EnviroPolitics Blog

Flamethrower Josh Fox is back with Gasland II

In 2010, almost no one in America had heard of the term "fracking".
Then, Josh Fox came along.

For many who saw Fox’s debut film, Gasland, it was the first they’d ever heard of fracking. And it wasn’t a very good impression. The movie charged oil and gas companies with polluting air and water, then avoiding public scrutiny by coopting the political process.

The first Gasland garnered Fox an Oscar nomination, and galvanized the anti-fracking movement. Not bad for a debut film.

Now Fox is back, and he’s looking for more evidence of environmental harm from fracking.

Tom Wilber is a journalist whose written a book about fracking and maintains a blog called the Shale Gas Review. How was the second Gasland?

“It was one-sided, didactic, there were errors of omission, and will be polarizing,” Wilber said.

Polarizing? How so? See the full story at: Gasland II Stokes the Flames of Fracking Debate
Or, click for an audio version of the Allegheny Front story Have you seen either of Josh Fox’s films? Care to give us your review? Use the comment box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ line. ————————————————————————————————————————————-
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in NJ, PA, NY & DE, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics. Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA environment and energy bills–from introduction to enactment
————————————————————————————————————————————–

Our most recent posts:
NJ energy and environment bills is committee today

Can your business equipment rope you into Superfund?
NJ to ante up $30M to rebuild water infrastructure
NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit
War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy

Flamethrower Josh Fox is back with Gasland II Read More »

NJ energy and environment bills is committee today

The New Jersey Senate’s Environment and Energy Committee meets at 10 a.m.
today in Trenton to consider six pieces of legislation that:

Clarify that certain types of sewage and sewage sludge do not constitute hazardous substances under "Spill Compensation and Control Act." (S-2094/Ruiz)
Prohibit contribution action against local unit for cleanup and removal costs
or any other damages associated with discharge of hazardous substance (S-2322/Scutari)
Establish an alternative energy portfolio standard and certificate program and provide financial incentives for certain standby generation (S-2651 Smith)
Create the Office of Clean Energy (S-2733 Smith)
Set requirements for the closure of legacy landfills (S-2861 Smith)
Support the development and use of biofuel for greater national security, a stronger economy, and a better environment (SR-106 Sweeney)

Listen via the Internet to the meeting
live or after its completion

For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in NJ, PA, NY & DE, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics. Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA environment and energy bills–from introduction to enactment

Our most recent posts:
Can your business equipment rope you into Superfund?
NJ to ante up $30M to rebuild water infrastructure
NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit
War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy
New Jersey’s #2 largest employer? Can you guess?

NJ energy and environment bills is committee today Read More »

Can your business equipment rope you into Superfund?

You are a businessperson who sends used or broken equipment to another business for repair or resale. If that equipment contains hazardous materials (as many do) and the business to which you send it later is designated as a Superfund site, are you on the hook for cleanup costs?

The answer, you may not be surprised to learn is: it depends.

Gibbons environmental attorneys David J. Freeman and Harry H. Clayton have studied the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Company v. United States, on "arranger liability" under the federal Superfund statute.

They also have reviewed three subsequent decisions by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and discuss them all in an article published by the Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report.

You’ll find their article here:
District Court Decisions Provide Further Guidance on Scope of ‘Arranger’ Liability

———————————————————————————————————————————-For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in NJ, PA, NY & DE, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics. Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA environment and energy bills–from introduction to enactment
———————————————————————————————————————————

Our most recent posts:
NJ to ante up $30M to rebuild water infrastructure
NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit
War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy
New Jersey’s #2 largest employer? Can you guess?
Cleanup site owner: Does your LSRP have your back?

Can your business equipment rope you into Superfund? Read More »

NJ to ante up $30M to rebuild water infrastructure

Repairs were ongoing at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s
plant following Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: John Munson-The Star-Ledger)

Hurricane Sandy damaged more than 100 wastewater and water treatment facilities in New Jersey, leaving the state with an unexpected $2.6 billion bill to repair, rebuild, and make the systems more resilient.

Some of the state’s biggest sewage treatment plants were completely flooded during Sandy, causing hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage to spill into waterways.

