Kresson Road will be closed to thru traffic from 7 p.m. today, August 14 continuously until approximately Saturday, August 15 at 9 p.m. Additionally, there will be a hard closure at the bridge/stream crossing between Middle Acre Lane and Ravenswood Way.
“Crews will be working around the clock this weekend in an effort to make substantial headway in this project ahead of the back-to-school season,” said Commissioner Al Dyer, liaison to the Department of Public Works. “We continue to thank the public for their patience as we undergo this major renovation which will improve the drivability and traffic flow of Kresson Road.”
Tonight, the Camden County Police Department will host its beloved Summer Fun Night at Alberta Woods Park from 5-8 p.m. This free event features petting zoo animals, pony rides, face painters, games, food, music and more for Camden residents.
“These events give our officers and residents the chance to connect in a fun, easygoing environment,” said Chief Gabriel Rodriguez. “As we head toward the start of the school year, it’s important for our young people to have safe, welcoming spaces to enjoy these last weeks of summer. I’m looking forward to spending time with everyone tomorrow and encourage our residents to join us in the park.”
“Tiz” (Myrtle L.) McComb (nee Tidswell), age 90, of Gloucester City, NJ, passed away peacefully on August 11, 2026, at Pitman Manor in Pitman, NJ.
Born on March 29, 1936, in Camden, NJ, Tiz graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in 1954. She entered the West Jersey School of Nursing in Camden, NJ in 1954 and was “capped” March 7, 1955. Her career to caring for others as a Registered Nurse continued at Methodist Episcopal/Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
She married her beloved husband Joe in 1964 where her role as wife and mother of Nancy and Steven were her focus and love. Settling into her treasured Monmouth Street home in 1974, Tiz was active in her community. She served as President of the Gloucester City High School PTA, worked at Brown Street School for the Gloucester City Board of Education (Food Service), and worked many summers at the front desk for the Gloucester City Swim Club.
Tiz was the beloved and devoted wife of the late Joseph J. McComb, Jr., retired Camden City Police, who passed away in 1980. She was also predeceased by her parents, Arthur H. Tidswell and Helen F. Tidswell (nee Friant), former owners and operators of The Central Record newspaper in Medford, NJ. She is survived by her devoted children; Nancy H. Motson (nee McComb) and her husband, Glenn F. Motson, Steven A. McComb and his wife, Elida Ortiz and Janice A. Archibald (nee McComb) with William Mathis. She was known as “Gaa-Gee” to many loving grandchildren and great grandchildren.
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (August 13, 2026)— The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has issued an official Warning Letter to Gloucester City, putting local officials on a ticking clock over significant environmental violations at a controversial waterfront property. The state’s action comes as the city finds itself tangled in parallel legal and financial crises over the future of its Southport redevelopment zone.
According to state records, a compliance evaluation by the NJDEP’s Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement revealed that the city completely bypassed critical environmental obligations at 850 Water Street (Block 120, Lot 2). To rectify the violation, the state is ordering the city to purchase $2.6 million in wetland mitigation credits.
The Timeline of the Violation
State environmental rules dictate that local infrastructure development cannot come at the permanent cost of South Jersey’s natural ecosystems. Under New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C. 7:7A-11.3(a)), developers are bound to a strict timeline when modifying protected environments: any required wetland mitigation must be built or restored prior to or alongside the main construction.
State regulations require that environmental restoration track at the exact same or greater percentage of completion as the construction project itself. The state asserts that Gloucester City continued its build-out on Water Street while neglecting to advance the necessary environmental counter-balances, violating Condition #3 of Permit #0414-11-0002.5 LUP190001.
ATLANTIC RICHFIELD/ARCO was located at 850 Water Street 50 years ago. Across from that company was NJ Zinc, also known as Gloucester Titanium, and Gulf and Western.
The state had previously granted the city an extended grace period to rectify the matter, which expired on April 17, 2025. Because that deadline passed without a resolution, the state escalated the enforcement action under file number WRN250001.
Historical Context: From Oil Terminal to Brownfield
The 9-acre parcel at 850 Water Street holds deep historical weight for the Gloucester City waterfront. Situated in the city’s industrial Southport area, this parcel was home decades ago to the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) / BP oil terminal site.
Following the cessation of oil operations, the territory sat vacant for over 30 years as a highly contaminated industrial brownfield, locked in stagnant, unproductive conditions due to heavy environmental liabilities. The entire 121-acre Southport district was heavily plagued by modern industrial hazards, including metals, PCBs, PAHs, and radiological contamination.
In 2008, the NJDEP officially designated Southport as a Brownfield Development Area (BDA), allowing the city to clean up, cap, and safely reconstruct the defunct industrial shoreline. A landmark three-party settlement agreement between Gloucester City, BP/ARCO, and the NJDEP eventually cleared the way for remediation and groundwater cleanup.
Broken Contracts and a $10.5 Million Lawsuit
The Cannabis Connection: High Stakes on Water Street
Public records reveal the high-stakes battle over 850 Water Street was about much more than organic waste compost. In 2019, Gloucester City leadership passed Resolution R123-2019 and companion measures to deliberately alter the Southport zoning rules.
Their goal was to clear the path for a massive, vertically licensed medical marijuana cultivate-and-retail facility directly on Block 120, Lot 2. D’Antonio’s firm sought to sublease the territory to cannabis operators. When the city tore up the contracts, it didn’t just kill a recycling facility—it extinguished a multi-million dollar cannabis enterprise, supercharging the current $10.5 million civil suit again
With the industrial scars of the ARCO era slowly being erased, the city aggressively sought out redevelopment partners. The original vision for 850 Water Street was centered on a groundbreaking green energy initiative: a world-class, fully enclosed organics recycling and composting facility designed to transform regional food waste into renewable energy and high-quality compost.
