This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Woodbridge Community Center, A Bomb?

For several years I have written and spoken about the pros and cons of the Woodbridge Community Center.

On the Pro side, it is a place where residents of Woodbridge Township, and those from outside the township, can enjoy social and sports activities, for a fee.  The facility also provides a swimming pool, a day care service, exercise equipment and a miniature golf course.

On the Con side:

  •  the facility is owned, and now operated, by the township. The private entities that once generated revenues for the facility, those being United Skates of America and the YMCA, are gone.  Unlike the aforementioned private enterprises, the township does not have to be concerned about Profit and Loss (P&L) statements.  The taxpayers of the township cover any shortfalls in the Center's operating costs.
  • the facility was constructed atop the township's former incinerator plant and garbage dump.  Reportedly, at least one home in the immediate area of the site experience pollution problems, a child in that home developed cancer, and the township purchased and demolished the home.  
  • the township recently opened the 'CAPPED' landfill to construct a miniature golf course.  The value of that $600,000.00 + expenditure (exclusive of annual maintenance, operating and payroll costs) to the community is a matter of conjecture.  What is not a matter of conjecture is the fact that the NJ DEP, during its inspection of the site (required in order for the township to open the capped landfill), found several  methane vents on the site were not operational.  So where did those gases go?
  • the dangers of methane gas are very real.  Go to the following link: http://www.ask.com/question/is-methane-gas-harmful-to-humans .  As a reader can see, the www.ask site provides a lot of Q&A on the hazards of methane gas, not the least of which is it explosive power.  One only as to look at recent tragic explosion in NYC to understand the reality of that danger.
Under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), the township will be requested to supply its records on how, where, when and to what stanards methane gas, and other potentially harmful gases, toxins and/or microbial agents are monitored at the Woodbridge Community Center.  When the township responds to that OPRA, their response will be posted.

In the interim, it is hoped that all the employes, children and and other guests at the Center suffer no harm from the gases, or any other cause.



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