NJ Spotlight reports today that the state is planning to kick in $30 million in clean energy funds to help make the state’s wastewater and water treatment plants more resilient in case of extreme storms like Sandy.

Under the plan being developed by the state’s Clean Energy Office, the $30 million would provide a required state match to anticipated federal funding. The money would be used to finance energy efficiency and combined heat and power (CHP) plants at the facilities.

In Sandy’s aftermath, the Christie administration is pushing plans to build CHP plants at critical facilities, such as sewage and water treatment plants and hospitals and nursing homes to prevent power outages caused by extreme weather.

New Jersey officials say they expect to receive about 40 percent of the $570 million Congress approved to deal with problems caused by Sandy. If so, state officials have said it could provide up to $3 billion in improvements to the water treatment facilities.

———————————————————————————————————————————-For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in NJ, PA, NY & DE, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics. Our daily newsletter also tracks NJ & PA environment and energy bills–from introduction to enactment
——————————————————————————————————————————— Meanwhile, Legislators also are moving forward with a separate proposal to create a three-year program that could furnish up to $5 billion to help make repairs to water infrastructure.

The bill, voted out by committees in both the Assembly and Senate earlier this spring, would funnel so-called bridge loans to local governments and institutions enabling them to get a jump on the needed work, Here again, the expectation is that the loans would be repaid with federal dollars.

See full story: State Plans to Ante Up $30 Million to Rebuild NJ Water Infrastructure

Related environmental news stories:
Funding Mechanism Could Speed Rebuilding of NJ’s Water Infrastructure
City of Hoboken, NJ » Mayor Zimmer Announces Infrastructure Initiatives
After Super Storm Sandy, Ortley Beach’s Water System Revived
The Shaky State of New Jersey’s Infrastructure | New Jersey Future
Hurricane Sandy leaves state with $2.6B tab for water infrastructure

Our most recent posts:
NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit
War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy
New Jersey’s #2 largest employer? Can you guess?
Cleanup site owner: Does your LSRP have your back?
Opponents pack hearing on fracking in Pa state forest

NJ to ante up $30M to rebuild water infrastructure Read More »

NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit

The New Jersey Attorney General’s office and the Department of Environmental Protection today announced that several principal defendants in the Passaic River litigation have agreed to pay the state $130 million to resolve a portion of the state’s claims related to contamination of the Passaic River.

The settling defendants are Spain-based oil and gas conglomerate Repsol, S.A, Argentina-based energy conglomerate YPF, S.A., YPF Holdings, Inc. and YPF International, as well as CLH Holdings, Inc., Maxus Energy Corporation, Maxus International Energy Company and Tierra Solutions, Inc.

———————————————————————————————————————————

The agreement follows a recently-announced $35.4 million proposed settlement with 258 third-party defendants.

New Jersey now going after on Occidental

The state now plans to focus on its claims against the principal defendant, Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC), the legal successor to Diamond Shamrock, for the bulk

of its damage claims and future costs.

The Attorney General said that the state also will pursue OCC for damages resulting from the intentional discharge of Agent Orange, dioxins and other hazardous substances by the former Diamond Shamrock plant. These costs and damages, the Attorney General said, are separate from, and in addition to, the $130 Million received from the settling defendants.

In previous litigation, NJ’s Appellate Division determined that Diamond Shamrock intentionally dumped hazardous pollutants into the Passaic River for decades.

[See: A sick river, from those who brought you Agent Orange]

Under terms of the agreement announced today, the settling defendants’ total exposure to all claims for Passaic River cleanup and removal costs and damages could go as high as $530 million, subject to certain conditions and exceptions.

NY/NJ Baykeeper Debbie Mans said her organization "appreciates the State of New Jersey’s vigilance on holding accountable the polluters of the Passaic River." She urged that money received from the settling parties be used to repair the harm done to the river and not be re-directed to the state’s general fund.

The Sierra Club’s Jeff Tittel, an unwavering critic of the Administration of Gov. Chris Christie, called the settlement a "giveaway to polluters," claiming that the size of the settlement would be insufficient for the cleanup.

He said the Sierra Club also is concerned that the state "will not go after these companies for natural resource damages since it is not part of the settlement. "

"The Natural Resource Damages alone should be over a billion dollars along with the cost of the clean is at least two billion, " Tittel said.

