Note: The following is not a verbatim transcript of the Zoning Hearing Board meeting; it is simply one person’s summary of the major points made by those involved in the hearing process.  For that reason, quotation marks are not used unless a direct quote was recorded.  For information about obtaining an official ZHB transcript, contact the New Hanover Township office.

What is GR 2?

Gibraltar Rock's witness was Mr. William Potter of EarthRes Group.  In previous months he has been cross-examined by Lawrence Sager, an attorney for a local business.

This meeting began with the redirect from Mr. Stephen Harris, attorney for Gibraltar Rock.

Harris made sure to make the zoning board members (and the audience) aware that Potter was a certified geologist. 

It seems that for the past few months, (which I have been unable to attend and summarize) Harris and Potter have been explaining that the Silvis (owners of Gibraltar Rock, Inc.) did not look to purchase the Swann/Good) oil tank properties because they knew it contained petroleum contaminants and they did not want to move the soil and spread any contaminants.  Therefore, they did not purchase the land.  It also appears that Potter had done some searching of the DEP (previously known as the DER) records and found a document from the early 1970s that discussed some of the contaminants

Sager objected to Harris’s complete line of redirect with regards to this 30+ year old paper saying that it was only observational data and was not based on any empirical evidence. His point being that Harris just introduced it to bolster the testimony that the land was potentially contaminated. The attorney for the board allowed Harris to proceed on every objection that Sager made throughout the entire night. 

Harris spent the next hour having Potter list each and every observation within the 30 year old report, stating the amount and type of discharge.

Only re-cross examination Potter said he wasn’t a chemist, but he could read the reports on the discharge chemical from the DEP Web site. What Potter had done was to exhume a 30+ year old report, read through and lists a number of chemicals that were said to be in the discharge, and then perform a Google search on the chemical, and use the DEP’s Web pages to bolster their claims

Aside: Isn’t it interesting that when residents were allowed to speak to the board at the May, June, and July 2004 meetings that Harris put down, in a mocking tone many of the residents for using information they had obtained from the Internet---and now, when it backs their claims it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do. 

GR2 will continue on April 20, 2006