Environmental activist Jane Nogaki retires from NJEF

Jane Nogaki, who has been advocating for environmental issues before local and state government for more than 30 years, has retired from the New Jersey Environmental Federation where she was founding chairperson and also had served as Pesticide Campaign Coordinator and South Jersey Organizer.

During her 33 years of activism, Nogaki mobilized public support for NJ’s Workers and Community Right to Know Act, Clean Water Enforcement Act, pesticide notification regulations, and the School Integrated Pest Management Act.

“While we are saddened by our loss (and honestly not quite sure how we will function without her), we want to celebrate and build on her more than 30 years of environmental activism and accomplishments,” said Amy Goldsmith, state director for the New Jersey Environmental Federation

“Jane had a unique ability to not only listen to others and understand their plight, help others with their local battle, but more importantly teach and encourage them create their own voice and, in turn, become activists themselves. If there is one thing that makes Jane stand apart from the rest, it’s that she not only used her mind, but her gentle and fierce heart, to fight for what is right in this world” Goldsmith said.

Related:
NJEF founder and board member Jane Nogaki retires after 33 years


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NJDEP stepping up enforcement of wells and pumps

Responding to consumer complaints involving improper well construction and well pump installation issues, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has announced it is increasing enforcement efforts.

In an advisory issued today, the Department said it found the violations to be of great concern because they threaten “the quality of our aquifers and the safety of our water supplies.”

DEP says the problems include wells and pumps installed by non-licensed or improperly licensed individuals, improper or faulty well construction and well pump installations, failure to obtain required permits, improper decommissioning of wells, and failure to timely submit well records and decommissioning reports.

What is DEP doing about it?

The Department’s Water Compliance and Enforcement Program will be providing enforcement support to the Division of Water Supply’s Well Permitting and Regulation Section, which is primarily responsible for inspection of the well sites.

This support will include the issuance of formal enforcement actions with penalty assessments (which can be up to $5,000 per day per violation), and the suspension or revocation of licenses.

Read the entire DEP enforcement advisory here.


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NY to modify Catskill water releases to Delaware River

Photo be Scott Foster – NYCDEP

New York City has agreed to modifications of releases of water from its reservoir system in the Catskill Mountains to better protect the ecology of the Delaware River in New Jersey and other downriver states.

It also will help provide drought relief and flood protection, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) which announced the news today. 

The agreement, worked out with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection “will better control the river’s salt line, typically found in an area around the Delaware Memorial Bridge in Salem County, thereby better protecting aquatic life, as well as drinking-water suppliers and industries that utilize fresh water from the river,”  the NJDEP said.

The department added that the agreement has been approved by the four states that share the river basin – New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The agreement will enable water purveyors in a broad swath of central New Jersey to tap into a larger share of Delaware River water via the Delaware & Raritan Canal. It also calls for the city to test a procedure to help to alleviate threats of flooding along upper portions of the Delaware River.

“This agreement is a perfect example of agencies working together and across state lines to reach a goal that is good for the entire region, one that is consistent with good water supply practices,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

“I must commend New York City for working with us toward resolving our concerns with its operating plan for its reservoir system and recognizing that the way the city releases water from its reservoirs is felt many miles downstream,” Martin said.

Under terms of the modifications:

  • Fishery officials from all four states and the city will form a panel to advise the city on maintaining water flows and temperatures to maintain a healthy and vibrant fishery.
  • New Jersey can increase its diversion via the Delaware & Raritan Canal during drought warnings from 85 million gallons per day to 100 million gallons per day. During drought emergencies, the diversion will remain at 85 million gallons per day.
  • New York City has set an operational goal to maintain its reservoirs at 10 percent below capacity from Sept. 1 to March 15, and an average of five percent below capacity from July 1 to Sept. 1 and from March 15 to May 1. That step could help alleviate river flooding during periods of major storms and heavy snow melt.

See the full NJDEP news release here


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PA Senator wants a moratorium on natural gas-drilling

PA State Senator Jim Ferlo

State Senator Jim Ferlo has introduced legislation that would impose a one-year moratorium on the drilling of wells in the Marcellus Shale.

SB 906, which was introduced yesterday (April 4), would prohibit the drilling of any wells, including wells that  have received prior DEP permits but where drilling has not yet begun.

The bill would establish a commission to study the environmental, social and economic impacts of drilling and recommend legislative changes.

Ferlo, who is in his second  term in the state senate, previously served for 14 years on Pittsburgh’s City Council. He sponsored similar moratorium legislation in the last legislative session.

