Delaware

‘Unwanted’: Officials oppose national park designation at Delaware Water Gap spot

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2024

‘Unwanted’: Officials oppose national park designation at Delaware Water Gap spot

SANDYSTON – A resolution is being prepared in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate which would put the state Legislature on record opposing the redesignation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

The resolution is being proposed by District 24 state Sen. Parker Space and Assembly members Dawn Fantasia and Michael Inganamort and will collectively call the redesignation proposal “unnecessary and unwanted” by residents in northwestern New Jersey.

Inganamort attended a Saturday information session on the proposal via Zoom and told the crowd that the resolution was being prepared.

On Monday, he said, “You really have to hand it to Sandy Hull and the Delaware Water Gap Defense Fund for their 24/7advocacy to protect the Water Gap as it is. It was a pleasure to join this meeting virtually and I look forward to partnering with them in their advocacy.

“Part and parcel, we’ll be going to our colleagues in the Legislature to explain why this designation is unnecessary and unwise,” he wrote.

Space noted the proposed change “is not necessary and would upset the recreation area’s original mission and still puts uses such as hunting and farming at risk. A new designation that translates into prohibitions and restrictions on currently allowable activities in the recreation area would have a negative impact on our region.”

Fantasia, who is in her first term in the Assembly, recalled that in her previous elected position as a Sussex County commissioner, that board “officially opposed this redesignation for multiple reasons. The fear that this redesignation will disregard the rights of local property owners, and eminent domain will be used by the federal government to acquire private and State property adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap.”

Nearby on the northern end of the recreation area are state-owned High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest. At the southern end of the park in Warren County is Worthington State Forest, which visitors to the park must drive through along Old Mine Road.

Any redesignation of the park must be approved by an act of Congress and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, whose Congressional district crosses northern New Jersey and includes the northern half of the recreation area, has also expressed opposition to any redesignation.

“As I’ve said from day one, designation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area as a National Park requires significant local input because it directly impacts many North Jersey townships, boroughs, and residents,” he said in a written statement.

“I have full confidence in the mayors and local governments of the Fifth District and their ability to best represent the views of our constituents. Based on input from local officials and residents, it does not seem that the proposal has the necessary local support to move forward,” he added.

Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-8, and New Jersey Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., D-7, have also expressed concerns about the redesignation campaign and expressed support for the “No Park” movement. Kean’s district includes the southern half of the recreational area and Cartwright’s district includes all but a tiny part of the Pennsylvania side of the park.

There were about 70 people who attended the Saturday session in person at the Sandyston Municipal Building. Numbers of those attending via Zoom were not available.

The redesignation proposal is being pushed by John Donahue, who retired from the National Park Service as superintendent of the recreation area. His website also claims support from Sierra Clubs in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as other environmental groups such as the Appalachian Mountain Club and the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.

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His revised proposal would designate the Delaware River and some of the land on both sides of the river, as the National Park, while the remainder of the nearly 70,000 acres of the park would be designated a national preserve.

The park stretches from near the New York- Pennsylvania border downriver to just south of the geological formation known as the Delaware Water Gap, an opening in the Kittatinny Ridge which allows the river to continue south.

The northern peak of the gap is known as Mount Tammany, while the Pennsylvania side peak is called Mount Minsi.

The 70,000 acres of land and water actually have within its borders three designated units of the park service. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail runs along the Kittatinny Ridge and crosses the river at the gap, before continuing south.

The river itself is also designated the Middle Delaware Recreational and Scenic River. While a separate unit of the NPS, the river is part of the recreational area’s administrative responsibility.

The revised proposal for the Delaware River National Park and Lenape Preserve eliminates the recreational and scenic river as a separate unit and includes the river within the national park designation. The remainder of the land would get the “preserve” designation.

In 2023, the recreation was the 17th-most-visited unit, with more than 4.2 million “recreation visits”, a decline of 173,684 recorded visits, or 3.9%, from 2022.

While there was dip in numbers last year, it was still nearly 25% higher than the 2019 attendance of 3.37 million. In 2022, the recreation area ranked 14th on the NPS list, and ranked 15th in 2021.

Should the recreation area get redesignation, Donahue said his goal is “to place this gem of our national heritage into the jeweled crown of the national park system where it has always belonged.”

And, his website claims, redesignation as a ‘national park’ would be the first in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and increase visitation. It would also eliminate the farmland on either side of the river, allowing the forests to reclaim the land.

Those fields are currently leased by the NPS to local farmers for field crops such as corn, hay and soybeans, and there are strict regulations for “no till,” meaning the fields are not plowed and use of pesticides and fertilizers is highly regulated.

One lesee, however, said that if the land is allowed to go fallow – no further crops grown – it will be taken over by non-native and invasive species long before forests would get a chance to stretch onto the land.

Among other “Our Park” talking points are increased prestige which the group claims will mean increased funding, and increased visitation.

