BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP

—The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the state after it refused to release the construction plans for a barn used to store road salt, on the basis that doing so would be a security risk.

The salt barn in question is located in rural Bethlehem Township in Hunterdon County.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Superior Court in Hunterdon County, would compel the state Department of Community Affairs, the agency that maintains state government records, to fulfill an Open Public Records Act request by Carole Chiaffarano, who lives on property next to the barn.

According to the complaint, Chiaffarano suspected that the salt barn was built “according to plans that were not approved by one or more governmental agencies.”

Chiaffarano, whose property is located 38 feet from the barn, had no difficulty in obtaining the plans from Bethlehem Township after filing an OPRA request. She wanted to compare the building plans provided by the township to those on file with the state.

Chiaffarano filed an OPRA request for the state’s building plans, but was denied her request as the state cited a 2002 executive order by Gov. James McGreevey.

The order, issued in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, allows the state to decline the release of public records that would compromise the state’s ability to “protect and defend the state and its citizens against acts of sabotage or terrorism.”

Lisa Ryan, spokeswoman for the Department of Community Affairs, declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.

Bobby Conner, a staff attorney for the ACLU, said the state’s justification is absurd because the barn plans pose no danger to the public.

“The Bethlehem community has a right to know if the salt barn was built safely and correctly,” Conner said. “By keeping the public in the dark, they are precluding the public from holding public officials accountable.”

Although Chiaffarano could not be reached for comment yesterday, she was quoted in a statement released by the ACLU.

“I was shocked that my requests were denied because of security reasons,” Chiaffarano said. “Since the township’s plans are out in the open already, I don’t see how comparing two sets of documents poses a risk to anyone.”