Corrections or additions?
New on the Internet: Site Pollution Data
These stories by Melinda Sherwood and Teena Chandy were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on March 31, 1999. All rights
reserved.
Sensitive company information — violations, enforcement
records and soil-sampling results — may become available to the
general public on the Internet, says Jeffrey Entin, a senior
associate at Sadat Associates at Forrestal Village. “Confidentiality
and security may be at stake,” he cautions.
Under the Department of Environmental Protection’s Technical Requirements
for Site Remediation, companies are now required to submit environmental
data on clean-up sites electronically. “Before, company data was
buried in voluminous files,” says Entin. “In a year or two,
anyone will be able to get commercial site reports immediately.”
The new technology may make companies vulnerable to inquiries from
competitors, banks, citizens groups and insurance companies, while
raising a multitude of questions about what kind of information belongs
in the public domain.
Entin will talk more about the ramifications of the DEP’s electronic
deliverables program at a roundtable discussion on Thursday, April
7, at 4 p.m. at Envirogen Inc. at 4100 Quakerbridge Road. he title:
“Point and Click: Now who’s got your environmental data?”
Sam Wolfe of PSE&G and Adel Abeid of the state government
will also offer their opinions on how companies can cope with costs
and resolve security issues related to the proliferation of information
technology. Susan Hoffman, a partner at Drinker Biddle and Reath
LLP on College Road East, will moderate the discussion. Cost: $30.
Call the New Jersey Technology Council at 609-452-1010.
Entin holds a BS from Rutgers Cook College, Class of 1988, and earned
a master’s in environmental engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Prior to completing his undergraduate education, Entin joined Sadat
Associates, an environmental consulting and engineering firm with
only six employees, as an entry-level technician.
As senior associate and project manager, Entin is responsible for
designing, directing, and carrying out remedial projects regulated
under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA), Resources Conservation
and Recovery Act (RECRA) and other environmental clean-up programs.
In the short term, Entin explains, the DEP’s electronic delivery program
may save both time and money by minimizing the paper involved. The
use of information technology may exact a much higher price in the
end, however. “It raises a whole host of issues, such as competition
and people finding out what your secrets are,” says Entin.
An ongoing controversy between industry and state government concerns
what kind of information is confidential and what can be kept out
of the public domain. “Until now, publicly available information
was not really publicly available,” he says. “You have to
physically go to Trenton and request a file to review and pay someone
to make copies for you and interpret it.” Only the most diligent
individuals are likely to jump through the hoops necessary to exercise
their rights to company information.
All of that is going to change with the introduction of information
technology, Entin says. Companies should prepare themselves by strengthening
their own internal protocol for dealing with privacy issues and environmental
disasters. Companies may also want to play a more active role in community
relations. He offers advice for companies learning to use the electronic
deliverables system and hoping to see positive results:
Choose a reliable system for submitting your electronicdata. Some programs used to submit data in the GIS compatible formatstill have some bugs. The HazSite program, for example, won’t allowdata fields to be left empty. Spreadsheet programs, such as MicrosoftExcel, have also been problematic. “Make sure that the consultantand laboratory both know exactly what kind of format you’re lookingfor to minimize costs,” Entin says. “Otherwise, you couldlose two or three weeks, which is a lot of time when you’re doinga clean-up.”Build community relations. Since more and more peoplewill eventually gain access to company data, it is wise to begin apublic dialogue now. “Take the time to work with the communityand generate confidence so there is no suspicion that a facility couldhave a problem and affect surrounding residences,” says Entin.Company-sponsored meetings, newsletters, and communication with townofficials will all help secure the public trust.Establish a plan to prevent or remedy catastrophes thatresult from misuse of company information. “You need to have alegal protocol and security protocol, and it needs to be integratedwithin the company,” says Entin. Strong community relations areonly a small part of that plan.Work with the Department of Environment Protection. Usethe DEP’s resources and be patient, urges Entin. “Recognize thatthe DEP’s system is evolving, and one day, hopefully, all the coststhat are being borne now may trickle down to the people who are bearingthem in the form of reduced oversight costs.”Businesses are not the only ones that need to be concerned aboutthe quick and easy access of information through the DEP’s internet-basedsystem. The general public must also be aware that it poses a securitythreat to their own neighborhoods as well. In the worst case scenario,publicly available environmental information could be used to executeterrorist acts. Experts are still trying to figure out ways to putsecurity issues to rest, Entin says, in part by focusing on the definitionof “public domain.””One thing that has been suggested is that information be madepublicly available through certain channels,” says Entin, “maybeby subscription.” If that’s going to happen, law will have torace to catch up with technology in the next year.