Jackson’s EPA criticizes Jackson’s DEP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, led by Lisa Jackson, has released an audit report critical of the site remediation program at a the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection during the term of its former commissioner, Lisa Jackson. Yes, the same Lisa Jackson.

Honest to a fault.

What’s the matter with the Obama Administration? Didn’t they learn anything from eight years under George Bush? Surely they must know how to squash, delay or simply lose anything so embarrassing.

Shouldn’t they have sent it to the President’s office first? Then his lawyers could refuse to release it, claiming executive privilege.

Or simply send the only copy to the Vice President’s secret location. Oh, that’s right, it’s no longer a secret. Biden took care of that.

These new folks have a lot to learn. No problem, they can play catch-up by reading Chaney’s book when it comes out.

In the meanwhile, here’s the Bergen Record story on the EPA report.


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Can New York gamble its way out of debt?

New York Gov. David Paterson is renewing a push to allow Indian casinos in the Catskills, a long-stalled project that would boost revenue for the state and the region but is bitterly opposed by environmental groups and others.

Paterson’s aides and federal officials, including Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, Ulster County, met yesterday with Larry EchoHawk, head of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, in Sullivan County hopes of getting federal approval to build three casinos in the Catskills.

The Star-Gazette reports that Paterson’s budget office estimates the casinos would produce thousands of jobs and about $150 million a year in new state revenue from the operation of slot machines.
The state Legislature has approved six Indian casinos – three in the Catskills and three in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area. But the Catskills’ proposals suffered a setback in January 2008 when then-Bush Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne rejected proposals by about 20 tribes nationally, including two in the Catskills, to take off-reservation land into trust to build casinos.
Democratic officials are now pressing the Obama administration to overturn the ruling.
In a statement Schumer, a Democrat, said, “I am confident that with a new administration we have a new way of thinking about applications that are finite, focused, appropriate for the region and have strong community support.”
A separate meeting with casino opponents
EchoHawk also met separately with the Catskill Mountainkeeper, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and more than a dozen other organizations opposed to the Catskill casino proposals.


Richard Schrader the New York Legislative Director of the NRDC, center, chats with Mike Edelstin of Orange Environment Inc., right, as NRDC Senior Attorney, Mark Izeman listens before the start of the hearings.


THR/Michele Haskell
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who represents the Riverkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance, made a conference call expressing concerns about the impact on the reservoirs, which provide drinking water to millions of residents in New York City.
In a message to its supporters, the Catskill Mountainkeeper said that the proposed casinos “range from building on 333 acres along a mile stretch of the Neversink River to building an estimated 2,000,000 square foot casino complex in Bridgeville. At least 2 of the proposals estimate that they would each draw 6,000,000 visitors a year.”
The organization claims that the developments pose a “dramatically negative impact on the character of our region, our air quality and threaten our drinking water supply. The effect of adding hundreds of thousands of cars to our already crowded roadways would have adverse effects on our business and commerce.”
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Bad economy? Not in the Marcellus Shale

Mr Obama, don’t bother sending stimulus money to Honesdale, Pa. The folks up there may soon be swimming in dough put up by the Hess Corporation in return for rights to drill for natural gas.

The Wayne Independent reported yesterday that, in the past two weeks, property owners have signed leases allowing Hess to drill on more than 62,000 acres of property–and more leases are expected.

“Principals of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, a massive landowners group that came together to enhance bargaining power with the drilling industry, have reached a final lease agreement with global-energy giant Hess Corporation after months of negotiation with other companies. “

The properties covered by the leases so far amount to almost 13 percent of the land in Wayne County. Hess and other gas exploration companies are targeting the natural-gas rich Marcellus Shale, a huge rock formation running through mostly rural parts of New York state and Pennsylvania.

The pace of leasing, which was brisk in both states in 2008, slowed this year due to economic uncertainty and growing environmental concerns.

In New York, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing what the environmental impact may be of horizontal drilling necessary to tap the Marcellus Shale, as well as regulations to handle it. While doing so, the DEC has stopped issuing the type of permits needed for full production of the Marcellus to begin.

The delay is not sitting well with area property owners who don’t want to see Mr. Opportunity knock elsewhere. On Sunday, more than 2,000 residents gathered at a rally in Bainbridge, NY to urge state officials to allow energy companies to begin drilling in their backyards. They also oppose a move in Congress to take a closer look at fracking, the method used to dislodge gas from shale and bring it to the surface.

Tom Wilbur/Press and Sun-Bulletin

The Press and Sun Bulletin reported:

“With thunder-heads looming in the background and county and western musicians jamming from a large stage in the park’s center, rally-goers set up folding chairs and umbrellas on the lawn. Many circulated among makeshift booths in shelters and pavilions, where lawyers and financial firms offered their services and advice to landowners, some on the verge of suddenly becoming wealthy.”

