Ex-Port Authority cop advised to ignore corruption?

Jerry Speziale in 2002 – AP Photo

On May 9, Bruce Golding of the New York Post reported:

The former No. 2 cop at the Port Authority is suing the agency and an ex-honcho implicated in the “Bridgegate” scandal — claiming he was hired to clean up corruption and then told to look the other way when he found “illegal conduct.”

Jerry Speziale, also a former NYPD cop and Passaic County sheriff, says in the suit that he was recruited in 2010 by then-PA official David Wildstein, who has since quit over his role in last year’s crippling closure of approach lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

Speziale says Wildstein told him to “root out corruption” and crack down on waste so he could one day take over the PA’s 1,700-member police force. But in his first week on the $198,500-a-year job, Speziale met with his boss, Superintendent Michael Fedorko, who allegedly ordered Speziale to “not interfere with any operations of the Port Authority and intimated that Speziale should essentially do nothing.”

Speziale claims he ignored that warning and immediately uncovered “numerous instances of illegal conduct, improper conduct and abusive conduct. 

Speziale says he then suffered retaliation that included revocation of his official vehicle, denial of security credentials and cancellation of medical benefits for his terminally ill wife, Maggie, who died of breast cancer last month on Easter Sunday.

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The day after Golding’s story broke, the Post’s Philip Messing wrote that Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered a top-to-bottom internal probe by the agency’s inspector general to investigate Speziale’s claims of corruption. 

Recent posts:  
Former NY manufacturing site added to Superfund list
Christie team under fire for energy, enviro decisions
Environmental bills in committee this week in Trenton
May 7 deadline for two NJDEP site cleanup submissions
Downwind NJ benefits as Supreme Court sides with EPA  


Ex-Port Authority cop advised to ignore corruption? Read More »

Former NY manufacturing site added to Superfund list


The Wolff-Alport Chemical Company site in the Ridgewood section of Queens, New York has been added to the federal Superfund list of hazardous waste sites by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Soil and nearby sewers were contaminated by radioactive material from past industrial activities at the site, according to the EPA. "Testing indicates that there is no immediate threat to nearby residents, employees or customers of businesses in the affected area along Irving and Cooper Avenues, " the agency said in a news release.

"Since exposure to the radioactive contamination may pose a threat to health in the long-term, in December 2013, the EPA took action to reduce people’s potential exposure to the radiation and address the potential health risks from the site.

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The now-defunct Wolff-Alport Chemical Company operated from 1920 until 1954, processing imported monazite sand and extracting rare earth metals. Monazite contains approximately 6% to 8% thorium, which is radioactive. Radiation can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer such as cancer of the lung or pancreas, according to the EPA

Until 1947, the company disposed of thorium waste in the sewer and on its property. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission ordered the company to stop those practices in 1947.
More information on the Wolff-Alport site is available here

Former NY manufacturing site added to Superfund list Read More »

Christie team under fire for energy, enviro decisions

The new week is off to a rough start for the administration of NJ Governor Chris Christie.

In news stories yesterday and today, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities came under fire for:

1. delays in reporting the results of tests into the extent of PFC contamination in public water supplies (Jon Hurdle reporting in NJ Spotlight);

2. the transfer of dioxin-cleanup funds from the DEP to the General Fund for use in narrowing the administration’s $800 million budget shortfall (Tom Johnson reporting in NJ Spotlight),
and

3. the involvement of former BPU officials in the controversial award of a contract to oversee the funding of clean energy projects. (Jean Rimbach reporting in The Record)

News coverage is not likely to get any kinder tomorrow when Christie staffer Christina Genovese Renna testifies before a joint legislative panel investigating Bridgegate.
(Charles Stile reporting in The Record)

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Recent posts:
Environmental bills in committee this week in Trenton

May 7 deadline for two NJDEP site cleanup submissions

Christie team under fire for energy, enviro decisions Read More »

Environmental bills in committee this week in Trenton


It will be a busy week in Trenton with numerous committees scheduled to meet on Monday and Thursday. Here’s the schedule of committees handling environmental bills:

TODAY, MAY 5, 2014

SENATE ECONOMIC GROWTH
5/05/14 10:30 AM
Committee Room 1, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

A-2642  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Riley, C.M. (D-3); Space, P. (R-24); Dancer, R.S. (R-12)
Allows contributions to NJ "Farm to School" program. Related Bill: S-1908
 
A-2643  Space, P. (R-24); Riley, C.M. (D-3); Dancer, R.S. (R-12); Wilson, G.L. (D-5)
Establishes "Best in New Jersey ‘Farm to School’ Awards Program" to annually recognize the best farm to school programs implemented by a school or school district.
Related Bill: S-1907
    
S-1902  Barnes III, P.J. (D-18)
Requires Department of Agriculture to post on its website certain information regarding State’s farm to school program. Related Bill: A-156
 
S-1907  Barnes III, P.J. (D-18)
Establishes "Best in New Jersey ‘Farm to School’ Awards Program" to annually recognize the best farm to school programs implemented by a school or school district.
Related Bill: A-2643
 
S-1908  Barnes III, P.J. (D-18)
Allows contributions to NJ "Farm to School" program.  Related Bill: A-2642
 
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THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2014

ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS

05/08/14  2:00 PM
Committee Room 11, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
 
A-1726  Eustace, T.J. (D-38); Lagana, J.A. (D-38); Mosquera, G.M. (D-4)
Amends "Flood Hazard Area Control Act" to require DEP to take certain actions concerning delineations of flood hazard areas and floodplains.  Related Bill: S-308
      
A-2303  DeAngelo, W.P. (D-14)
Requires certain State departments, divisions, commissions, and authorities to consider use of green or blue roof in construction of certain new State buildings, facilities, and structures.
    
