Just about every seat was taken in the audience when the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority had its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 21, at the NJ Environment Center in Lyndhurst.
Almost every person in a seat was there because they are fed up with the lack of response from the NJSEA and other state agencies — and Gov. Phil Murphy — when it comes to the Keegan Landfill, its odor and its potential health concerns.
One by one, residents and elected officials rose and spoke and, one by one, the NJSEA demonstrated they really believe the people of Kearny to be very stupid.
But the NJSEA couldn’t have miscalculated their strategy more. Because at this meeting were hard-working people. At this meeting were passionate people. At this meeting were people who love their hometown. At this meeting were a determined group of people with one goal in mind — letting the clueless NJSEA know only one result would matter — closing the landfill forever.
Now not only did the NJSEA refuse to close the landfill forever, they arrogantly and ignorantly refused to even consider closing the Keegan Landfill temporarily –until a time when they could fully determine how serious this situation is — even though we already know how serious it is.
Several commissioners said they understood how bad the odor was.
Yet again, when they said this, they demonstrated how tone deaf they are. Because no longer is this a matter of a terrible stench — this is a health crisis that may very well, at some point, become a dire matter of life or death.
Do you hear those words, commissioners? Life or death!
Now despite the authority’s tone-deafness, one thing was clear at the meeting — Kearny’s elected officials are sick and tired of the lies, the deception and the literal and figurative dumping Kearny continues to get from this agency.
Mayor Alberto G. Santos was as passionate as we’ve ever seen him since he took office in 2000. His law background paid its dividends as he addressed the NJSEA. He made F. Lee Bailey and Robert Shapiro look weak. It was enough to make every Georgetown Law grad — and every Kearny resident — proud.
Councilwoman Carol Jean Doyle, the third speaker of the day, certainly didn’t deliver a “1950s mentality” as one of the commissioners reportedly told her she brought to the table back in 1989. Instead, she revealed the authority for what it was — a gang with little connection to our town, concerned not about the health and well-being residents, but instead, nothing but money and the $24 million it gets for keeping the dump open.
Then, later, one by one, Councilmembers Albino Cardoso, Eileen Eckel, Peter Santana, Marytrine DeCastro and Susan McCurrie each delivered their own passionate pleas. Each was as magnificent as the other. They showed their constituencies that they made the right choices in voting them into office.
They did Kearny proud more so in one brief meeting than they could have in an entire four-year term. Each got nowhere because the commissioners refused to do the right thing. But still, they came to battle — and fought brilliantly, as if their lives depended on it.
So while the mission is not yet accomplished, it is off to a brilliant start. Joined by many non-elected residents, they demonstrated incredible will and amazing passion. The showed they will not stop until the day landfill is closed for good. The stakes continue to be high — the health and well-being of 40,000+ residents is at great risk. But if this passion continues — and there is no reason to believe it won’t — the goal will soon be met.
Members of the NJSEA and Gov. Murphy had better be listening. If they aren’t, they better be ready for war. Because that’s exactly what they’ll get from this town and its people.
And it’s a war Kearny will not lose.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.