Strongly opposed gas power plant to help run sewage treatment facility in Newark gets ‘limited’ approval that comes with with a number of conditions
By MICHAEL SOL WARREN, NJ Spotlight,| JULY 19, 2024
State environmental regulators issued a limited approval Thursday for a natural gas power plant at a sewage treatment plant adjacent to a neighborhood known to already be overburdened by pollution.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced an environmental justice approval for the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s Standby Power Generation Facility Project, which is a proposed natural gas-fired power plant that is meant to keep the PVSC’s sewage treatment plant in Newark running during power outages.
But the DEP’s approval was made with conditions that significantly restrict how the sewerage commission would be able to use its proposed power plant.
Those conditions specifically call for:
- PVSC to only run the power plant as a backup generator in the event of a power outage, with one exception per month for test runs to ensure the power plant remains ready for any emergencies. PVSC would not be allowed to run the power plant continuously or run it as a revenue-generating asset.
- PVSC will be required to install additional pollution controls at the sewage treatment plant, such as upgrading sludge heat treatment boilers and removing or upgrading outdated equipment.
- PVSC will be required to install a minimum of 5 megawatts of solar at the sewage treatment plan, as well as a minimum of 5MW of battery storage.
- PVSC must immediately study how to transition from this natural gas plant to a renewable energy alternative, including the possibility of green hydrogen.
If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
