Financial Losses
Trees provide direct financial benefits to communities through the mitigation of environmental effects which would otherwise be put on the backs of taxpayers
The US forest service tool i-Tree has been developed to calculate these economic and environmental values of trees in a given community.
The Amberwood community of Decatur GA used i-Tree to generate a report which revealed the true cost of a similar project, where the developers underestimated environmental impacts. The proposed site later became Briar Lake Forest Park.
Amberwood demonstrates that towns which slow down and further investigate the impacts of development can choose to reject the proposal and put land into long-term conservation instead.
The i-Tree report calculated that from this site there is an immediate loss of $22,000 from destroyed resources in carbon storage, air quality, and runoff. Additionally there is an additional ongoing annual loss of $2,300 from these resources continuing to not provide services.
The developers have failed to consider these costs or to provide a reasonable financial compensation.
Drinking Water
The canoe brook development is being built alongside a major reservoir which over 100,000 people depend on for clean drinking water. To do so, they would be in violation of the Watershed Protection and Moratorium Act which prohibits municipalities, municipal utilities authorities and public utilities from conveying any land that is used for the protection of a public water supply. This is why they’re applying to the Watershed Property Review Board asking for an exemption from the law.
The area to be bulldozed includes trees, wetlands, and grassy areas - which all serve as natural water filtration systems from the water coming from the JFK Parkway.
We cannot allow the developers to break our clean drinking water laws!
Flooding
Like much of New Jersey, Millburn is built along a major river which has suffered from its natural green edges being paved. This loss of green buffer is a major contributor to why flood events are so extreme after each storm event - which are only anticipated to worsen with global climate change.
Millburn, in fact the state of New Jersey, cannot bear the loss of any more wetlands or permeable cover. As Shawn LaTourette, the Commissioner for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection has stated, "water needs somewhere to go", and if this land gets paved over, water will have nowhere to go other than into the streets
Air Quality Hazards
Essex County air quality is below recommended safe levels as laid out by the clean air act. Vegetated areas along major roads provide no-cost air purification which is critical to human health
The green area being removed filters over 100lbs of ozone and 65lbs of particulate matter.
High particulate matter pollution has been shown by Harvard Medical School to trigger large increases in covid mortality rates due to the harmful effects on human lungs,