Environmental Activist Files Ethics Complaint against Executive Director of Pinelands Commission

OCEAN CITY – Dr. Steven Fenichel, a medical doctor living in Ocean City and active in environmental groups, filed an ethics complaint against Nancy Wittenberg, executive director of Pinelands Commission. In his complaint, filed with the New Jersey Ethics Commission Oct. 6, Fenichel alleges that Wittenberg has lost the confidence of the public and that confidence in the Pinelands Commission has been undermined because of her leadership, which has shown serious breaches of integrity and ethical standards. Fenichel wants the ethics commission to thoroughly investigate his allegations and then report its findings to the public.
Fenichel outlines three specific charges in his complaint. The first is when Wittenberg was DEP Assistant Commissioner for Environmental Regulation in 2008. In partnership with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey the DEP produced a study on “contribution of particle emission from a cement facility to outdoor dust in surrounding community” which assessed the amount of dust blowing from piles of granulated blast furnace slag at the St. Lawrence Cement Facility in Camden. Per Fenichel’s complaint, the final report he cites stated that there is significant impact on nearby homes and for people living there, and that simple controls are available by covering the piles of slag heap. Fenichel alleges that Wittenberg received objections from industry consultants and, noting that she was a former lobbyist for New Jersey Builders Association, decided not to implement the study’s recommendations to ameliorate the effects of the particles emitted from the slag heaps.
The second allegation in Fenichel’s complaint is related to Wittenberg’s actions regarding the current proposed Pinelands pipeline proposal. Fenichel describes private meetings with applicant South Jersey Gas to circumvent regulations as well as allow South Jersey Gas to edit her own reports to the Pinelands Commission without informing commissioners that they were receiving information from outside sources.
The third allegation in Fenichel’s complaint relates to another natural gas pipeline proposed for the Pinelands with the applicant being South Jersey Natural Gas (SJNG). Fenichel avers that Wittenberg was swayed by SJNG’s objections to make its application process less cumbersome although the route it wanted went through a “forest preservation area.”
“As a physician I find most egregious the charge related to Camden and the open slag heaps,” said Fenichel. “This lack of concern for poor people who were sickened by companies too concerned with a bottom line shows a total disregard for their lives.”
Regarding the timeline for a decision outcome by the Pinelands Commission, Fenichel stated that, “Ethics commission staff were not able to give me any precise timeframe when they might be able to resolve my complaint. It could be one year, it could be two years, I’m hoping the process is not a ‘black hole’ because that is so outrageously unfair to the public and in fact to Wittenberg as well since she will be under the cloud of this complaint until it’s resolved.”
Neither Wittenberg nor a Pinelands Commission representative responded to the Herald’s request for comment.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.