By TOM WIEDMANN, TapIntoNewark

NEWARK, NJ — Environmental justice rules that community leaders across New Jersey have fought for more than a decade to secure sent a clear message during a meeting hosted Wednesday in Newark by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that they will not let polluting facilities burden their communities anymore.

“This is bare minimum protection. You shouldn’t have three power plants in a four-square-mile community that’s surrounded by a Superfund site,” Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) Deputy Director of Organizing and Advocacy Maria Lopez-Nuñez told a panel of DEP representatives during the meeting. “You have to look at the multitude of people you’re protecting. That is your job.”

Lopez-Nuñez was one of more than dozens of people who spoke out in support of new draft rules proposed by the department that would require facilities seeking certain permits in overburdened communities to prepare an environmental justice impact statement. The draft rules also propose to increase public input and participation in the permitting process.

The meeting, which was held at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), was hosted by the DEP to gather public comment on the proposed rules. The meeting came after Gov. Phil Murphy in September 2020 signed Environmental Justice Law (S232), which gives the DEP the authority to deny permits to polluting facilities that would exacerbate overburdened communities across the state. Overburdened communities include municipalities with at least 35% of households that qualify as low-income and at least 40% of residents identify as minority or as members of a state-recognized tribal community.

The proposed rules would impact environmental justice communities like Newark, where many of its low-income residents and underserved communities have been disproportionately impacted by pollution for decades. The city is located at the center of major transportation hubs for air travel, trucking, and rails, plus a seaport. 

Due to Newark’s long history of industrialization and being located in proximity to several major transportation hubs, residents have been subject to high levels of air and water pollution for decades. Ironbound residents are currently in the midst of an ongoing battle to stop the construction of a proposed standby power generation facility in their neighborhood that would run on natural gas – a fossil fuel. Residents have also experienced increased rates of asthma, maternal health issues, and other health complications as a result of pollution.

“I used to be a camp counselor at a program right in [Newark’s] Ironbound section, and what I know now, I didn’t know then. I didn’t realize all of the things that were in that environment was impacting those young children,” said Marcus Sibley, chairman of the New Jersey State Conference NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee. “The point of this rule and the point of all of us being here today is to ensure that these young people have a chance. There shouldn’t be anything that prevents our young, beautiful future leaders from being able to achieve their highest goals.”

One youngster’s sign in the audience pleaded for the most essential childhood right.

“We need clean air so we can play!” the sign read.

Although environmental advocates turned out in droves to voice their support for legislation that they hope will better protect their communities, industry officials from organizations such as the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) have called for more regulatory flexibility and certain economic exemptions to be included in the rules.

“The proposal misses the mark by only focusing on the potential or presumed negative impacts, as it doesn’t measure actual emissions, but only sources,” NJBIA Vice President of Government Affairs Ray Cantor said in a statement.“The rule does not, at all, account for the jobs and positive economic impacts these facilities have in these communities.”

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