Last week, Governor Whitman basked in the glow of her environmental legacy and promised one last gift to natural resources in New Jersey. Her critics, though, say Whitman has left another mark on the environment. They point to the toxic cloud that spewed from the Heterene Chemical Co. factory in Paterson in 1998, sickening dozens of children a week after a state inspector missed 1,500 barrels leaking hazardous chemicals. They cite Roche Vitamin Co., the Warren County factory that emitted more than 3 million pounds of pollution above its legal limit over the last five years. Despite a second term burnished by her landmark fight to save 1 million acres of forests and farms, critics say Whitman's environmental record still raises questions about how much power she has given industries to police their own pollution.
Inspections are down, and compromise is preferred over crackdowns on violators.
Chemicals in some cases are slipping into the air and water unchecked. These issues are likely to be raised when the governor arrives in Washington on Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, say activists and former workers at the state Department of Environmental Protection. Whitman contends that her reforms have given polluters an incentive to work with government, rather than hiding violations for fear of penalties and red tape. Smog has decreased. Old industrial sites have been cleaned.