Local impact

While local businesses do get trade from visitors, the amount of vehicles creates traffic jams on weekends, said local mayors at Saturday’s meeting.

Lafayette Mayor Alan Henderson said traffic on Route 15, a main route which leads from eastern New Jersey across mid-Sussex County, linking with Route 206 which provides entry to the park, backs up on weekends.

Milford, Pennsylvania, is at the northern end of the park, where Mayor Sean Strub said, “there’s only three ways in or out of the borough, and on weekends (traffic is) at a standstill” and many are large recreation vehicles which drive across lawns as they make turns.

He also noted that the Route 209 bridge over the Sawkill Creek (within park boundaries) is crumbling and there are no plans from the park service to repair or replace it.

Sandyston Mayor George Harper Jr. said he remembers how the park was created when land was “grabbed for Tocks Island.” The island was the name of a project to build a multi-use dam on the Delaware River by the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Most of what is now the Water Gap park was purchased or taken by the government for not only the lake behind the dam, but for surrounding acreage which would become a “recreation area” around that lake. The burgeoning environmental movement of the 1960s forced the government to abandon the dam and the land was converted into what is today’s 70,000-acre recreation area.

“I see no benefit to Sandyston to take this from a recreation area to a national park,” he said. “Frankly, there’s no benefit to anyone in this.”

The redesignation idea is just a couple of years old, and any formal action would require Congressional funding of environmental impact studies required for national park and national preserve designation which would take several years, and then a final vote in Congress.

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Delaware

50 boys outdoor track and field athletes to watch in Delaware in 2026

Published

8 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

50 boys outdoor track and field athletes to watch in Delaware in 2026

Since the start of 2025, Delaware boys track and field athletes have set 11 state records between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

After a winter season in which 17 performances reached the top five on the state all-time list, Delaware appears poised for another strong spring.

Our list of track and field athletes to watch (presented alphabetically) features athletes from 24 schools who compete in sprints, distance races, throws and jumps. They are the athletes we expect to be among the state’s leaders at the DIAA Championships at Dover High on May 15-16 although many new names could emerge by then.

After defending its indoor track and field state title, Middletown is in search of its second straight Division I championship. Saint Mark’s enters the season as the Division II winner in three of the past four seasons.

2026 Delaware boys track and field athletes to watch

Elijah Annan, sr., Dover

Jason Baker, sr., Cape Henlopen

Derick Belle, sr., Odessa

Suhayl Benson, jr., Howard

Shaun Bosman, sr., Christiana

Elijah Burke, sr., Saint Mark’s

Khalid Burton, sr., Laurel

Isaiah Charles, jr., Caravel

Chukwuma Chukwuocha, jr., Wilmington Friends

Timothy Claessens, jr., Newark Charter

Rodney Coker, so., Odessa

Jaheim Cole, sr., Dover

Josh Cox, sr., Archmere

Calvin Davis, fr., A.I. du Pont

James Dempsey, jr., Salesianum

Will DiPaolo, sr., Cape Henlopen

Logan Elmore, jr., Middletown

Dahani Everett, sr., Caesar Rodney

Jayden Feaster, sr., Middletown

Gabe Harris, sr., Caesar Rodney

Phoenix Henriquez, sr., Smyrna

Christian Jenerette, sr., Odessa

Brandon Jervey, jr., Middletown

Mekhi Jimperson, sr., Caesar Rodney

Benjamin Johnson, jr., Dickinson

Michka Johnson, sr., Hodgson

Trey Johnson, sr., Cape Henlopen

Amir Jones-Branch, sr., Middletown

Alec Jurgaitis, sr., Saint Mark’s

Gavin Leffler, sr., Tatnall

Elijah MacFarlane, sr., Caesar Rodney

Max Martire, sr., Tatnall

Dylan McCarthy, sr., Tatnall

Chase Mellen, so., Salesianum

Zamir Miller, sr., Middletown

Ryan Moody, sr., Sussex Academy

Wayne Roberts, jr., Appoquinimink

Elijah Tackett, sr., Dover

Kai Thornton, sr., Sussex Central

Marc Patterson, sr., Dover

Charles Prosser, so., Salesianum

Riley Robinson, fr., Middletown

Roan Samuels, sr., Salesianum

Douglas Simpson, jr., Cape Henlopen

Jessie Standard, jr., Middletown

Riley Stazzone, sr., Cape Henlopen

Jamar Taylor, jr., Salesianum

Jordan Welch, sr., Sussex Tech

Brandon Williams, sr., Charter of Wilmington

Xzavier Yarborough, jr., Dover

Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

DNREC’s decision to prohibit data center upheld by state board

Published

20 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

DNREC’s decision to prohibit data center upheld by state board

A Delaware board upheld the state environmental agency’s decision to prohibit the “Project Washington” data center.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) ruled the project violated the 1971 Coastal Zone Act.
The developer, Starwood Digital Ventures, argued the project’s infrastructure did not fall under the act’s regulations.

