he refused.  The other five Council members are either annoyed the request for the Mayor & Council to oppose EPA's Toxic Sludge plant has been raised at several Public Sessions of the Mayor & Council meetings and/or are completely silent, not expressing any opinion or emotion.

Redevelopment Has Been In The Works For 26 Years

The redevelopment in Harrison stands at a crossroads.  The late Mayor Raymond McDonough and the then Town Council, over 26 years ago, envisioned the transformation of a contaminated industrial zone into a vibrant residential community.  Mayor McDonough’s vision has come to fruition.  Mayor Fife’s tacit approval of EPA’s plan to construct a toxic dioxin-laden sludge dewatering plant at the PSE&G property on South Frank E. Rodgers Blvd is reprehensible and is counter to the Harrison Redevelopment Agency plan.  It puts every resident and stakeholder in Harrison at risk of losing their health. Stakeholders, also, risk the loss of their investment in the Town of Harrison.  Let us not forget that Mayor Fife is also the long-time Chairman of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency (HRA).  He is the Chairman of the agency created to transform contaminated industrial properties into a residential community.  How can as Mayor and Chairman of HRA be in favor of putting Toxic Sludge in a property that has been cleaned up by PSE&G for a reported  $357 to $400 million and is now in a residential community?  The PSE&G property is supposed to be a Community Center with a swimming pool, a Green Space (Park), and a drop-off and turn-around area for the Harrison PATH Station, Community Center, and Park.  

Reach Out to Mayor Fife

Stakeholders and concerned citizens are encouraged to reach out to Mayor Fife and Councilman James Doran and ask them why he is not opposed to EPA’s plan.  Why did they lie to the residents of Harrison and defame then-long-time Council member and Mayoral Candidate Anselmo Millan and Attorney John M. Pinho? You can ask him privately but don’t let him fool you that there is no plan, the plan has been confirmed it’s just a matter of time until it’s too late to undo the plan and Stop it.  Or you can attend the next Harrison Mayor & Council meeting and ask them in person.

What else can you do?

Unfortunately, the residents and stakeholders of the Town of Harrison cannot rely upon Mayor James Fife and Harrison Public Schools Director of Personnel / Councilman James Doran to do what is right.  Both have shown their interest in having Toxic Sludge dumped in Harrison and have gone to the extreme of accusing others of lying when it is very clear from their statements that they are the ones lying about EPA's plan. The community which includes residents and shareholders must come out together and save the Town of Harrison. Harrison is a gem that is on the verge of fulfilling the vision of Mayor Raymond McDonough's and the then Council's vision, which included former Councilman Anselmo Millan, of a vibrant residential community free of contaminated properties. 

Your first opportunity will be when you see them in town and at a meeting of the EPA announced for Tuesday, August 27, 2024, to be held not at the large Harrison Town Hall Mayor & Council chambers but at the Harrison High School, the farthest point in Harrison from the proposed Toxic Sludge Plant. One guess on who suggested the Harrison High School location for the meeting.  A request to change the venue to the Harrison Town Hall has been rejected by EPA. So was a request to place the Toxic Sludge plant in industrial South Kearny which would combine the proposed Harrison Plant and the other Toxic Sludge Plant in the Ironbound Section of Newark next to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC).  In addition to a recently announced gas-powered electric generation plant at PVSC. The common denominator in all three projects is Harrison's Dr. James P. Doran.

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