Updated 4/8/02
INFO
- Toll Costs
- Safety
- CAT Plan
- E-ZPass
- Hi-Speed E-Z
- Gas Tax
- In the News
- CAT History
- Toll Toons
PRESS RELEASE
Anti-toll group to file at U.S. Supreme Court
(Pollution to End Tolls?)
Manasquan, N.J. - (April 8, 2002) New Jersey based Citizens Against Tolls, Inc. (CAT), today announced its intent to file an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief with the United States Supreme Court in an action against tolling authorities in four states. The action includes the Garden State Parkway. The U.S. Supreme Court case (Docket #01-1421) seeks review of an original New York Federal District Court action against all tolling authorities in Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. The Supreme Court suit is aimed at ending the thousands of tons of toxic tailpipe emissions at toll barriers in violation of the Clean Air Act.
"Recent studies encourage our involvement in the Supreme Court action," says CAT President Ray Neveil, whose group has been monitoring the lower federal court cases of the past two years. Neveil cited the recent release of the Peters-Kramer study that shows massive concentrations (tons) of man-made emissions at Garden State Parkway toll plazas. "Pollutants greatly exceed EPA guidelines and create a serious health hazard for toll collectors, motorists and nearby residents," Neveil says.
In addition to pollutants, there is also the waste of fuel while waiting to pay tolls. An informal Massachusetts study found that over six million gallons of fuel are wasted annually while waiting in line.
"The damage to public health and the economy by toll plazas is worse than originally believed," says CAT secretary, John Millet, adding that CAT supporters fully back involvement with the nation's highest court.
E-ZPass creates further chaos and pollution at Parkway toll plazas in the handling of over 600 million annual toll collections. In addition, E-ZPass requires about 300 people in the administration center for operations, support staff and supervision, and another 240 field technicians, supervisors, and trucks to maintain the delicate sensing and surveillance equipment on a 24/7 basis. Additional personnel are also required to operate and maintain the central computers. Reverberating down the pollution chain are the cars needed by all of these personnel to reach their jobs. And then there are the postage and handling costs - postage alone for each one million E-ZPass mailings is $680,000 (will be $740,000 in June). In short, E-ZPass requires about the same number of personnel as there are "manual" collectors.
CAT leads the nation in anti-toll awareness among similar groups that have formed in other states. The groups all express serious concern about the lasting problems caused by toll collecting and frequently refer to the abrupt end of tolls in Connecticut in 1985 after six fatalities at a toll plaza. In New Jersey the latest fatality at a toll plaza was on March 25, 2002.
"Toll authorities have largely ignored the environmental costs of pollution to our fragile environment as well as health costs," says Neveil, "not to mention the high costs of toll collecting, vehicle wear and tear, wasted fuel, economic loss and the impact of the quality of life and," he strongly adds, "the most important and most costly is the potential for more needless fatal accidents!"
Armed with the damaging evidence that pollution causes, and the serious harm that it is causing to our environment and public health, and the fact that toll authorities are in flagrant violation of EPA standards that our government has put in place, CAT requests that the U.S. Supreme Court order that all toll booths be removed to end the carnage of pollution and fatalities.
Contacts:
Citizens Against Tolls, Inc., P.O. Box 497, Manasquan, NJ, 08736
Raymond G. Neveil, President 732-528-9184
John Millett, Secretary, 732-740-1875
Website: www.EndTolls.com