Project Washington’s prospects in Delaware appear murkier after a board stood on the state environmental agency’s decision to prohibit the data center proposal.

The public hearings with the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board kicked off in Dover on March 24 at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Auditorium near Legislative Hall. It finished on March 26 after days of testimony from witnesses supporting and opposing the DNREC decision on the data center, which would be the largest in the state.

Project Washington was prohibited by DNREC in February because the agency said it violated the Coastal Zone Act, which was signed in 1971. Project Washington’s developer, Starwood Digital Ventures, filed an appeal of that decision soon after.

A little more than 30 people attended the meeting on March 24. It was modeled more like a court hearing than a public government meeting. The next two days included testimony from witnesses from both Starwood Digital Ventures’ and DNREC’s attorneys.

The Coastal Zone board consists of nine members, five of which are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate. Four other members are the state director of the Division of Small Business and Tourism and the chairs of the planning commissions of each county.

It’s the first time this assembly of the board has been called to action. Board members said they are making decisions on a fact and law basis, and are trying to cut out the noise this project has caused on social media and in other public meetings.

Witnesses and experts explained a ton of technical definitions for generators and got into the nitty-gritty of emissions and infrastructure. It was up to the board to take those facts in stride and make their decision.

“What we have to do is come back to the purpose of the appeal,” said Willie Scott, a member of the board during a break between sessions on March 24.

They voted unanimously to uphold the DNREC decision to prohibit the project based on the Coastal Zone Act.

Courtroom-like arguments for and against the data center

The hearing on March 24 began with opening arguments. Attorneys for Starwood Digital Ventures, Project Washington’s developer, argued that Project Washington’s purpose and infrastructure fall outside of the Coastal Zone Act’s regulations, and that DNREC’s definitions of smokestacks and tank farms are flawed.

“It fails every element of the statutory definition, as interpreted by the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Superior Court,” said Jeff Moyer, an attorney representing Starwood. “Its limited diesel infrastructure is not a tank farm within any reasonable meaning of that term, and each of the core three functions of Project Washington – data storage, electrical infrastructure and backup power – are all expressly not regulated.”

DNREC’s attorneys argued the data center campuses fall under heavy industry in a modern context, and it is the kind of project the act is intended to kill. They also argued it has a potential to pollute when backup generators are working if the power fails.

“The law requires that it be prohibited, not recharacterized, not broken into pieces and minimized, but prohibited,” said Michael Hoffman, attorney representing DNREC. “Over the course of the next few days, we will show that Starwood’s proposed hyperscale data center is one such project.”

Closing arguments on March 26 reiterated arguments from both sides, and the board voted to stand with DNREC.

How Project Washington and DNREC got here

The Coastal Zone Act prevents heavy industrial projects from developing along the Delaware River and Bay, Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, Atlantic Ocean, Indian River Bay and other Sussex County bays. The 14 projects that have been grandfathered include the Delaware City Refinery and the Port of Wilmington.

Project Washington’s proposed site falls within the defined coastal zone, which extends west to Dupont Highway in that specific spot. In February, DNREC said the massive data center is prohibited, stifling the project while it worked through state and county permits.

It would be 11 two-story data center buildings surrounded by electrical fields on two large land parcels north of Delaware City accessible by Hamburg Road, Governor Lea Road and River Road.

DNREC’s beef with the project is in the backup generators and their accompanying diesel tanks. The data center is proposed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If power goes out, it needs to use the backup generators to keep running. DNREC’s decision says the project includes some 516 double-walled diesel fuel belly tanks, each capable of storing some 5,020 gallons of fuel. That’s about five acres of tank farm.

There would be 516 backup generators with 516 smokestacks, which DNREC said in its original decision is the exact type of infrastructure the Coastal Zone Act targets by prohibiting “heavy industrial” projects.

Starwood Digital Ventures, appealed the decision, mentioning countervailing factors including avoiding wetlands, no direct surface water discharges and projected economic benefits.

Their appeal said the original DNREC decision “solely focuses on alleged environmental risk and worst-case emissions, and does not fairly weigh or explain these countervailing factors in light of regulating criteria.”

Jim Lamb, who is handling media communication for the project, said the backup generators would only run 37 to 45 minutes per month just to test if they are operational. Project Washington will also use a closed-loop cooling system, limiting its water intake.

The appeal required a hearing, which is the first time the board made a decision since 2021.

The developer of the project did not immediately respond to Delaware Online/The News Journal’s request for comment. New Castle County officials did not immediately respond to either.

Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

GGE of Delaware Jumps on the Rally Sponsor Train!

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

GGE of Delaware Jumps on the Rally Sponsor Train!

The Rally Sponsor Train keeps rolling! We are incredibly proud to welcome GGE of Delaware as a Premium Sponsor ($2,500) for the 5th Annual Rally for Our First Responders! This level of support makes a tremendous impact and helps us continue to grow…

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