The city initially partnered with Gloucester City Organic Recycling, LLC (GCOR), an entity spearheaded by environmental entrepreneur Rocco D’Antonio. D’Antonio’s waste-to-energy firm, operating under the project banner Oren, spent substantial time remediating the site, pulling out contaminated debris tanks and raising the entire 10-acre site four feet out of the floodplain to clear the path for groundbreaking.
However, the relationship between the municipality and the redeveloper completely soured. Citing contractual breaches, failures to act, and conflicts of interest, the Gloucester City Mayor and Common Council terminated their agreements with GCOR and formally cut ties with all entities owned by D’Antonio.
The messy breakup triggered severe legal retaliation. Believing the city wrongfully broke its contract, D’Antonio filed a massive $10.5 million lawsuit against Gloucester City. That major litigation is currently working its way through the New Jersey court system, hanging over municipal administrators as a catastrophic secondary financial threat.
Sourcing the Credits: A Public Expense
The $2.6 million credit demand introduces an immediate hurdle for local leaders. When a project impacts a delicate local wetland ecosystem, the law requires that an equivalent portion of nature be built, enhanced, or protected elsewhere. Because Gloucester City failed to perform this remediation work directly on or near the Water Street property, the state allows the purchase of third-party “credits” as a fallback.
These credits are managed by approved regional Wetland Mitigation Banks—dedicated parcels of land where private environmental firms or state agencies have already successfully restored expansive wetland tracts. Sourcing these credits is difficult, as there are currently no active, privately run freshwater wetland mitigation banks physically located within the borders of Camden County.
State mitigation tracking relies heavily on Watershed Management Areas (WMAs) rather than county lines. To satisfy the mandate, Gloucester City must secure credits from a facility whose approved service area covers WMA 18 (Lower Delaware), such as the regional Oldmans Creek Mitigation Bank operating nearby in Salem County.
If regional private credits are entirely sold out, the city will have no choice but to pay into the state’s In-Lieu Fee Program, sending millions in public funds directly to the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Mitigation Council to fund state-managed restoration programs far away from Gloucester City. Because the city is a public entity, a $2.6 million mandate—compounded by the defense costs of a $10.5 million developer lawsuit—represents a severe blow that could deeply strain the local municipal budget.
NJDEP Considering Daily Fines Against Gcity
The clock is officially running for Gloucester City Mayor Dayl Baile and his city council. The state’s warning letter mandated that the city must respond with a definitive, actionable compliance plan to satisfy the outstanding mitigation requirements within 30 calendar days of the notice.
Inquiries regarding the enforcement file are currently being routed through NJDEP Environmental Specialist Maurice Nelson. City leaders have not yet publicly detailed whether they intend to absorb the multi-million dollar credit purchase, appeal the state’s calculations, or how the ongoing litigation with Oren and Rocco D’Antonio will impact the final layout of the Southport waterfront.
According to our source, The $2.6 million is not a fine. It is the cost of wetland credits the City would need to purchase from wetland banks (private companies) to satisfy their permit obligations.
Allegedly, the City has been claiming they didn’t have the funds which was not true. They have been sitting on $2.75 million to do this work since they passed Bond Ordinance 2012-003 on February 16, 2012, specifically to do the work.
Both the NJDEP and the Army Corp of Engineers know the City is not being truthful as they have all the City’s documents Including former mayor Spencer’s testimony that they were aware they needed to do the work and confirmed they always had the money.
David Cummins was sworn in as the eighth Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
In May 2026, President Trump nominated Cummins to head TSA and lead a workforce of approximately 60,000 employees and the security operations at more than 430 airports across the United States. Under the direction of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Cummins also has federal responsibility for the security of the nation’s surface transportation including rail, mass transit systems, highways, pipelines and maritime.
NOAA Fisheries requests comments on a proposed rule to revise fishing gear regulations in Atlantic highly migratory species fisheries.
Proposed Gear Revisions:
Buoy gear: Authorize power assistance for gear deployment and retrieval, the use of this gear under additional permits (Swordfish General Commercial permit; some tunas and shark permits), and the retention of additional species (some tunas and sharks).
Speargun fishing gear: Authorize this gear to retain and sell bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack tunas under some commercial permits.
The inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League Championship on Aug. 15 at Subaru Park will feature six professional players and one head coach with ties to the Philadelphia and South Jersey lacrosse communities as the Maryland Charm and California Palms compete for the league’s first title. Philadelphia ties include local high school standouts and University of Pennsylvania alumnae. The game begins at 5 p.m., live on ESPN.
For the Maryland Charm, midfielder Olivia Dirks is a native of Wayne, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of Episcopal Academy. Midfielder Cassidy Spilis grew up in Tabernacle, New Jersey, graduated from Seneca High School, and went on to play at Rutgers University. Defender Abby Bosco played collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania and currently resides in New Jersey. Leading the Charm as head coach and general manager is Emily Parros, a Rutledge, Pennsylvania, native and Strath Haven High School graduate.
Citing unsafe structural findings, DNREC closed the Seaford fishing pier to anglers and public access /Delaware DNREC photo
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has closed the Seaford Fishing Pier located within the Seaford boat ramp fishing access area on the Nanticoke River after structural flaws were detected during an engineering assessment of the pier this week by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The assessment of the pier, which predates DNREC’s construction upgrades to the Seaford boat ramp in 1997, raised several structural concerns, including support pile deterioration and a sinkhole forming from a faltering bulkhead. Based on those structural findings, DNREC closed the pier as unsafe for anglers and public access.
