NJ firefighters among 20,000 with cancer suing makers of PFAS

By Megan Burrow, NorthJersey.com

During fire training exercises twice a year at Kennedy International Airport in the 1970s and ’80s, Charles O’Neill, a retired Port Authority police officer who worked out of Newark Airport, would repeatedly spray simulated aircraft fires with firefighting foam over the intense weeklong sessions.

O’Neill and his colleagues would use the foam to fight five or six simulated fires a day, as part of their required fire and rescue certification. Once one blaze was extinguished, they would set it up and do it again.

The equipment worn as they sprayed the foam was one-size-fits-all, O’Neill said, and after “one guy sloshed around in that stuff,” the next person would change into the same suit.

Charles O’Neill, a retired Port Authority Police Officer who worked out of Newark Airport. — *Charles C. O’Neill*

O’Neill, 78, was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer 20 years ago. But it wasn’t until recently that he made a possible connection between his cancer diagnosis and the equipment he used during his long career in the fire service.

“We just did it because it was our job. Nobody ever said, ‘Be careful or don’t get it on your skin,’ none of that was explained to us,” said O’Neill, who retired in 1997 from the Port Authority Police and served for more than 20 years as a volunteer firefighter in New Milford until the mid-90s. “Now, from what I understand, the exposure to those chemicals could do that to you.”

Read the full story here

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NJ firefighters among 20,000 with cancer suing makers of PFAS Read More »

A relocated Arizona gas plant ignites questions

By Joan Meiners, Arizona Republic

MOHAVE VALLEY (ARIZONA)– At the corner of King Street and Aquarius Drive, on a dilapidated structure used for farmworker housing, a piece of a particle-board sign patches up a hole in one window where an air conditioning unit likely used to be. What’s left spells out the words “Energy Efficient.”

This building nestled among dusty alfalfa fields is now the closest residence to the new proposed location for the Mohave Energy Park, Mohave Electric Cooperative’s natural gas peaker plant project that has been fueling unrest across Arizona’s Mohave County since the beginning of the year.

Last December, senior residents of the Sunrise Hills neighborhood in nearby Fort Mohave found out about plans by local electricity distributor MEC and its regional provider AEPCO, the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, to construct two quick-start turbines half a mile from their homes. The retirees spoke out against what they saw as deceitful skirting of zoning and notification procedures that left them mistrustful of the utilities’ intentions.

Kim Qualey and her granddaughter, Scarlet, look out over the site where the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative wants to build a gas-fired peaker plant less than a mile from their home in Mohave Valley, on May 3, 2024.

MEC vowed to search for another location. But on March 18, the cooperative’s CEO, Tyler Carlson, told the Mohave County Board of Supervisors they had been unable to find a suitable alternative site for the peaker plant, which the utility partners say is essential to maintaining energy reliability as this rural desert region south of Las Vegas continues to grow.

Weeks later, after coverage of the dispute by The Arizona Republic following months of interviews and inquiries, MEC pivoted and announced on April 12 to an invite-only group of member ratepayers and elected leaders that they had shifted plans for the natural gas facility to a site a few miles away.

Read the full first chapter here: A solar ban, a gas power plant and the rural retirees firing back at dirty energy

Now, people living near the new proposed location — a lower-income agricultural area close to tribal lands and several schools — are echoing Sunrise Hills residents’ concerns about how the peaker plant may endanger human and environmental health, but fear they’re up against an energy Goliath with renewed determination.

Read the full story here

A relocated Arizona gas plant ignites questions Read More »

Pinelands fire expands to 4,000 acres, but now 60% contained

By Earl Hopkins, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 6, 2024, 12:25 p.m.

The wildfire had scorched another 2,800 since it broke out on Friday

A New Jersey wildfire that broke out Friday morning in the Pinelands, resulting in the closure of a popular campground, had spread to 4,000 acres by Saturday, authorities said.

The spread to 2,800 additional acres since Friday night occurred despite overnight crews working to contain the fire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. Firefighters have made progress, reporting 60% containment Saturday.

The fire, located in Wharton State Forest in Burlington County, started at a heavily used Pinelands recreation area. As previously reported by The Inquirer, the blaze grew to 1,200 acres Friday, impacting the area around Apple Pie Hill and Batona Campground.

A hunting club and home that were initially threatened on Friday were no longer considered in harm’s way, the fire service said Saturday.

