EnCap in jeopardy

From the Record:

EnCap project could be in trouble

The state Attorney General’s Office has declared EnCap Golf Holdings to be in default on two key provisions of its agreement with the Meadowlands Commission, according to documents obtained by The Record.

That conclusion has triggered a pair of 15-day “cure” deadlines, one expiring today and the other Wednesday.

If EnCap fails to cooperate, the entire first phase of the golf and housing project in Lyndhurst and Rutherford could be in jeopardy.

The dispute arose in the wake of The Record’s report last month that EnCap’s insurance company had denied $5.5 million in payments to contractors because of improper invoices, and that some contractors had not been paid for months.

In a series of letters dating to mid-March, Deputy Attorney General Valerie Haynes repeatedly warned EnCap that it was failing to abide by its deal with the state.

“The default date for posting of the post-closure security for this portion of Phase 1 is rapidly approaching,” Haynes wrote in a letter to Encap President William Gauger on March 19.

EnCap has until today to pay those post-closure costs for remediated land in Rutherford, and until Wednesday to submit a revised budget for cleanup costs that have swelled well beyond original estimates of about $120 million. The higher budget would force EnCap to put up millions more dollars in insurance premiums to ensure that the landfill cleanup is completed.