EnviroPolitics Blog

NJ Republican lawmakers introduce resolutions opposing redesignation of Delaware Water Gap

From the NJ Senate Republican Office

Senator Steve Oroho and Assemblymen Parker Space and Hal Wirths (all R-Sussex, Warren, Morris) announced on July 14 that they have introduced resolutions in their respective houses to oppose changing the designation of the Delaware Water Gap from a National Recreation Area to a National Park and Preserve and oppose certain parts of National Park Service’s “Vision 2030” for Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

“We have heard from many area residents and local officials opposing this change in designation and we support them,” said Oroho, who serves as the Senate Republican Leader. “This idea surfaced roughly seven years ago, and we opposed it then; now it is back, and we will continue to fight it.”

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In 2016, the National Park Service proposed a plan titled “Vision 2030: A Vision for a Sustainable Future” (“Vision 2030”), which proposed to change the designation of the Delaware Water Gap from a National Recreation Area to a National Park and Preserve, and to expand the area of the present Delaware Water Gap. This plan was appropriately shelved.

This year, a similar project titled “Delaware Water Gap: Redesignation Project” (“Redesignation Project”), proposes to change the designation of the Delaware Water Gap from a National Recreation Area to a National Park and Preserve, and to expand the area of the present Delaware Water Gap.

“This designation change to a National Park and Preserve is not necessary and would upset the recreation area’s original mission and put uses such as hunting and farming at risk,” said Space. “A new designation that translates into prohibitions and restrictions on currently allowable activities in the recreation area would have a negative impact on our region.”

The resolutions numbered SR-98 and AR-157, are similar to resolutions opposing the designation introduced by Senator Oroho and Assemblyman Space several sessions ago as well as resolutions passed this year by local and county governments in the vicinity.

“There are fears this Redesignation Project would disregard the rights of local property owners, and eminent domain will be used by the federal government to acquire private and State property adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap, including nearby High Point State Park, Stokes State Forest, and Worthington State Forest,” said Wirths. “This new plan is bad for our area, bad for our residents, and should go away.”

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Six in 10 Democrats feel Biden is not doing enough on climate change

Despite a sharp partisan divide on climate, support for renewable energy and a carbon tax on corporations cuts across both Democrats and Republicans.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers brief remarks during the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on July 12, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images — *U.S. President Joe Biden delivers brief remarks during the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on July 12, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images*

By Marianne Lavelle, Inside Climate Change

Democrats who favor strong action on climate change are deeply dissatisfied with what they see as the slow pace of progress under President Joe Biden, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday.

The survey of more than 10,000 adults conducted in early May showed a deep partisan divide over Biden’s climate policies—much in line with the split between Democrats and Republicans that has shown up in public opinion polling for more than a decade. But a trend that is potentially ominous for the White House emerged in the views of the Democratic base.

Among Democrats who back the overall direction of Biden’s climate policies, 61 percent said the administration could be doing a lot more. Democrats don’t seem sympathetic to arguments that Biden’s hands are tied, for example, by an uncooperative Congress or the conservative courts; only 37 percent of Democrats who favor strong action to counter climate change said they think the administration is doing about as much as can be expected.

“You get the sense from the data that there is frustration or disappointment that more has not been done,” said Cary Funk, director of science and society research for Pew.

Read the full story here

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California went big on rooftop solar. Now that’s a problem for landfills

*Solar panels purchased for home use under incentive programs many years ago are nearing the end of their life cycle. Many are already winding up in landfills. (Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times*

BY RACHEL KISELA, Los Angeles Times

California has been a pioneer in pushing for rooftop solar power, building up the largest solar market in the U.S. More than 20 years and 1.3 million rooftops later, the bill is coming due.

Beginning in 2006, the state, focused on how to incentivize people to take up solar power, showered subsidies on homeowners who installed photovoltaic panels but had no comprehensive plan to dispose of them. Now, panels purchased under those programs are nearing the end of their typical 25-to-30-year life cycle.

Many are already winding up in landfills, where in some cases, they could potentially contaminate groundwater with toxic heavy metals such as lead, selenium, and cadmium.

Sam Vanderhoof, a solar industry expert, and chief executive of Recycle PV Solar, says that only 1 in 10 panels are actually recycled, according to estimates drawn from International Renewable Energy Agency data on decommissioned panels and from industry leaders.

The looming challenge over how to handle truck loads of waste, some of it contaminated, illustrates how cutting-edge environmental policy can create unforeseen problems down the road.