A-2340  Greenwald, L.D. (D-6); Spencer, L.G. (D-29); Lagana, J.A. (D-38)
Requires report and public hearing prior to DEP recommendation of site for inclusion on Superfund list.
 
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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
05/08/14  2:00 PM
Committee Room 16, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

A-2728  Pintor Marin, E. (D-29); Johnson, G.M. (D-37); Singleton, T. (D-7)
Extends deadline for developer to submit temporary certificate of occupancy for an Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant Program qualified residential project.
 
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ASSEMBLY HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
05/08/14  2:00 PM
Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
 
A-1907  Burzichelli, J.J. (D-3); Bramnick, J.M. (R-21); Singleton, T. (D-7)
Reinstates moratorium on imposition of Statewide non-residential development fees
until January 2015.   Related Bill: S-897

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May 7 deadline for two NJDEP site cleanup submissions

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Environmental bills in committee this week in Trenton Read More »

May 7 deadline for two NJDEP site cleanup submissions


Dennis M. Toft, Robert H. Crespi and Todd W. Terhune, all members of Wolff Samson’s Environmental Group, provided the reminder below to their law firm’s clients and friends.

May 7, 2014 Remedial Action Permit Application Deadline
It is widely known in the environmental community that May 7, 2014 marks the statutory deadline for responsible parties to complete the Remedial Investigation at sites where a discharge was discovered before May 7, 1999. Unless an extension was obtained, environmental consultants across New Jersey are racing the clock to complete their delineation sampling and prepare a Remedial Investigation Report for submittal to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ("NJDEP"). Less known is the fact that May 7, 2014 is also the deadline to submit a Remedial Action Permit application for previously closed sites.
 
A Remedial Action Permit application must be submitted by May 7, 2014 if a Restricted Use No Further Action ("NFA") letter or Limited Use NFA letter was issued for the site prior to May 7, 2012 by the NJDEP and a Remedial Action Permit has not already been issued.
 
Restricted Use NFA letters are issued where the remedial action employed at the site includes the continued use of engineering and institutional controls in order to meet the established health risk or environmental standards. Limited Use NFA letters are issued where the remedial action requires the continued use of institutional controls but does not require the use of an engineering control to meet the established health risk or environmental standards.
 
Engineering controls are physical mechanisms used to contain or stabilize contamination, such as an asphalt cap, building foundation, leachate collection system or fence. Institutional controls are used to provide legal notice of contamination that remains on site and may restrict the use of the site. Examples of institutional controls include deed notices, well restricted areas ("WRAs"), groundwater classification exception areas ("CEAs") and declarations of environmental restrictions.
 
Sites that were issued a Restricted or Limited Use NFA letter were required to submit certifications to the NJDEP on a biennial basis, certifying that the engineering or institutional control remains in place (known as a "biennial certification"). With the enactment of the Site Remediation Reform Act, a new requirement was imposed that sites with restricted cleanups also obtain a Remedial Action Permit. The Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites established the deadline for responsible parties at previously closed sites to apply for the Remedial Action Permit. Responsible persons that fail to apply for the permit by the deadline could be subject to a violation and assessment of a base penalty of $15,000.

May 7 deadline for two NJDEP site cleanup submissions Read More »

Downwind NJ benefits as Supreme Court sides with EPA


In a decision viewed as a major victory for the Obama Administration (and a breath of fresh air for residents of downwind New Jersey), the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection  Agency to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines from 28 Midwestern and Appalachian states to the East Coast.  


The New York Times reports:

“The 6-to-2 ruling bolsters the centerpiece of President Obama’s environmental agenda: a series of new regulations aimed at cutting pollution from coal-fired power plants. Republicans and the coal industry have criticized the regulations, which use the Clean Air Act as their legal authority, as a “war on coal.” The industry has waged an aggressive legal battle to undo the rules.

“Legal experts said the decision, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, signals that the Obama administration’s efforts to use the Clean Air Act to fight global warming could withstand legal challenges.”


In New Jersey, strange bedfellow supported the EPA position

NJ Spotlight reports: 

“The issue created some unusual alliances with big energy companies, like Public Service Electric & Gas, and the State Chamber of Commerce, siding with environmentalists, such as the Sierra Club, and the federal agency in support of the rule.”

NJ Spotlight notes that the Republican Administration of Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, won a lawsuit in May, 2013 “against a power plant on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, long accused of polluting New Jersey’s air, an action that led to an agreement to shutter the plant.

Despite that, neither Governor Christie nor his Department of Environmental Protection had commented on yesterday’s Supreme Court opinion by the time this post was published.  


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Downwind NJ benefits as Supreme Court sides with EPA Read More »