Harrison Redevelopment Agency: What Is Fife Hiding?

In a town known for its transformation and ever-changing skyline of modern apartment buildings and good restaurants, Harrison, New Jersey, is also home to a troubling pattern of secrecy, manipulation, and lack of ethics. At the center of this controversy stands Mayor James Fife, who has been at the helm of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency (HRA) for years while simultaneously holding office as the town’s mayor. Mayor Fife was supposed to be an interim Mayor after the community was shocked by the sudden loss of the late Mayor Raymond J. McDonough at Town Hall from a heart attack. Fife’s administration’s transparency record, particularly regarding the proposed Toxic Sludge Plant at PSE&G, raises serious questions about the future of Harrison’s redevelopment efforts and whether the public is being kept in the dark.

A Tool For A More Secretive Agenda

The Harrison Redevelopment Agency, which has a long history of transforming contaminated industrial sites into thriving residential and commercial zones under the late Mayor Raymond J. McDonough guidance, appears to have become a tool for a more secretive agenda under Mayor Fife’s leadership. The issue at the heart of this investigation is the proposed Toxic Sludge Plant slated to use the PSE&G property for both the plant and its construction staging area. This project—part of a larger EPA proposal to take toxic dioxin-laden sludge a byproduct of Agent Orange production and bring it on land —has raised alarms from residents and officials, particularly because of its proximity (across the street) to modern apartment complexes and the Northeast Train Corridor, which sees heavy traffic from Amtrak, NJ Transit, and PATH trains. The location alone places the health and safety of thousands of persons at risk.  It violates the governmental agency that is proposing it, EPA’s mission statement “to protect human health”

What makes the situation even more troubling is how Mayor Fife’s administration has attempted to conceal the truth. On August 29, 2022 (over 2 years ago) Mayor Fife revealed his knowledge of EPA’s plan to bring toxic sludge on land in Harrison and the use of PSE&G property for at least 10 years.  Fife’s statement was recorded as the meeting was being held on Zoom.  Fife proceeded to deny his statement and lie and defame persons to conceal EPA’s plan from the public.

Late & Partial Posting of Meeting Agendas

Recently at a January 13, 2025, meeting of the HRA, the agenda for the meeting was posted to the official town website only three hours before the meeting, and that was only after an inquiry from a concerned citizen. Even more suspiciously, the full agenda was published only after the meeting had already taken place. This last-minute release of information raises questions about the administration’s commitment to transparency and the right of the public to be informed about decisions that directly impact their community.

Confidential Billing

Further requests to review the HRA’s bill list have revealed even more concerning discrepancies. When asked for the details of the bills on the list, an HRA employee initially claimed that the documents contained confidential information that could not be disclosed. A subsequent request to release redacted versions of these bills led to the release of documents: one from an environmental consulting firm, LSRP Consulting, and the other from the law firm Castano Quigley Cherami. While the LSRP Consulting bills were released without redaction, the Castano Quigley Cherami bills were heavily redacted. The description of every legal service and expense was blacked out, leaving only a list of monetary charges with no explanation as to what the money was being spent on. It’s worth noting that redaction is common practice to protect sensitive personal or financial data, but the extent to which the HRA has gone to withhold legal and consulting details raises serious questions about what’s truly happening behind closed doors.

One might ask: What is so confidential about the HRA’s bills? Why are these details being hidden from the public? Could these redactions be part of a larger effort to keep the public in the dark about the proposed Toxic Sludge Plant or other controversial development projects?

Secrecy & Questional Actions

This isn’t the first time that questions about secrecy and questionable actions have followed Mayor Fife. In the past, his administration has been accused of lying and defaming local officials to cover up inconvenient truths. Most notably, Fife and his ally Councilman / Director of Harrison Schools James Doran discredit then Councilmember Anselmo Millan and a local attorney to silence those who have spoken out about the Toxic Sludge Plant proposal. By falsely accusing others, Fife was able to continue to hide the truth he, himself, had revealed in his attempt to blame others for what he knew had far-reaching health implications for Harrison residents. His administration’s attempts to discredit those standing in opposition to the plant raise concerns about how far he is willing to go to protect his agenda. Follow the link below to read our detailed article on the Concealment: The Truth & Lies below.

While the Harrison Redevelopment Agency has been credited with transforming Harrison from a blighted industrial zone to a vibrant residential area over the last 26 years, the current trajectory of its leadership is worrying. Under Mayor Fife’s control, the HRA has become an opaque institution where decisions are made in secret, and the public is kept in the dark. But secrecy breeds suspicion, and the public deserves answers.

What is truly going on in the Harrison Redevelopment Zone? What projects are being planned that require such extreme levels of confidentiality? Are the extensive redactions and delayed releases of information part of a larger effort to shield the public from inconvenient truths? And what role is Mayor Fife playing in this ongoing campaign to conceal important details from the people of Harrison? Why would the Mayor of Harrison & Harrison Redevelopment Agency support a plan to put a Toxic Sludge plant in what is now a residential community?

Residents of Harrison Deserve Transparency

These are questions that demand answers. The residents of Harrison deserve transparency. They deserve the truth about what is happening in their town—especially when it comes to projects that could have lasting consequences on their health and quality of life. For now, the secrecy surrounding the Harrison Redevelopment Agency remains a troubling mystery that needs to be unraveled.

In the end, the public will have to decide whether the transparency promised by the Fife administration was nothing more than a façade, a smokescreen hiding a darker agenda. One thing is certain: it’s time for the truth to come to light.

For more details surrounding Mayor Fife’s revealing and then covering up the plan to put a Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison, read our full investigation here: Concealment: The Truth & Lies About the EPA’s Toxic Sludge Plant in Harrison.

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