– Melinda SherwoodTop Of PageCommercial Lease BibleWith small businesses making up much of the Americaneconomy, millions of Americans find themselves negotiating commercialleases every year. Yet it remains one of the most difficult transactionsto execute. The commercial lease is so mired in “legalese”that the average person is ill-equipped to cope with its implications.Thomas G. Mitchell wrote “The Commercial Lease Guidebook:Learn how to win the leasing game!” to be a concise referencethat simplifies the lease process. In easy-to-understand language,Mitchell features a step-by-step system that shows how to organizeand review a lease. The book costs $19.95 plus $4 shipping. Call 800-888-4741or write to Macore International, Box 10811, Lahaina, HI 96761.Mitchell, who has been active in brokerage, development, and propertymanagement since 1975, examines 155 commonly included provisions ofretail, office, industrial, and ground leases from both tenant’s andlandlord’s positions. His descriptions enable all three parties tothe lease — landlord, tenant, and agent — to understand whatclauses are generally about, who wants what positions, and why.The book’s section on “negotiation” will help the reader makea better deal. Mitchell quips that the commercial lease is a greatexample of “The Golden Rule,” as in “he who has the goldmakes the rule.””Since the landlord owns the property, the lease is designed primarilyto protect the landlord’s property and ownership rights, and to satisfythe requirements of a lending institution. Secondarily, the leasedefines the rights of the tenant.”If you are on the tenant’s side of the table, expect a `landlord-oriented’lease as you start your review, and you will find it to be a lot lessfrustrating.”If you are a tenant using an agent to conduct your negotiations,give the agent the proper negotiating tools. Your negotiator shouldbe equipped with a detailed list of specifications, budget restraints,critical dates, names and titles of the parties who will sign thelease, and some understanding of your financial situation. Your agentcan then make a much better impression on prospective landlords.”To conduct effective negotiations, you must distinguish your`needs’ from your `wants.'”Bargain hard for your `needs,’ and don’t be afraid to establisha bottom line on each issue. Create an agenda, and during the negotiatingprocess, explain the reasons for the positions you take so as notto seem arbitrary.”Mitchell refers to “wants” as “give-ups,” saying thatbefore you even start negotiating, prioritize your “give-ups”and sacrifice them carefully in exchange for “needs.””Also understand that both parties have a hidden agenda. It containstheir list of needs — the points that will make or break the deal.It is camouflaged with `wants.’ Uncovering the other party’s hiddenagenda is, therefore, the key to success.An example: As a tenant, if you “need” extra parking spaces(above the landlord’s standard “parking ratio,” but you “want”a designated parking area, you might give up the designated area justto get the spaces.Top Of PageTinseltown TipsWhen a film is made in Hollywood many people come together– the actors, director, screen-writers, artists — and theyall get listed in the credits. “We can apply this model to howwe do business,” says Ronnie Fielding, general manager ofthe interactive division of the marketing firm Princeton Partnerson Research Way.Fielding, who built a successful new media business using the “HollywoodModel,” will discuss how this can be applied to a variety of businessesat the meeting of the New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network on Wednesday,April 7, at noon at the Princeton Forrestal Hotel. Cost: $35. Call609-279-0010 for more information.Fielding majored in English at Rider University, Class of 1981, andhas been working in new media for 15 years. After nine years at DowJones Interactive, she and a partner started United Multimedia in1995, and it was bought by Princeton Partners last year. Fieldingexpanded and refined her Hollywood model and is running the interactivedivision at Princeton Partners.”The difference with the Hollywood Model,” says Fielding,”is that we don’t use vendors, we use partners. We are not pretendingthat we are doing the whole thing. A lot of companies come togetherto create the project.”As in Hollywood, all partners get credit for getting results for theclient, says Fielding. “We are not outsourcing. We have the strategicexpertise inhouse to understand the business issues and to managethe resources to complete the project. But we also hire artists andprogrammers, and they work with us hand-in-hand, and are very visibleto the client.”The partners share in both the rewards and the risks, says Fielding.”We work for a fixed fee, and everybody works for the fee theyagreed on. Our partners get compensated when we do.”Fielding says that the Hollywood model is ideal for new media businesses,a term that refers to any type of computer-based media such as websites,DVDs (digitized video on disc), CD-ROMs, and kiosks. “In new mediait is very difficult to hire and retain good talent. When we workthis way, we have an ever expanding workpool to choose from.”The Hollywood Model, Fielding says, can be tailored to any businessthat needs alliances to move forward. “By making strategic alliancesyou can keep your overheads low and profits high.”