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March 14, 1998

Shamed by New Jersey

by Ted Mooney

Chemical paranoia has gripped New Jersey for a decade, with our
elected leaders quick to fan the fires whenever the panic threatens
to abate. But somehow I was confident that our State Supreme Court
would be a little more intellectually honest. Instead they shamed us.

An after-hours fire, apparently set by vandals, destroyed the
buildings, property, and inventory of Alden Leeds Inc. Never mind
that the company suffered a loss of $9 million dollars when the State
failed in its duty to protect them, the State then saw fit to
prosecute them for a release of chlorine from their inventory of pool
chemicals, because their containment plans did not withstand criminal
wildfire!

In NJ–where our elected officials have been worthless at
controlling sprawl or urban decay, this seems to be a new standard
operating procedure: allow the police and firefighters to be
ineffective in preventing vandals from burning down the old
industrial buildings, then blame the victims.

Prosecuting someone for a chemical release caused by a major
criminal act perpetrated on them is no different than criminally
prosecuting a home owner if her window is blown out by a stray bullet
from a drive-by shooting and the glass shards cut someone. Drawing
the distinction when there is simply no difference can only be one of
two things: either total panic-induced mindlessness or shameless
whoring.

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