“The industry is supposed to be green,” Vanderhoof said. “But in reality, it’s all about the money.”

Read the full story here

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EPA plans to clean up contaminated groundwater in Olean Well Field Superfund Site in Cattaraugus County, New York

From the USEPA

NEW YORK (July 15, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a plan to inject material into constructed wells to break down the hazardous contamination in groundwater across several areas south of the former AVX Corporation (AVX) property at the Olean Well Field Superfund site in Olean, New York.

“This proposed cleanup plan reflects EPA’s recommendations on how to best address groundwater contamination,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “It safely brings us one step closer to a comprehensive cleanup of the AVX portion of the site.”

The cleanup technique, called in-situ treatment, uses various minerals and bacteria to spur the decontamination of harmful compounds found in contaminated groundwater. This method supplements the natural process of breaking down the contamination over time. The cleanup includes long-term monitoring to ensure the cleanup is working as intended and other controls to prevent exposure to the contaminants.

The Olean Well Field Superfund site contains various wells, homes, and manufacturing facilities. Earlier industrial operations at the AVX property, as well as three other facilities that EPA considers sources of site contamination, resulted in the contamination of soil and groundwater with trichloroethylene, 1,4-dioxane, and other volatile organic compounds. The contaminants migrated from the AVX property in groundwater south of the AVX property. As a result of the contamination at all four facilities, EPA added the site to the Superfund list in 1983. Since that time, several investigations have led to cleanup remedies for the four source facilities and impacted groundwater, most of which are being implemented by potentially responsible parties for the site.

The proposed plan’s 30-day public comment period will occur from July 15, 2022, to August 15, 2022. In addition, EPA will host a Public Meeting on July 27, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the TECH Building, Mangano Reception Room, near the Cutco Theater, 305 North Barry Street, Cattaraugus County Campus of Jamestown Community College in Olean, New York.

To learn more about the public meeting, contact Mike Basile at Basile.Mike@epa.gov or (716)-551-4410.

Written comments on EPA’s proposed plan may be mailed or emailed no later than August 15, 2022, to Maeve Wurtz, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway – 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007, Email: Wurtz.Maeve@epa.gov.

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EPA spending $5.5M to clean up Bucks and Montgomery County Superfund sites

From the USEPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency broke ground today at the North Penn Area 6 Superfund site in Lansdale, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where EPA is accelerating construction to clean up the site. North Penn Area 6 is one of 49 Superfund Sites nationwide to receive a total of $5.4 billion in new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding for accelerating the cleanup of legacy pollution.

The Chem Fab Superfund Site in Doylestown, Bucks County, is also among the 49 sites receiving this first wave of the Biden/Harris Administration’s BIL funding, allowing EPA to initiate work where Superfund construction projects were backlogged.

“Revitalizing communities and helping create economic vitality is a primary goal of EPA’s Superfund cleanups,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “Because of this infrastructure funding, people living and working in Lansdale and Doylestown can now look forward to these sites finally getting completely cleaned up and ultimately being transformed and reused for the benefit of those communities.”

The North Penn site received $4.9 million in BIL funding to remove and replace industrially contaminated soil. EPA plans to engage the community early and often to make sure they remain aware of planned construction activities and future work.

The Chem Fab Site received $6.3 million, $500,000 of which is from BIL, for the construction of a state-of-the-art groundwater extraction and treatment system to treat contaminated groundwater and return it to nearby Cooks Run.

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Owner of NY hauling business indicted on wire fraud charges

By Haley Rischar, Waste Today

The owner of a New York-based hauling company is facing federal indictment related to his business operations, reports the Westchester Journal News.

Robert Chomicki, 60, of Briarcliff Manor, allegedly arranged for his company—Riverside Hauling—to pay less than it was supposed to when dumping waste at a Yonkers transfer station between April 2019 and June 2020. According to court documents, he plead not guilty and was released on a $250,000 bond following his indictment on wire fraud charges.

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Riverside Hauling, which is licensed by the Westchester Solid Waste Commission, provides container rental for generators of construction and demolition debris and then hauls it to transfer stations.

Although Chomicki is facing federal charges, the Journal News reports the company has not been charged and continues to operate.

The transfer station, A1 Compaction Inc., is owned by Houston-based WM. WM, formerly Waste Management, told Waste Today in an email that it cannot provide comment on the matter as it is a pending criminal investigation.

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