September 27,2007

CONTACT: 

Mike Guarino 201-933-5477

Al Barlas 973-722-0008

Lyndhurst NJ --State Senate candidate Michael Guarino and General Assembly candidates Carmen Pio Costa and Don Diorio said Democrat lawmakers should stop stonewalling an investigation into the EnCap development project in the Meadowlands and let the voters know who is responsible for the boondoggle before Election Day.

Guarino and Pio Costa said the problem-plagued EnCap project is a "financial and environmental disaster of historic roportions" and that voters have a right to know how upwards of $300 million of public money was put at risk and why the legislators from District 36 did nothing to protect taxpayers.

Guarino noted that in published comments on Saturday State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D- Wood-Ridge) -- a longtime backer of the EnCap project – and State Senate President Richard Codey agreed with Republicans that the foundering redevelopment project needs to be examined by the legislature – but not before Election Day.

Guarino charged that Sarlo knows he will be implicated in an EnCap investigation and that the senator is trying to avoid public humiliation before Election Day.

"Sen. Sarlo is afraid an investigation will show that he aided and abetted this boondoggle and he wants to keep voters from knowing the truth before they go to the polls on November 6," said Guarino, a former Democrat. "It’s just outrageous that Sen. Codey and Sen. Sarlo are willing to engage in an orchestrated cover-up as part of a desperate attempt to hold on to political power."

WHERES THE A.G.  REPORT?

Guarino said the State Senate should act immediately to protect taxpayers from further misuse of funds on the EnCap project and that the state Attorney General should order that the Inspector General’s investigation into EnCap be released immediately. The IG has been investigating EnCap since February.

"It’s scandalous the way Sen. Sarlo and the Attorney General’s office are conspiring to keep information about the EnCap project from reaching the public before Election Day," said Guarino, who has written the Attorney General numerous times about the project but has received no reply.

"If the state will not act to protect the taxpayers and shut down the EnCap project and tell voters who is responsible or this mess, than it is time for the U.S. Attorney to step in and do the job that Sen. Sarlo does not want done," added Guarino.

SCHAER IS SILENT

Pio Costa called upon Sarlo’s running mate Assemblyman Gary Schaer to "stop hiding behind Sen. Sarlo and demand an immediate legislative investigation into EnCap, "Assemblyman Schaer’s silence on this matter is a sign of his complicity in the orchestrated cover up that now appears to be ccurring regarding EnCap," said Pio Costa of Nutley.

"Assemblyman Schaer must be either trying to shield his own culpability in the EnCap debacle or is protecting Sen. Sarlo from public scrutiny. In either case, Mr. Schaer is failing in his duty to protect the public and safeguard the taxpayers’ money," added Pio Costa, a businessman.

"Why should voters have to wait until after Election Day to learn who the politicians are who misused their influence to enable EnCap to squander millions of taxpayer dollars?" asked Diorio.

###