Ferlo also is the sponsor of SB 680 which would impose a severance tax on natural gas drilling.

That measure would send 30% to fund local infrastructure repairs and economic development,
activities, 30% to the Environmental Stewardship Fund, 30% to the Hazardous Sites Cleanup
Fund, and 10% of emergency response training and equipment purchase.

“The gas drilling industry is going to leave scars on the Pennsylvania landscape that will place a cost on state government,” Ferlo said at the time of the bill’s introduction.

“A severance tax is uniform and fair, and is not unreasonable when you compare it to our competitor states. We should enact a severance tax now to make sure that we are not making other state taxpayers pay for the impacts of the drilling industry.”


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Hard to cry poor mouth when pulling down $800,000

Graham Spanier, President of Penn State University
PSU’s Graham Spanier

When Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced that his proposed budget would cut higher education funding by as much as 52 percent, Penn State President Graham Spanier immediately went on the offense, calling a news conference to denounce the decision.

Spanier received applause from those who value the role played by public colleges and universities and from environmentalists and Democrats who note that the Republican governor chose to slash aid to education while insisting that no severance tax be  levied on the natural gas industry (which pays the tax in other drilling states).  

The applause might die down a bit in light of today’s revelation in the Philadelphia Inquirer that Spanier took home a cool $800,592 last year in salary ($620,004), deferred compensation ($157,828) and retirement ($22,760).  

The newspaper cited a report released yesterday by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It said that Spanier’s total compensation trailed only the presidents of Ohio State University, the University of Washington, the University of Texas system, and the University of Central Florida.

The survey also reported that:

  • Temple University president Ann Weaver Hart had a total cost of employment of $707,947 for the period, including base pay of $535,903 and a $70,000 bonus, the report said.
  • Richard L. McCormick, president of the Rutgers University system, had a total cost of employment of $593,800, including base pay of $550,000, according to the report.
  • Patrick T. Harker, president of the University of Delaware, had a total cost of employment of $726,307. He ranked seventh among public-college presidents in total compensation, with a salary of $598,682 and a $100,000 bonus, the Chronicle said.

A Penn State spokesperson  noted that Spanier’s salary had been frozen last year, along with the pay of other university employees, “and he will share in the freeze announced for this summer as well.” He also pointed out that Spanier and his wife, Mahon said, have donated more than a million dollars to Penn State.
  
Given the size of Penn State’s operations–multiple campuses, wide-ranging activities and an ever growing student population–Spanier’s compensation may be defensible.

But many struggling taxpayers may see it differently. And their opinion will be weighed by state legislators who are taking up their reivew of the governor’s spending plan.

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Corbett’s enviro critics erupt over PADEP shale memo

Who is Pennsylvania’s new Republican Governor Tom Corbett more concerned about–state residents or the shale gas drilling industry?

Environmental activists have suspected the latter ever since the industry contributed more than a million dollars to Corbett’s election campaign.

Today, they’re more convinced than ever after learning that Corbett’s new DEP Secretary, Michael Krancer, had issued a directive to his field troops ordering that no enforcement action be taken without his prior approval.

Michael Krancer

The enviros are crying “I told you so.”  Krancer, however, says it’s just a way of insuring a uniform approach,  and he predicts that enforcement will be even more robust than before under his new policy.

Krancer’s background argues that he’s a straight-shooter. A guy who thinks for himself and doesn’t hesitate to challenge the party line (A profile of Pennsylvania’s DEP chief, Michael Krancer)

Pennsylvania  Gov. Tom Corbett

But his boss’s actions so far leave many skeptical.

Corbett deputized a shale gas advisory board but critics say he stacked it with pro-industry voices. And at the panel’s first meeting last week, Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, who chairs the group, made it clear that he’d brook no talk of a drilling tax. That edict was imposed even as Corbett delivered to the legislature a state budget that proposes to cut higher education funding to the bone.

Natural gas is starting to generate as much political heat in Pennsylvania as it provides to boil the tea water on your stove.

One thing’s for sure. Corbett’s critics have moved from skeptical to hyper-vigilant. His Administration had better play their next gas card with more forethought and finesse.

WHTM (ABC 27) has a good piece on the Krancer memo and critical reaction.
View it below.

Related:
Top DEP officials must OK Marcellus Shale drilling citations
DEP boss demands approval of shale citations
Corbett maintains hard line on no Marcellus Shale tax
Shale Panel Will Consider Local Impact Fee On Drillers
Shale Commission touts benefits of natural gas
Who will have Corbett’s ear on Marcellus gas drilling?

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