Very fishy
By Tim Kelly

JAMESPORT--Was it a messy, smelly coincidence, or was someone trying to send Councilwoman Barbara Blass a not-to-subtle message regarding her position on the Calverton Industries sand-mining settlement?

When members of the Blass household arose last Thursday morning, something awful assaulted their nostrils. "There were fish along the road in front of the house, dead stinky fish," the councilwoman said.

That may seem strange, but there could be some twisted logic behind it, she said. Ms. Blass wonders if it really is just an unfortunate happenstance that dead fish landed on the road outside her home the very morning The News-Review appeared on newsstands bearing the headline, "Stink, stank and stunk."

That was the description given by Councilman Ed Densieski during the April 16 Town Board discussion on Ms. Blass's efforts to include additional environmental safeguards in the agreement the administration negotiated with the Calverton Industries sand-mining company. An angry Mr. Densieski lambasted the freshman councilwoman's resolution, saying it "reeks of self-preservation and political grandstanding."

With the three councilmen voting against the two councilwomen, the Town Board rejected Ms. Blass's efforts to renegotiate the settlement that allows Calverton Industries to keep digging in exchange for paying a $1.25 million fine. Ms. Blass said the town should seek the ability to test the waste material the company will bury in the pit once the sand is removed, and to increase the amount of the bond posted to restore the property when the digging is done. The board majority objected, saying that to reopen the talks could jeopardize an agreement they say is best for the town.

The North Fork Environmental Council and a Calverton organic farmer since have filed a State Supreme Court action seeking to intervene in the settlement in order to scuttle it. The case argues that the town cannot agree to permit an action expressly prohibited by town law in exchange for cash.

Called to investigate the fish case, the police don't believe that someone agreeing with Mr. Densieski's assessment decided to dump the half-dozen or so dead menhaden, better known as bunker, near the Blass residence. "As far as we know, it was by chance," said Police Chief David Hegermiller. The chief said it appears that the bunker fell off the back of a local fisherman's truck as it made the sharp turn near the Blass house.

"It's not criminal at all," the chief said.

A town highway department crew was called out for the cleanup. "They probably didn't even know they fell off or didn't want to go back and pick them up," said Highway Superintendent Mark Kwasna.

Maybe, but maybe not, said Ms. Blass, who called the official explanation "pretty bizarre." The incident, she said, "seems to me to coincide very nicely with 'Stink, stank and stunk.'"

She said she's lived at the same address for 24 years and never before have fish fallen off the back of a truck there. Although the fish were scattered about, there was no sign of any container that might have slid off the back of a pickup, she added.

"It could be just purely coincidence," she said. "It could be a bad joke on a superficial level or, if you wanted to take it a step further, there are other implications for dead fish in front of someone's house."

That, said Mr. Densieski, "is her paranoia popping through again. Maybe she's a little paranoid because of her change of position."

That's hardly the case, said the councilwoman. She added that if the attempt was to rattle her, it failed. "Maybe next time they could drop off some tartar sauce and we could have a meal," she said.