Throughout the years various members of the general public had specifically
requested that they be included in a community outreach information effort
intended to provide current information about the environmental restoration
effort at Picatinny Arsenal. Accordingly, to provide the public with a brief
but technically informed and accurate update about the environmental
restoration of Picatinny Arsenal a community update newsletter is prepared on
behalf of the PAERAB.
The board voted on and passed a motion to provide regular "cleanup" information
updates to the County of Morris and to the governing bodies of interested
communities located adjacent to Picatinny Arsenal. Individuals desirous of
receiving community update newsletters are welcome to be included in the
newsletter's distribution list.
Newsletter Compilation
A community update newsletter essentially consists of technical analyses and
reviews of all relevant information concerning the environmental restoration of
Picatinny Arsenal. Incidental articles pertaining to topics indirectly related
to the environmental restoration of the arsenal are also included; for example:
federal and state of New Jersey interagency cleanup agreements, the history of
the establishment of restoration advisory boards (RAB) and technical review
committees, the past and current deliberations of the FFERDC and the
establishment of federal cleanup policies, the design of the PAERAB’s website,
vapor intrusion, etc.
The primary sources of information referred to in a community update newsletter
are those of the principal environmental restoration partners (US Army, NJDEP,
USEPA) and by contractors issuing documents on their behalf. Additional sources
of information are the following : USAEC, USATHEMA, USGS, etc.
Included in the preparation of a community update newsletter are technical
analyses and document reviews conducted by the TAPP Contractor on behalf of the
community members of the PAERAB. These include analyses of field activities at
the arsenal and of the results of technical environmental partnering meetings.
TAPP generated documents are distributed internally to members of the PAERAB as
RAB documents similar to those documents typically generated by the principal
environmental restoration partners and by their respective contractors.
A community update newsletter typically consists mainly of verbatim excertps of
RAB documents and brief but technically informed reviews with minimal
paraphrasing for purposes of brevity and accuracy of the contents of RAB
documents, RAB presentations, correspondence, technical meeting minutes and
comments regarding them with explanatory references to relevant information
sources.
Also included in community update newslettters are notices of relevant
environmental events, of training / educational opportunities and of new or
revised Federal or State regulations. These are provided by various sources
such as the US Army, the NJDEP, the USEPA, the ITRC and the TAPP Contractor.
Prior to issuance, a draft newsletter is subjected to an editorial review
process that is intended to assure the technical accuracy, completeness,
relevance and objectivity of that community update newsletter.
Editorial
Review
To assure the accuracy, objectivity and relevance of a community update
newsletter's contents the Editorial Reviewers committee, which is comprised of
community members of the PAERAB, is charged with the responsibility of
reviewing that newsletter with critical technical input from the Technical
Advisers committee.
The Technical Advisers committee consists of the official representatives to
the PAERAB of all of the principal environmental restoration partners concerned
with the environmental restoration effort at Picatinny Arsenal: the U.S. Army,
the NJDEP and the USEPA.
