Curious silence on fort development plan

Barring a sudden change in plans — something certainly not out of the question considering recent history — the chance for the public to comment on Sandy Hook Partners’ proposal for use of the buildings at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook has all but passed.

Over the last few months many residents of the area have come forward to raise valid questions and concerns about both the specific plan proposed and the larger philosophical question of promoting private development in our national parks.

On Saturday they delivered what could well be their final contribution to the debate over the proposal.

While those who have spoken and written to the National Park Service about their concerns have done an exceptional job of bringing up pertinent issues about the proposal, the silence with which some area environmental groups have met the proposal speaks volumes about where their priorities are, and it is not saying good things.

It is impossible for anyone to say that this project will not have consequences for the environment in what is now the only undeveloped stretch of coastline in Monmouth County.

Officials with the Audubon Society, which conducts frequent programs on the hook, chose not to address the park service on the potential problems for migratory birds that would be created both by the construction and more intense use of the park that will come with the project.

Clean Ocean Action, the Baykeeper and the American Littoral Society have not released a single statement on the project despite the acknowledged damage that will be done to the nesting area of the piping plover and the potential damage to the estuary if the park’s sewer service should prove inadequate for the more intense uses that are planned.

Fortunately, concerned citizens such as Rumson’s Thomas Gruenenfelder and Holmdel’s Carole Balmer have put in the time and effort to educate themselves about these issues and bring their concerns to the park service. It also should be noted that other organizations, notably the Sierra Club and the New Jersey Marine Science Consorti-um, have come forward to raise issues that deserve to be addressed.

The debate on the plan has indeed been a vigorous one, but how much better could it have been if some of those groups most informed about Sandy Hook chose to take part in it?