EnviroPolitics Blog

New York State can and bottle redemption centers teeter on the edge of insolvency

Half have disappeared since 2008. State-mandated fees haven’t risen since then.

By Rick Karlin, Times Union

Jade Eddy, owner of MT Returnables, stands next to bags of empty cans and bottles returned for 5 cent deposits at her business in Queensbury. Eddy says that the 3.5 cents-per-item fee authorized by the state for bottle redemption centers to collect on the returnables they take in is too low to make a profit, causing some return centers to close.Will Waldron/Times Union

QUEENSBURY — When Jade Eddy’s dad lost his job with the closure of the International Paper plant in Corinth 21 years ago, he needed something to do so he opened a bottle and can redemption center. To jump-start his business, he would drive around town looking for bottles and cans.

“I thought he had lost his mind,” Eddy said.

Requiring relatively little money but plenty of sweat equity, redemption centers take in recyclable cans and bottles, giving people a nickel for each container.

Her dad has since passed away and Eddy has continued at the center, MT Returnables, building it into a going business.

But in recent years, she’s been struggling to hold on and she’s seen more and more redemption centers fall by the wayside.

Consumers in New York like most states put down a nickel deposit on every can or bottle of beer, soda or water they buy. And they get that 5 cents back when they return it, either at the supermarket, the convenience store or at one of the 1,171 redemption centers across the state.

But the redemption centers only get 3.5 cents for accepting the cans and bottles, sorting them and having them shipped off for recycling. That amount hasn’t increased since 2008 and Eddy says the Legislature would need to approve any increase in the fee she receives since it is mandated in the law.

Eddy says she is barely staying in business and expects to be operating at a loss later this summer.

Read the full story here

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EPA Seeks Public Comment on Clean Up of Contaminated Sediment at Quanta Resources Superfund Site in Edgewater, NJ

From the USEPA Region 2

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public input on its proposed cleanup plan to address contaminated sediment and surface water at the Quanta Resources Superfund site in Edgewater, New Jersey. A 30-day public comment period for the proposed plan begins July 7, 2023. EPA will host a public meeting at the Edgewater Community Center Gymnasium at 1167 River Road Edgewater, New Jersey, 07020, on July 25, 2023, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to explain the new cleanup proposal.

“EPA’s proposed cleanup plan will target a contaminated area of the Hudson River in Edgewater, where past industrial activities on the land have polluted the water and sediment,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “Community input is key to our work on Superfund sites. EPA invites the public to join our meeting and get informed about the Quanta site and our proposed plan.”

The cleanup outlined in today’s proposed plan will address the sediment and surface water contamination in an area of the site called Operable Unit 2 (OU2). Sediment in OU2 is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), highly concentrated tar-like material referred to as non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL), and arsenic.

Under the proposed plan, EPA would oversee work to:

Demolish the 115 River Road pier structure and remove other pilings and structures within the contaminated area.
Remove contaminated sediment to depths ranging from 10 to 30 feet and take it to a licensed facility off-site for disposal.
Place a cap over less contaminated areas of the river bottom to lock in residual contamination.
Establish “institutional” controls such as navigational restrictions, signs prohibiting swimming, wading or fishing, and other use restrictions to protect the cap.
Monitor sediment and surface water long-term to assess the effectiveness of the cleanup in preventing the migration of contaminants from sediment to surface water and maintaining the cap as needed.

Written comments on the EPA’s new proposed plan may be mailed or emailed to Thomas Dobinson, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway – 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007, Email: Dobinson.Thomas@epa.gov.

For more background and to see the proposed cleanup plan, visit the Quanta Resources Superfund site profile page.

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NJ Gov. signs bill giving wind power developer Orsted big tax break

By BRENDA FLANAGAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, NJ Spotlight News

“This is a momentous day for the state because we are creating jobs for the future right now,” said Gov. Phil Murphy as he stood between massive steel supports and praised an agreement to boost financial support for a Paulsboro plant that builds monopiles for offshore wind turbines. The Paulsboro plant is scheduled to supply 98 of the gigantic 400-foot-long pylons for developer Ørsted’s first wind farm off the South Jersey coast. A new law Murphy signed Thursday guarantees that Ørsted will get federal tax credits and in return put up $200 million for South Jersey wind manufacturing facilities.

“They’re making this huge investment, and we’re doing it to capture manufacturing jobs which we would have lost to other states if this hadn’t been done,” said former Senate President Steve Sweeney. His think tank published a report, warning that fierce competition for wind industry business threatened to blow New Jersey away. Ørsted, which underwrites NJ Spotlight News, claimed rising costs threatened to cripple the project.

“The reality is, steel doubled in price, interest rates went up, so at the end of the day, we had to do something,” Sweeney said.

But if Ørsted gets federal tax credits, why not New Jersey’s other major offshore wind energy developer? Atlantic Shores said it wants the same deal that Ørsted got, stating, “We need an industry-wide solution, one that stabilizes all current projects, including Atlantic Shores Project 1.” That project sits right beside Ørsted’s two wind farm tracts. Murphy said, “We’re open-minded, absolutely open-minded. We want to make sure taxpayers get a good deal, jobs are created, that the corporates do what they say they’re going to do. Are we open-minded trying to figure out some common ground with the other offshore sequences? Absolutely.”

Republican responds to Murphy’s bailout of foreign wind company

There’s backlash as Republicans call this a bailout. And some coastal towns object, worried that wind farms will harm marine mammals and spoil their view. New Jersey’s Division of Rate Counsel is also concerned because Ørsted will be optioning tax credits that otherwise would have gone to ratepayers. But environmental advocates emphasized that offshore wind energy helps address the climate crisis.

Ørsted also just received final federal approval for the project with construction slated to begin this fall.

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Opinion: Is the Nestlé plant closure just the first environmental justice casualty in New Jersey?

By Ray Cantor, NJ Buriness and Industry Association

The pending closure of the Nestlé manufacturing plant, after 75 years in Freehold, is indeed a difficult time for the more than 220 workers it employs and bad news for the state and local economy.

Sadly, New Jersey may see further loss of legacy manufacturers like Nestlé given the extremes of the state’s recently adopted Environmental Justice rules.

Due to the expansive provisions of these new rules, the Nestlé plant is defined as being “disproportionately impacted” in an overburdened community. In fact, two-thirds of the state are now defined as being in an overburdened community under the new EJ law.

The Nestlé plant on Jerseyville Avenue in Freehold Borough is shown Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

What we know about Nestlé is the company was considering closing the plant because its facility is “outdated.” We also know that Nestlé has a Title V air permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection and is thus subject to the EJ rules.

And we know that to comply with the EJ law, Nestlé would have to make substantial upgrades and perhaps meet other criteria that the rules do not even specify, but would be imposed during the permitting process. There would be no certainty in timing, process, standards, or outcomes. These are not ideal conditions to operate a plant.

During the two-year process that went into formalizing the EJ rules, we repeatedly warned that the proposed — and now final — regulations well exceeded legislative intent in their breadth, had no balance whatsoever for the business community and failed to recognize the benefits of the good-paying jobs and the economy.

Read the full story here

Ray Cantor is deputy chief government affairs officer at the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

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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.

Read the full story here

f you liked this post, you will love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation

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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

Read the full editorial here

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