A Superior Court judge today upheld the city's decision to rebuild its oceanfront boardwalk with wood from endangered South American rainforests. On Feb. 23, Judge Robert W. O'Hagan issued a temporary restraining order stopping the city from proceeding further on the matter until Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher could rule on it today. Uhrmacher refused to make the order permanent. She ruled that the state did not violate its own executive order calling for the use of recycled materials when possible. In approving the contract, the council relied on a letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which said that the choice of wood was up to the city.
Half is in the form of a grant, and half is a low-interest loan.
City officials said earlier that the wood to be used comes from a licensed supplier in Brazil with the permission of the Brazilian government. Attorney Michael Halfacre, Little Silver, filed suit against the city and the state on behalf of Rainforest Relief, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based environmental group, and three city residents and taxpayers. They claimed that by the time the softer wood had to be replaced, the city would be in a better position, financially and otherwise, to explore acceptable alternatives. Domenic Santana, owner of The Stone Pony nightclub on the oceanfront, offered to help seek corporate sponsorship of the boardwalk on an ongoing basis by U.S. timber suppliers. The club owner made his suggestion at a public meeting on the boardwalk proposal in September of last year.