Tiny Piping Plover holding up big beach project in NY

Piping Plover chick whose species is holding up a beach replenishment on Fire Island
BAY SHORE, N.Y. — A court fight over a protected bird called the piping plover is holding up a $207 million plan to replenish the sand along a 19-mile stretch of New York’s Fire Island , the Associated Press reports .
"The small, sparrow-like bird that lives on the island is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and, elsewhere in the country, is classified as endangered.
"Besides arguing that the bird’s habitat is in jeopardy, critics say the project would be a huge waste of money.
"Elected officials have decried the delay, saying human lives are in danger if a repeat of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy strikes the region and work is not completed to bulk up Fire Island as a barrier for heavily populated parts of Long Island.
"During the storm, dunes as high as 20 feet were credited with absorbing the brunt of Sandy’s fury and preventing wider damage. Fire Island is a long, thin barrier island that runs parallel to the south shore of Long Island.
"A federal court conference on the dispute was held Wednesday in Central Islip. The judge refused to lift a temporary restraining order halting the Army Corps of Engineers project."
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Recent blog posts: 
EPA: Nitrogen pollution declining in Long Island Sound 
Is highway use best for $35M NJ Transit hybrid buses?
Ratepayers better off with B. L. England dead or alive?  
Jersey City to get $10M down for waste transfer station   
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Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/10/07/3284828/fight-over-piping-plover-halts.html#storylink=cpy

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EPA: Nitrogen pollution declining in Long Island Sound

Long_Island_Sound_photos_from_EPA
For the second summer in a row, concentrations of dissolved oxygen in Long Island Sound are higher than the long-term average, indicating improved water quality and improved ecological conditions for organisms that live in the Sound, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced.

In a news release the EPA says:

"Aquatic animals rely on oxygen that is dissolved in water to survive. When dissolved oxygen levels decline, this can cause some animals to move away, weaken, or even die. Low dissolved oxygen can occur when nutrients such as nitrogen enter a water body in excess, over stimulating plant growth.

"Nutrients such as nitrogen can enter a water body through discharges of sewage and from fertilizer runoff. In recent years, Connecticut and New York State have worked with the EPA to implement a nitrogen pollution reduction plan to improve the Sound’s dissolved oxygen levels, and to protect aquatic animals and public health. Much of the improvements in water quality is attributable to wastewater treatment facility upgrades and other measures are reducing nitrogen pollution to the Long Island Sound."

   Assistants aboard the research vessel John Dempsey deploy a rosette
sampler to collect water quality samples.Photo by Lloyd Langevin.


“The work New York, Connecticut, local governments and the EPA have done to build and upgrade sewage treatment plants has significantly reduced the nitrogen going into Long Island Sound,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Region 2 Administrator.

“We need to make financial investments in sewage treatment plants, and work to reduce pollution from septic systems and fertilizers, which also degrade water quality in Long Island Sound.”


Read the full news release here   
Is information like this important to you? Click here for free updates     
Recent blog posts: 
Is highway use best for $35M NJ Transit hybrid buses?
Ratepayers better off with B. L. England dead or alive? 
Jersey City to get $10M down for waste transfer station  
FERC approves Cove Point LNG export facility  
PADEP hits EQT with $4.5 M impoundment-leak fine 

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Is highway use best for $35M NJ Transit hybrid buses?


When the board of NJ Transit voted unanimously Wednesday to spend up to $35.2 million on a fleet of 37 buses with hybrid diesel-electric engines, cost (averaging $1 million a piece with service contracts and replacement batteries) wasn’t the issue. Deployment was.

The Record‘s Christopher Maag reports that "unlike most hybrids, which are used in stop-and-start urban traffic, the new buses will be devoted to long-haul highway routes."

"Some transit advocates and experts in hybrid engines criticized the decision, saying it was a questionable use for such expensive equipment.

“Putting hybrid buses in cities where they would have the most environmental and health impacts would make the most sense,” said Jenna Chernitz, New Jersey advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign."

But someone who is not shy about criticizing environmental decisions–Jeff Tittel, director of the NJ chapter of the Sierra Club–offered backhanded praise.
 
“It’s probably the first green thing New Jersey has done in a long time,” he said.
 
 

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Ratepayers better off with B. L. England dead or alive?

B. L. England Generating Station viewed from the east.
If the B.L. England coal-fired power plant in Beesley’s Point, NJ is converted to natural gas, it could tax the reliability of the power grid more so than if the plant had been retired as once anticipated, according to environmentalists.
NJ Spotlight reports:

"Critics of the project, citing a report last month by an advisory committee of the PJM Interconnection, the operator of the nation’s largest power grid, claimed there would be fewer potential reliability issues if the plant shut down rather than remained open.

"In either case, ratepayers would probably face increased costs for upgrades to high-voltage transmission lines that would be required to address potential reliability problems on the power grid.
"If the B.L. England plant shuts down, PJM has identified costs of approximately $143 million that consumers would pay for necessary transmission systems improvements, according to Paula DuPont-Kidd, a PJM spokeswoman.
"But Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said that if the plant stays open, it could cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to deploy as many as seven transmission lines to prevent overloads and blackouts.
"PJM has not identified costs of the continued operation or repowering of the B.L. England plant, DuPont said in an e-mail responding to questions about the report."

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Jersey City to get $10M down for waste transfer station

IESI_NY_Corp_waste_truck 
A company will pay Jersey City $10 million up front and $250,000 annually to operate a solid waste transfer station at a waterfront rail yard, city officials said Monday.
NJBIZ reported:

"The agreement with IESI NY Corp., which spans 30 years, will enable it to begin operations of a barge-to-rail system for some 800,000 tons of waste coming out of New York City, according to a news release. The waste is currently carried by truck through Jersey City, but will instead be taken in sealed containers directly to the Greenville Yard property.

"The city will use the initial $10 million payment to complete renovations of a decommissioned reservoir in the Jersey City Heights section, the news release said. The $250,000 will be collected as an annual “host transfer fee” for the operation."

The Jersey Journal reported:
“The expansion of Greenville Yards will remove 800,000 tons of waste currently driven through Jersey City streets. It will instead be transported in sealed containers of barge-to-rail, never entering the Jersey City community, the city said in a press release. “The renovations to Reservoir 3 in the Heights will include perimeter running and walking tracks and pathways, preservation of existing historic structures, new lighting, new park amenities such as a floating walkway across parts of the water, a kayak launch, beach area with water access, as well as nature and wildlife habit areas, the press release says.”
 

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FERC approves Cove Point LNG export facility

FERC approves Cove Point LNG export facility in Calvert County, Md.,with an
expected capacity of 5.75 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year.

Nicholas Cicale, in the FERC Blog, writes:

"This project application has given life and infamy to the #CovePoint search criteria on Twitter. Energy guru’s to ardent environmentalists have weighed in on the social media platform, whether it is a quick two cents or an admonishment of the FERC proceeding. I am not going to publish or give fame to any tweet in particular, but if you want a few moments of entertainment search “#CovePoint” on Twitter."

Cicale goes on the provide information on the project’s history. Read his full post here Related news stories:
FERC gives final approval to Cove Point LNG project – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
With caution, we support the Dominion Cove Point expansion – So Md News
ICYMI: Cove Point LNG, India Agreement & Radio Star Ernie – Roll Call (blog)
Dominion Resources intends to move fast on Cove Point – Richmond Times-Dispatch

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