Our most recent posts:
War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy
New Jersey’s #2 largest employer? Can you guess?
Cleanup site owner: Does your LSRP have your back?
Opponents pack hearing on fracking in Pa state forest
Environmental bills in committee today in Harrisburg
Senator Frank Lautenberg, environmental champion, dies at 89

NJDEP in $130M partial settlement of Passaic River suit Read More »

War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy

What’s the connection between the terms in the headline?

They’re all events posted this week posted in our Enviro-Events Calendar.

And they’re just a few of the large number of educational forums, seminars, webinars, business-networking and social gatherings listed on the calendar, starting today and
running through the end of 2013.

Here’s a sample of events taking place this week :

June 12, 2013
The New Jersey Pinelands & the Revolutionary War
7 p.m.
Pinelands Preservation Offices 17 Pemberton Road
Southampton, NJ Joe Laufer, Burlington County Historian will chronicle the people, places and events of the New Jersey Pinelands that played critical and strategic roles in the nation’s war for freedom. Learn about the privateers and smugglers at Little Egg Harbor along the Mullica River and the October 1778 clash at Chestnut Neck; the roles of Count Casimir Pulaski and Benedict Arnold, the Osborn Island Incident and other stories. Cost is $10/person. Space is limited, registration required, call Tom at 609-859-8860 x14 or email tomdunn@pinelandsalliance.org. You can also register online here

June 13, 2013
Conference on the Impact of the Defense Industry on New Jersey
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Enterprise Center at Burlington County College Mt. Laurel, NJ
The US military is the second largest employer in the state (after only the state itself) and is critical to the state’s economy. The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst alone boasts 44,000 jobs spread over 42,000 acres in Burlington and Ocean Counties. JBMDL’s economic impact is a whopping and arguably irreplaceable $7.9 billion annually. And yet planners, economists and policy wonks rarely consider policies that may be needed to support this important sector of New Jersey’s economy. This PlanSmart NJ conference will bring together experts for a half-day event to discuss what policies are working and what policies are needed to retain and bolster New Jersey’s defense industry. PlanSmart NJ Member: $50. Non-Profit/Government: $60. Non-Member: $85 Register here

June 13, 2013

LSRP Professional Judgment: Concepts and Applications

8 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Program
Eatontown Sheraton
6 Industrial Way East
Eatontown, NJ 07724
The New Jersey Water Environment Association’s Site Remediation Committee presents a full day course on the LSRP program at which key NJDEP managers and private sector attorneys and practicing LSRP’s will make presentations and participate in panel discussions. Pending the LSRP Board’s approval, you will receive 3 Regulatory and 3 Technical Continuing Education Credits for attending this course. You may also receive 6 Training contact Hours to satisfy other certification training requirements. Download the flyer and registration form by following this link : NJWEA Site Remediation Committee web page which includes the course announcement and a link to the flyer and registration form. Please join us for the course as well as the post course networking and discussion where refreshments will be served.

June 14, 2013
Building a Sustainable Infrastructure After Sandy

A NJ Spotlight Conference
8:45 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Trenton War Memorial Building
Trenton,NJ
Lunch will be served/Seating is limited
Hurricane Sandy was a wake-up call to New Jersey, one that the state’s electric utilities and water companies have heeded. But as they move ahead with plans to build a more robust, reliable power grid and water infrastructure, what options are being considered and what will be its price tag? The conference will tackle those and other tough questions. NJ Spotlight’s first extended-format event, this all-day conference gives panelists and participants the time they need to delve into details. Former NJ Gov. James Florio will be the guest speaker.

See dozens of events that you may want to attend on our Enviro-Events Calendar Use the form in the site’s upper-right corner to get free alerts when new events are added.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Our most recent posts:
New Jersey’s #2 largest employer? Can you guess?
Cleanup site owner: Does your LSRP have your back?
Opponents pack hearing on fracking in Pa state forest
Environmental bills in committee today in Harrisburg
Senator Frank Lautenberg, environmental champion, dies at 89

War, Defense, LSRPs and Hurricane Sandy Read More »