The Batona Campground in Tabernacle Township will remain closed due to the fire, named the Tea Time Hill Wildfire after a feature on the hiking route from the Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle to Apple Pie Hill, the fire service said. Officials also closed part of the 53-mile-long Batona Trail between Route 532 and Carranza Road, as well as the Tulpehocken Trail from Apple Pie Hill to Hawkins Bridge.

Previous news reports:
Wild fire continues to spread in South Jersey Pinelands
Pinelands wild fire continues to spread in Burlington County, NJ

Pinelands fire expands to 4,000 acres, but now 60% contained Read More »

Toxic algae bloom kills off swimming at reservoirs in NJ and PA

*Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterdon County, NJ. Ankit Sharma photo*

Swimming is banned at Spruce Run Recreation Area in Hunterdon County this summer due to harmful algal blooms that can cause health problems, New Jersey officials said Thursday.

Harmful algal blooms, known as HABs, are a “growing global problem” and have been detected in New Jersey lakes this year at various levels, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Related video below: Swimming at Pinchot State Park remains off-limits (WGAL Lancaster-Harrisburg)

Spruce Run currently has alert levels throughout the park indicating that the level of HABs could cause a moderate risk of adverse health effects. The level of toxins in water at the park is above the public health threshold, according to state officials.

The popular swimming, fishing and boating destination in Clinton previously experienced harmful algal blooms in 2021, forcing the lake to close for swimming.

Spruce Run is the third-largest reservoir in New Jersey, after the Round Valley and Wanaque reservoirs, according to the recreational area’s website. It has 1,290 acres of water and 15 miles of shoreline for recreation.

HABs happen when algae colonies grow and produce toxins that can harm people, fish, marine mammals and birds, experts say.

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, which naturally occur in fresh water, cause most of the blooms in New Jersey. In sunlight and hot weather, cyanobacteria can reach harmful levels, forming toxic blooms that look like blue or green paint spilled into the water.

Read the full story here

Toxic algae bloom kills off swimming at reservoirs in NJ and PA Read More »

Wild fire continues to spread in South Jersey Pinelands

Pinelands wild fire continues to spread in Burlington County, NJ

Fire officials have ordered everyone to leave the Batona Campground in Wharton State Forest in Burlington County, NJ

UPADTED TO ADD TWO VIDEO REPORTS AT 8:30 PM

By Frank Kummer, Philadelphia Inquirer
Updated July 5, 2024, 4:02 p.m.

A wildfire that broke out Friday morning in a heavily used Pinelands recreation area has grown to 450 acres, forcing closure of a campground and popular part of the Batona Trail.

The fire service announced the closure about 11:30 a.m. By late afternoon, none of the fire had been contained.

Officials ordered everyone to leave the Batona Campground in Wharton State Forest. The campground is in Tabernacle, Burlington County.

The fire impacted the area around Apple Pie Hill, where a fire tower offers panoramic views of the surrounding Pine Barrens and is a popular hiking route.

Officials have closed part of the 53-mile long Batona Trail between Route 532 and Carranza Road. They also closed the Tulpehocken Trail from Apple Pie Hill to Hawkins Bridge.

The blaze has been dubbed the Tea Time Hill Wildfire, named after a feature on the hiking route from the Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle to Apple Pie Hill. Batona Campground is a staging area for many undertaking the hike.

Read the full story here

Wild fire continues to spread in South Jersey Pinelands Read More »

Why Florida utilities have gone bullish on solar

The Sunshine State is finally living up to its nickname

Environmental News

By Craig Pittman, Tampa Bay Times columnist, July 5, 2024

Not far from the musical sign that marks the bridge over the Suwannee River, I encountered what looked to be a former farmer’s field. Now, it had sprouted a new crop: acre after acre of solar panels.

Maybe it’s because I’d been listening to classic rock on the car radio, but my first thought when I saw all those gleaming silver rectangles was a Beatles song: “Here Comes the Sun.”

Our duly elected doofuses have lately taken to sneering at clean energy sources. For instance, our fine Legislature voted to ban offshore windmills, even though nobody wants to build those near Florida.

That bill also deleted most mentions of climate change from state law (as if that will stop it). It prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis to endorse a repeal of the state’s clean energy goals.

Read the full opinion piece here

Why Florida utilities have gone bullish on solar Read More »

NJ firefighters among 20,000 with cancer suing makers of PFAS

A relocated Arizona gas plant ignites questions

Pinelands fire expands to 4,000 acres, but now 60% contained

Toxic algae bloom kills off swimming at reservoirs in NJ and PA

Wild fire continues to spread in South Jersey Pinelands

Pinelands wild fire continues to spread in Burlington County, NJ

Why Florida utilities have gone bullish on solar

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