Back in the late 1980s, a court case was set to shake up environmental law in NJ, and to pave the way for new laws to better protect state residents from environmental damage from property owners, while also ensuring basic protections for those owners innocent of wrong doing.

The case was VI-Concrete Company V. State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection. The core dispute occurred when the New Jersey DEP ordered VI-Concrete to install monitoring wells on its property after identifying potential environmental contamination linked to an adjoining landfill (the Edgewood Sand and Sanitary Landfill).

Ultimately this was appealled all the way up to the NJ Supreme Court, which found DEP had been acting in an overly broad manner according to the laws at the time. This triggered a cascade of stronger laws to protect the environment.

Specifically, following the 1989 VI-Concrete v. NJ DEP NJ Supreme Court decision, New Jersey overhauled its environmental laws to address limitations in forcing cleanup on inactive sites. Landmark legislation, including the Brownfield Act (1998), revised Spill Act, ISRA (1993), and SRRA (2009), shifted policy toward mandatory pre-closure remediation, clear liability standards for innocent purchasers, and the use of private licensed professionals (LSRPs) to expedite oversight.

One of the officers of VI-Concrete was one Albert J. Pangia.

The current owner of 25 Hewitt Road.

This puts Mr. Pangia's statements to local residents and claims in a rather harsh light. Mr. Pangia has claimed to be utterly ignorant of various permitting processes in NJ, and feigned total ignorance of the workings of agencies such the NJDEP. The fact that Mr. Pangia was not only involved in an NJDEP lawsuit decades ago, but that he was part of a landmark ruling that triggered sweeping changes in environmental law to protect State residents from environmental disasters is telling.

For those not in the know, Mr. Pangia's property has been subject of many articles on this site available here. He is currently under heavy investigation by the NJDEP for storm water violations, has one or more violations on the books already, and is also embroiled in battles with the Hunterdon County Soil Conservation District and West Amwell Township municipal government.