Area February 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 William Mowell, former chief engineer of the Ridgewood Water Company and a resident of Wyckoff, has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to hide elevated levels of an industrial solvent present in the drinking water of East Orange and South Orange, where Mowell worked as an engineer and assistant executive director for the local water utility. Charges have also been filed against Executive Director Harry Mansmann of Lawrence. State officials allege that after Mowell took a job with the East Orange Water Commission, he and Mansmann shut down contaminated wells several days before they tested the wells, in an alleged attempt to reduce the level of tetrachlorethane present in test samples, then restarted the wells after they took the water samples. Mowell and Mansmann are also accused of pumping water from the most contaminated wells in the East Orange Officials charged with concealing contaminants system directly into the Passaic River for about a month in 2011. The New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office reports that Mowell and Mansmann falsified levels of tetrachlorethene to show that the drinking water met state standards when it did not. Experts from the state Department of Environmental Protection said the water was not dangerous to consumers based on the evidence presented so far. Mowell and Mansmann were indicted last week by a state grand jury in Mercer County on charges of conspiracy, official misconduct, a pattern of official misconduct, unlawful release of a toxic pollutant, tampering with public records, and violating the state’s Safe Drinking Water Act and the state Water Pollution Control Act. Conviction would carry a possible prison sentence of five to 10 years. Mowell lost his job with the Ridgewood Water Company, which supplies water to Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Mid- land Park, and Wyckoff, when 34 Ridgewood employees were laid off or encouraged to take early retirement due to budgetary concerns in 2010. Ridgewood Water Company officials said Mowell was not accused of any improprieties while working for Ridgewood. Mowell was not available for comment at press time. The detailed indictment signed by Stephen J. Taylor, director of the state Division of Criminal Justice, comprises 14 separate counts and was filed Feb. 12. The Wyckoff Planning Board voted unanimously last week to confirm its 9-0 decision of Nov. 26 as it memorialized the approval of plans for a new 62,024-square foot ShopRite at the old A&P site. The application had been mired in controversy for more than two years, and the planning board members discussed their individual reasons for approval at the vote late in November. Some of them said the plan was less than perfect, but all of them felt that the merits of the ShopRite on what has long been a vacant lot outweighed any defects. Members of the public sat through most of the protracted hearings in silence, but at two special meetings they spoke about their own views. A substantial majority -- calculated at 70 to 80 percent -- favored the ShopRite application, a smaller group said they would have liked a smaller store, and a few residents opposed any construction at all. Some residents speaking at both public sessions accused the opposition, Stop & Shop, of dragging out the proceedings. Many residents argued that competition was healthy, and that the new ShopRite would bring jobs and revenue to Wyckoff besides eliminating an eyesore vacant lot in the middle of town. Plans call for a 62,042-square-foot structure to replace the building that currently occupies the site. The 53,500square-foot building at the corner of Greenwood and Wyckoff Avenues formerly housed an A&P and an adjoining Walgreen’s. The property has been vacant for more than 10 years, leaving the structure and existing 431 parking spaces in a state of disrepair. Inserra Supermarkets became the long-term ground lessee of the 7.6-acre site in 2009. The applicant, Inserra ShopRite, successfully requested a number of variances: minimum lot depth where 500 feet is required was requested to remain at 390 feet; minimum rear-yard setback where 100 feet is required and 10 exists on the present building was requested at 50 feet; parking stall sizes were allowed to be reduced from 10 by 20 feet to 10 by 18 feet and 10 by 19 feet in some instances; the minimum setback for ground signs where 20 feet was required was reduced to nine feet; levels of permitted soil disturbance in landscaping and some size limits of signage were also waived. No changes were made to the Nov. 26 plan via last week’s vote. Prior to the November decision the application’s principal impact on residents was the closing of the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles office, where Wyckoff and nearby residents could complete many required transactions without long journeys and long waits. J. KOSTER ShopRite plan is memorialized