Two major wildfires burning in New Jersey

West Milford wildfire, April 13, 2022
Fire officials on the scene of a wildfire in the area of Route 23 and Echo Lake Road in West Milford on Thursday, April 13, 2023, Brianna Kudisch/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

By Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Firefighters in West Milford were still on the scene of a major wildfire Thursday, though the town’s mayor said they are getting the blaze under control.

The Passaic County fire is “contained,” Mayor Michele Dale said in a statement on social media Wednesday.

“West Milford OEM just confirmed that the fire is contained, however, it is still not out,” Dale said shortly after 9:30 p.m. “You may continue to smell and see smoke and fire. The state Fire Service will be on-site for at least the next few days monitoring.”

About two hours before the mayor’s statement, the state forest fire service said the fire had burned 140 acres and was zero percent contained.

By 11 a.m. Thursday morning, the fire service said “The fire has reached 250 acres in size and is 30% contained.”
Smoke was still visible in the area Thursday morning, according to photos from the scene.

Meanwhile, the massive wildfire in Manchester that burned 3,859 acres was 100% contained as of 10 a.m. Thursday, the state Forest Fire Service said.

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Lehigh University begins work on a 20-acre solar farm

Construction equipment rests on the area where a solar array is being built Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the Lehigh University Goodman Campus in Bethlehem. The site for the solar array, just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, was chosen relative to existing power infrastructure. Landscaping will be planted between the field and the nearest residential community to help block the view of the array. The project will supply 100% of the electricity for the Goodman Campus, and offset 8% of Lehigh’s grid electricity consumption. The array also will provide research and learning opportunities for students. (Rick Kintzel/The Morning Call)

By LINDSAY WEBER |The Morning Call

Lehigh University has begun construction on a 20-acre solar farm that will bring 7,400 solar panels to the school’s Murray H. Goodman campus in Bethlehem.

According to Emily Collins, a Lehigh University spokesperson, the project will supply 100% of the electricity needs of the Goodman campus, which is home to the university’s athletic facilities.

The site for the solar array, just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, was chosen relative to existing power infrastructure. Landscaping will be planted between the field and the nearest residential community to help block the view of the array. The project will supply 100% of the electricity for the Goodman Campus, and offset 8% of Lehigh’s grid electricity consumption. The array also will provide research and learning opportunities for students.

The solar farm, which the Bethlehem Planning Commission approved in a 3-1 vote last year, was opposed by several residents of Saucon Fields Condominiums, which overlooks the solar farm’s location on 124 Goodman Drive. Residents said the solar panels would cause glare to reflect into their homes and diminish their property values.

Representatives for the university said that a “glare analysis” found that glare would not be a significant hazard, and the school is constructing a berm, or raised barrier of land, with trees on the border between the two properties.

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Previously thought contained, North Jersey Fire Continues Burning

Fire on the mountain in West Milford.

Fire on the mountain in West Milford. Photo Credit: Amy Kistler

By Jerry DeMarco, Daily Voice

Authorities confirmed Wednesday night that a brush fire in West Milford, NJ that initially appeared contained had grown to 250 acres in size.

Nearly a dozen homes or other structures were threatened by what was dubbed the “Kanouse Wildfire,” which ignited off Route 23 near the Charlotteburg Reservoir shortly before 2 p.m.

Members of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service were working throughout the night building fire lines, authorities said.

West Milford Mayor Michele Dale insisted there was no reason for concern.

Related news:
Crews battle massive brush fire (ABC 7)

“The State Forest Fire Service is on-site to backburn to contain the fire and prevent further spread, which is why residents are still seeing and smelling smoke,” Dale said shortly before 8 p.m.

Northbound Route 23 remained closed between Germantown Road and Union Valley Road. Echo Lake Road was closed between Rt. 23 and Macopin Road, which itself was open to through traffic, the mayor said.

“The only homes currently in a potential risk area are located on Blakely Lane, but a team of engines from West Milford Volunteer fire companies are on-site for structural protection,” Dale said. “All horses have been evacuated from Echo Lake Stables.

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Plastic Recycling Plant Could Send ‘Forever Chemicals’ Into the Susquehanna River

A man walks along the Susquehanna River near the proposed Encina plastics recycling plant looking for a fishing spot in the summer of 2022. Credit: James Bruggers

By James Bruggers, Inside Climate News

Warnings that a large-scale plastics recycling plant planned along a floodplain in Central Pennsylvania could flush toxic PFAS into the Susquehanna River, a major source of drinking water for millions, are stirring a budding opposition movement.