In Pennsylvania, the state Department of Environmental Protection plans a public meeting and hearing in October for each of two permit applications for proposed facilities in Wyoming County for the discharge of treated wastewater associated with natural gas drilling activities.

One application was submitted by North Branch Processing LLC to discharge up to 500,000 gallons per day of treated gas drilling wastewater to the Susquehanna River from a proposed treatment plant in Eaton Township, Wyoming County.

The second was submitted by Wyoming Somerset Regional Water Resources Corp. to discharge up to 380,000 gallons per day of treated gas drilling wastewater to Meshoppen Creek from a proposed treatment plant in Lemon Township, Wyoming County.

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Should New Jersey require prevailing wage for any private real estate projects?

The question in the headline above was posed
by NJBIZ to New Jersey’s Democrats and Republicans.

The business publication said it received no response from the Democrats. The Republican response, sent by Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty, was:

“The government has no business dictating how much people should be paid, whether it’s a private real estate project or a state-funded green energy job. Prevailing wage requirements do nothing but drive up costs for consumers, and send a message to small businesses, in particular, that they aren’t needed in New Jersey, and should look for opportunities in other states.

“For example, in July, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed a new law mandating prevailing wage for any construction project funded by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The law is another attack on the small-business community, ratepayers and, in this case, the environment, as it will drive up costs for clean energy projects just to curry favor with representatives of organized labor.

“Such legislation would have similar effects in the private sector, and is the last thing New Jersey needs — especially now, when companies are fleeing our state because of its anti-business climate. “

What’s your view on the subject? You can respond in the comment box below. If you don’t see one, click on the tiny ‘comments’ line and the box should appear.


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NJ Sierra Club backs Daggett for governor

For weeks the Sierra Club has been pummeling New Jersey Democratic Governor Jon Corzine for his record on environmental issues, as Corzine’s re-election campaign has worked to chip into a lead held by his Republican rival, Chris Christie, the state’s former U.S. Attorney.

Today, the environmental organization totally severed strings to Corzine–the man they endorsed for governor four years ago–by throwing the club’s weight behind Independent candidate Chris Daggett.

Daggett, a former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and a former Regional Administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, recently qualified for public campaign funding and for a position in upcoming TV debates.

“By endorsing Chris Daggett for governor, the Sierra Club not only made the principled choice but the right choice,” NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said. “Chris Daggett has shown leadership and a real commitment to protecting our environment. He has demonstrated his willingness to stand up to special interests and politicians to do what’s right for the environment. It’s very rare when you have the opportunity to endorse someone of such principle and integrity with a broad background in environmental issues.”

Here’s the Sierra Club’s news release on the endorsement and press coverage from NJ Newsroom, Statehouse Bureau and the Associated Press.
How important is the Sierra Club endorsement? Will it prove to be a boost to Chris Christie by eroding some of Corzine’s liberal base? Or will it provide Corzine with more mainstream appeal? Will it propel Daggett, still a virtual unknown among voters, into the limelight as he looks to capitalize on his “outsider” status in the critical, upcoming debates?
Share your opinion in the comment box below. If you don’t see one, click on the tiny ‘comments’ line and it should appear. You can sign your post or opt to remain ‘anonymous.’
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ExxonMobil loses on limiting NJ enviro damages

A New Jersey Superior Court judge has rejected the latest effort by ExxonMobil Corp. to limit its damages for harming natural resources at two refinery sites in Elizabeth and Bayonne.

In 2007, the Appellate Division held that the state Department of Environmental Protection had authority under the state Spill Act to seek damages for the loss of use of natural resources adversely affected by the discharge of hazardous substances.

ExxonMobil then claimed that the law defines “natural resources” as land owned, managed, held in trust or otherwise controlled by the state.

The property in question is on or next to former ExxonMobil’s 1,300-acre Linden site and its 288-acre Bayonne site. The properties had been used by ExxonMobil and its predecessors since the early 1900s.

The company also argued that no New Jersey court had ruled that the Public Trust Doctrine is applicable to private uplands other than those where there was a need for beach access.

But in his July 24 decision, Judge Ross Anzaldi wrote: “This court will continue to read the Public Trust Doctrine expansively. Therefore natural resource damages are recoverable under the Spill [and Compensation Control] Act and the Public Trust Doctrine does not bar such recovery.”

For more, read:
NJ sues 120 for natural resource damages
New Jersey DEP’s Office of Natural Resource Restoration (ONRR)
Natural Resource Damages: An (EPA) Primer

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