– Teena ChandyTop Of Page`Chemical-Free’?No WayWhat are Americans being sold? The emperor’s new clothes?”asks Irmgard Howard, a biochemist on the faculty of HoughtonCollege, referring to the myriad of “chemical-free” productsthat the American public seems to be seeking in earnest today. Inreality there is no such thing as a “chemical-free” productand the chemistry-naive consumer is being misled, says Howard.Howard will present the biochemist’s approach to the public’s fearof chemicals at a meeting of the American Chemical Society on Thursday,April 8, at 6 p.m. at Princeton University’s Prospect House and FrickChemistry Lab. Call Alice Fankhauser at 609-258-3922. The lectureis free; the dinner is $20.”Chemicals are made of elements, and elements are all the membersof the periodic table,” says Howard. If you go back to what youlearned in high school, this would include “everything” –and “everybody” too. That is what Howard wants to convey throughher presentation — that “people” are chemicals too.”Once people understand that they are made of chemicals and thatthey interact with a world made of chemicals,” Howard says, “theyunderstand better how their bodies work and make more informed chemicaldecisions.” It’s a choice of chemicals that we have to make, Howardsays, and not a denial of chemicals.Howard has a bachelor’s in zoology and a PhD in biochemistry fromDuke University. She has done research in clinical chemistry, immunochemistry,molecular genetics, and nutrition. Since 1970, she has taught clinicalchemistry, biochemistry of nutrition, and a course called “TheImpact of Science on Society” at Houghton.Howard began collecting examples of chemophobia 24 years ago, aftershe saw an advertisement of a chemical company claiming their vitaminshad no chemicals in them. “I took it to my class and realizedthat everybody had already become used to the idea of chemical-freevitamins and didn’t think it was strange at all.””Words like `herbal’ and `organic’ are good, but the word `chemical’has become a bad word, and we as chemists are being discriminatedagainst,” says Howard. She says that there should be better communicationbetween the chemical society and the rest of the world. “It’simportant for chemists to use words correctly,” says Howard, “andinsist that others use words correctly too. Nutrition and biochemistrycan be used to communicate what is happening with chemicals in peopleand in their environment.”In this country there is so much processing of food, that it is essentialfor the consumer to make informed decisions, says Howard. For example,”You can choose to eat foods that contain certain preservatives,or foods that don’t have preservatives, which could end up being moreharmful.”The word “chemical” has come to replace “synthetic”and that is not correct, says Howard. “People look down on anythingthat is being made in a lab.” Advertisers get away with misleadingmessages because there are no regulations by the FDA, says Howard.”I am not against saying `no chemicals added’ or `no harmful chemicals’but to say that something is `chemical free’ is senseless.”A good place for the consumer to start, Howard suggests, is by readingthe labels of products. A “chemical-free shampoo,” for example,would have natural ingredients like aloe and water but “therealso has to be a detergent molecule in there that will make the sudsthat will clean your hair.”In the end, Howard says “it’s not good versus bad, or no chemicalversus some chemical. It’s the quantitative decisions that we make.Like everything in life, this is also just a matter of balance.”– Teena ChandyTop Of PageLegislative DataShould you decide to get seriously involved in politics,you may need this map of the area, the 1998 New Jersey LegislativeDistrict Data Book, published by the Center for Government Servicesat Rutgers University School of Planning and Public Policy. This 23rdannual publication presents a detailed statistical description ofthe state’s legislative districts.The book includes statistical and directory information for each ofthe state’s legislative and congressional districts and for the counties,municipalities, and school districts of which they are composed. Thereis also a map of the district, showing municipal and county boundaries,a general description of the district, including its political orientation,and names of incumbent legislators.The data book is also available on 3.5-inch disk. The book costs $39,the disk costs $50, and a set in print and on disk costs $75. CallJoan Buck at 732-932-3640, extension 628 for more information.A less extensive book is the 1999 State Chamber Legislative Roster,available to members free or for a fee to non-members. Call 609-989-7888.Top Of PageLate Bus on Route 1New Jersey Transit will run a late night trip on the600 bus route from Forrestal Village to Trenton and the PrincetonJunction railroad station starting Saturday, April 3. This was arrangedby the Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association (TMA)in response to the growing number of service employees on Route 1working late night shifts.The trip will begin at Forrestal Village at 11:15 p.m. and make stopsalong College Road East and Scudders Mill Road, at the Princeton Junctionstation, throughout Carnegie Center, and along Route 1. In Trentonthe bus will stop at State and Warren streets and at the Trenton railstation.This service will run seven days a week and on holidays on a six-monthtrial basis. If ridership is consistent with other trips on the route,NJ Transit will continue the late night service. For schedule information,call 800-772-2222 or 800-582-5946.Top Of PageRoad ClosedThe intersection of Grovers Mill Road and Cranbury Neck Road willbe closed for construction until Friday, April 2. Cranbury Neck Roadwill be closed at Nostrand Road and Grovers Mill Road will be closedat Maple Avenue. The closing comes as part of the New Jersey Departmentof Transportation’s construction of a new bridge along Cranbury NeckRoad, over the Millstone River.Top Of PageFor Girl Scouts,Lucent StockThomas Weber of Edison, a retired professor of history at RutgersUniversity, has donated $15,323 of Lucent Technology stock to theDelaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council, as part of a two year $28,700donation.”My daughter wears a brace on her leg due to polio,” saysWeber of his daughter, now the proprietor and a veterinarian at SeaGirt Animal Hospital in Wall Township. “Girl Scouting helped hergain confidence and feel accepted by her peers. I felt compelled tohelp Delaware-Raritan Girl Scouts give other girls the same advantages.”The donation will assist the council to achieve its goal to ensureuniversally accessible facilities at the New Leaf Environmental Centerand Oak Spring Day Camp, Somerset. For information about the activitiesof the Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council, or to make donations call732-821-9090, extension 3.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
