EnviroPolitics Blog

Some catalytic converter theft victims offered chance to recover loss

The Bucks County District Attorney said Friday that victims can call or fill out a form to possibly recoup their losses from the Dino Ciliberti, Patch Stafftheft ring.

The Bucks County District Attorney's Office has created a hotline for victims of the catalytic converter theft ring that was dismantled earlier this week. — The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has created a hotline for victims of the catalytic converter theft ring that was dismantled earlier this week. (The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

By Dino Ciliberti, Patch Staff

The investigation resulted in charges against a Philadelphia tow yard, 10 adults, and one juvenile, authorities said.

“If you believe you were a victim of this corrupt organization, we want to hear from you,” the District Attorney’s Office said.

The investigation resulted in charges against a Philadelphia tow yard, 10 adults, and one juvenile, authorities said.

“If you believe you were a victim of this corrupt organization, we want to hear from you,” the District Attorney’s Office said.

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Editorial: NJ’s ‘forever chemical’ settlement is big, but big enough?

By South Jersey Times Editorial Board

Settlements of big environmental damage cases in New Jersey can boomerang for victims — all of us, really — of poisoned air, soil and water.

The foul taste of the “pennies-on-the-dollar” 2015 agreement between the state Department of Environmental Protection and ExxonMobil Corp. for a wide range of contamination across the state continues to linger.

DEP analysts claimed the company and its predecessors caused $8.9 billion in damages, but the settlement, brokered by the Christie administration, had the energy giant pay just $225 million to make the litigation disappear. It’s a rounding error in ExxonMobil’s profits, which were $11.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

Pragmatically, it’s likely DEP never could have proven the $8.9 billion figure, but the paltry settlement called into question the ability to remediate pollution linked to the former Mobil refinery in Greenwich Township and a neighboring storage site in Paulsboro. State experts put that cost at $80 million — more than a third of the entire state settlement. (Separately, ExxonMobil reached a $9.5 million settlement in 2019 to pay for pollution at a 1950s dumpsite in Paulsboro and East Greenwich Township.)

So, what to make of last week’s settlement in another case involving roughly the same stomping grounds as ExxonMobil’s in Gloucester County? Solvay Specialty Polymers, with a plant in West Deptford, will pay $393 million to deal with contamination from so-called “forever chemicals” that the facility formerly

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Ireland Considers Killing 200,000 Cows To Fight Climate Change

In the latest effort to reduce emissions from agriculture, Ireland said it may kill 200,000 cows. Meanwhile, climate activists have American farms and ranches in the crosshairs.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: A thoughtful reader (thank you) sent us this interesting story. If you come across something you’d like to share, email it to: editor@enviropolitics.com]

By Kevin Killough, Cowboy State Daily

Climate activists are coming for livestock producers and farmers.

European governments have been targeting the agriculture industry for several years. The Telegraph reports that Ireland’s government may need to reduce that country’s cattle herds by 200,000 cows over the next three years to meet climate targets.

In an effort to reduce nitrogen pollution, Reuters reported the European Union last month approved a $1.6 billion Dutch plan to buy out livestock farmers.

Now the Biden administration is targeting American agriculture.

Special President Envoy For Climate John Kerry recently warned at a climate summit for the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the human race’s need to produce food to survive creates 33% of the world’s total greenhouse gasses.

“We can’t get to net-zero. We don’t get this job done unless agriculture is front and center as part of the solution,” Kerry said.

Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates also is obsessing about cattle emissions, providing financial support to companies that are developing seaweed supplements and gas masks for cows.

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Licensing snags delays Showboat Atlantic City’s waterpark opening

062423-pac-nws-waterpark — It was all waterslides and mermaids on June 22, 2023, in Atlantic City, at the private-invitaion opening of the Showboat Island Water Park. But the expected public opening was halted by a permit snafu. Matthew Strabuk photo

By Eric Conklin, Atlantic City Press

Showboat’s highly anticipated waterpark, which was set to open on Friday, will remain closed due to a licensing issue, a spokesperson for the resort said on Friday.

The $100 million waterpark was built by Showboat owner Bart Blatstein as a part of improvements he’s made to the former casino hotel, which his company, Tower Investments, purchased from Stockton University in 2015.

The waterpark was unable to obtain a state license in time for Friday’s opening, said Lisa Johnson, who handles public relations for Bartstein’s business endeavors.

Blatstein later annonced that the The 120,000-square-foot attraction attached to the Showboat Hotel will open to the public June 30. Day passes are priced at $89

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Trenton neighbors will be happy to see this toxic site cleaned up

The former New Methods Cleaners site has been vacant since 2015

By TED GOLDBERG, NJ Spotlight, JUNE 29, 2023

A notorious polluted site in East Trenton is set for renewal, thanks to a federal grant of almost $2 million. The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday the money would go toward remediating the former New Methods Cleaners site on Clinton Avenue. The property has been vacant since 2015. Local, state and federal leaders said they hope the remediation work will allow for new development at the site and a revitalization of the neighborhood.

“We want to bring new homes here. We want to bring new people to live in this community. We want to be able to have the people that live here live in a safe environment,” said Octavia Sutphin, president of the Neighborhood Improvement Association.

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Oh yum…Lab grown meat approved for sale in the U.S.

‘A new era’: US regulator allows first sales of lab-grown meat

Upside Foods’ cultured chicken.

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN

Two companies, Upside Foods, and Good Meat, say they have received final U.S. Department of Agriculture approval to sell lab-grown meat, paving the way for the nation’s first-ever sales of the product.

With the approvals, the United States will become the second country after Singapore to allow the sale of so-called cultivated meat, derived from a sample of livestock cells that are fed and grown in steel vats.

The companies are the first to complete the multi-step U.S. approval process for cultivated meat. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already determined that the meat is safe to eat.

“It is a dream come true,” said Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside, in an interview. “It marks a new era.”

The companies, which both make cultivated chicken, plan to first serve their product at high-end restaurants before scaling production to reach a lower cost for grocery stores.

Upside chicken will first be served at Bar Crenn, a restaurant in San Francisco owned by chef Dominique Crenn, the company said. Good Meat will sell its first batch of chicken to the Jos?ndr?Group, owned by the humanitarian and chef, Good Meat said.

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