The lawsuit is the latest in a long dispute between the society and developers who are trying to erect faculty housing at the Princeton Battlefield
PRINCETON - One month's worth of excavation at a section of the Princeton Battlefield could cost the land's owners, The Institute for Advanced Study, millions of dollars.
At least that's what the Princeton Battlefield Society is seeking.
On Friday the society released a notice announcing their plans to file a federal lawsuit in two months against the institute for digging at a section of the Princeton Battlefield off of Einstein Drive. They're seeking, among other things, millions of dollars in penalties.
The institute is excavating at the section, which they own, in order to prepare for a 15-unit faculty housing project there.
They were granted permission from the Princeton Planning Board just over a year ago to build the housing development and the society has been fighting that decision ever since.
Over the past year, the society has centered their argument on preserving the field for its historic value; society members say it was the site of a climactic moment in the Battle of Princeton.
But in the federal suit they're taking a different approach. The society claims that the institute is in violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, according to an announcement from the society released Friday.
The group says that since the institute started the excavation work last month they have been dumping dirt into wetland area that the society claims are navigable waters.
Under federal law the institute could be subject to a $37,500 fine per violation, Bruce Afran, an attorney for the society said. Every day of excavation constitutes another violation, leaving the institute with possibly millions of dollars to pay, he added.
He clarified that if the institute ends up having to pay the fine, the money would go to the federal government, not the battlefield society.
In the suit, the group also pushes for an injunction on the project, removal of all material at the site and restoration of the wetland area.
But the institute contends they're not in the wrong.
"The notice that was given to the institute does not raise any issues that have not already been reviewed and rejected in the course of all of the approvals received on the Faculty Housing project, including subsequent judicial review of those approvals," Alexandra Altman, a spokesperson for the institute said in a statement Friday.
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For Afran and the society, the problem goes deeper than just damage done to the wetlands. In the Friday notice, the group said that the institute was aware of wetlands at the site and intentionally withheld that information from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) before beginning excavation.
Afran said that the institute did not submit a survey from 1990 or a soil study from 2011 - both of which show presence of wetlands in the area - to the DEP when they were seeking approval to build. Under federal law, if wetlands are found at a site, the state has to conduct a review of that site and how it would affect the surrounding area, Afran said.
"(Not disclosing the studies) is major environmental fraud by the institute," Afran said. He added that he and other members of the society met with DEP commissioner Bob Martin this week and discussed the surveys with him. Afran said Martin is reviewing the information.
"He said he's taking it extremely seriously," Afran said.
A representative from the institute declined to comment on Afran's claims Friday, but in a letter sent to trustees the institute's director, Robbert Dijkgraaf, addressed their building rights.
"The Institute holds valid required NJDEP approvals, the propriety of which has been reaffirmed by five site visits, the most recent of which took place in mid-December at Senator (Kip) Bateman's request. In sum, our right to build is not in doubt," Dijkgraaf said in the letter, which was posted to the institute's website Friday.
The lawsuit is the latest in the society's repeated and increasingly frequent attempts to put a stop to the construction. They've drummed up support for their cause among local and national figures. The Civil War Trust recently intervened and offered the institute $4.5 million for the property, which the institute declined. In December three state senators wrote a letter to Martin in opposition to the project. The letter followed the Senate's Environment and Energy Committee meeting during which opponents to the project testified.
But the nature of that support has irked the institute, whose director said they have been largely left out of the discussion regarding the project and its opposition.
"We were not informed of the hearing by legislative officials and were not asked to attend; in fact, we learned of the hearing from the press," Dijkgraaf said in his Friday letter. He added that members of the institute tried "early on and on more than one occasion" to meet and discuss the issue with the society.
But, he added, they were "rebuffed" every time.
"Despite the opposition's refusal to engage, our sensitivity to preservation is evident in the project we are about to construct," Dijkgraaf said.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.