Help Save this Land Before it is Too Late

Authorities Put Stop to Illegal Wetlands Construction by McGrath Homes

Workers Run When Confronted

Opening Day of Trout Season Threatened?

Observers were surprised when around 9:00am on Friday April 16, several construction vehicles turned off General Washington Boulevard in the heart of Washington Crossing into the old Bastion property that has come to be known as Revolutionary Ridge. The trucks disgorged around a half dozen construction workers onto the parcel that many would like to see preserved. After unloading about 20 bags of cement and a mixer, the workers began excavating the creek bed and installing footers, which when presumably combined with the steel girder and steel plate deposited nearby would allow heavy construction equipment to access fragile wetland buffer zones. The purpose is unclear as no permits appear to have been issued or plans approved.

A phone call from a concerned citizen fortunately alerted the authorities who quickly put a stop to the illegal activity thereby averting the threat to trout that had been stocked in the canal 20 yards away in preparation for the season that was to open the next day. One curious aspect to the entire incident is the report that workers quickly scattered when authorities approached. Why would the laborers employed by McGrath Homes have behaved this way?

Preservationists have tried for years to prevent this sensitive wetland and forested buffer along the Delaware Canal State Park and Washington Crossing Historic Park in the heart of Washington Crossing from being covered over by asphalt and office buildings. The developer, however, appears determined to realize a healthier profit from the land than can be wrought by selling it to the preservationists and has returned once again, this time with plans for an apartment complex to be wedged into the small portion of the 9-acre property that can support construction.

-- Photographic Evidence - Click Here --