The Houston-based startup company Encina, which proposes to build the $1.1 billion advanced recycling plant in Northumberland County, says it will not produce any of the synthetic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in its manufacturing process. The industry uses the term “advanced’’ to include recycling processes that convert plastic waste into chemical ingredients for new plastic products or fuel.

But Graham F. Peaslee, a professor of physics at Notre Dame University who researches PFAS and plastic, said that PFAS would “absolutely” be a “serious issue” for a recycling operation that washes vast quantities of post-consumer plastic and discharges the wastewater into a river, as Encina plans to do. Some of that plastic waste would likely be coated in PFAS, he said, and some of them would escape from the plastic during the washing stage and get into the river. 

Concerns Over the Susquehanna River

The result could be trouble for drinking water systems downstream from the proposed Encina plant, said Peaslee, a co-author of a recent study that detected PFAS in an entire class of commonly used plastic containers. “I suspect somewhere downstream, some utility will find that water is not a great source of drinking water,” he said.

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EPA plans rules to drive up electric car sales tenfold

In what would be the nation’s most ambitious climate regulation, the proposal is designed to ensure that electric cars make up the majority of new U.S. auto sales by 2032.

President Biden, a white haired man in a dark navy suit, stands at a podium inside an automobile plant that features a line of white vehicles.

President Biden delivered a speech at a General Motors electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit in 2021.


By Coral Davenport, New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is planning some of the most stringent auto pollution limits in the world, designed to ensure that all-electric cars make up as much as 67 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032, according to two people familiar with the matter.

That would represent a quantum leap for the United States — where just 5.8 percent of vehicles sold last year were all-electric — and would exceed President Biden’s earlier ambitions to have all-electric cars account for half of those sold in the country by 2030.

It would be the federal government’s most aggressive climate regulation and would propel the United States to the front of the global effort to slash the greenhouse gases generated by cars, a major driver of climate change. The European Union has already enacted vehicle emissions standards that are expected to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Canada and Britain have proposed standards similar to the European model.

At the same time, the proposed regulation would pose a significant challenge for automakers. Nearly every major car company has already invested heavily in electric vehicles, but few have committed to the levels envisioned by the Biden administration. And many have faced supply chain problems that have held up production. Even manufacturers who are enthusiastic about electric models are unsure whether consumers will buy enough of them to make up the majority of new car sales within a decade.

Read the full story here

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Report forsees NJ economic growth with reactivated rail service

By JOHN REITMEYER, NJ Spotlight | APRIL 7, 2023

Reestablishing a rail connection between New York City and Scranton, Pa. could generate more than $80 million in new economic activity for a region that includes northern New Jersey, according to a recent analysis of the proposed project. 

Using a route that would serve stations in Blairstown, Dover, Morristown, Montclair, and Newark in New Jersey, the proposed line would also deliver so-called societal benefits by getting people off highways and thereby reducing air pollution, according to the analysis. 

The analysis, conducted jointly by Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority, explored the revival of a rail service between the two cities that was discontinued more than 50 years ago.  

Map of proposed Scranton-New York rail service

Researchers assumed three roundtrips could occur daily between New York City and Scranton, with service beginning as early as 2028.  Trains would reach speeds of up to 110 miles per hour during certain portions of what could be a less than three-hour trip between the two cities, according to the analysis.  

The results were released late last month and drew immediate praise from both federal and state officials, including representatives of the highway-reliant section of New Jersey where the envisioned rail service would operate.  

“Passenger rail is inaccessible for many residents in the western part of my district, forcing them into long commutes on congested highways,” said U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Morris).   

“This project would help to revitalize the area, bringing new residents and tourists to the community while also reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions,” she said.  

National infrastructure renewal 

Rebuilding the nation’s transportation infrastructure has been a core policy goal for President Joe Biden, a Democrat who took office in 2021.  

During his first year in office, Biden enacted a law that calls for more than $1 trillion in spending on infrastructure renewal, including road, rail, and water systems. Among other projects, the infrastructure bill included funding to advance a planned “Gateway” rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, something transportation advocates have long identified as a national priority.  

Read the full story here

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