Were residents of Pleasantville, NJ kept in the dark about a proposed construction debris transfer site?

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

Until the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) cried foul, residents of Pleasantville, a small city outside Atlantic City, knew virtually nothing about a proposal by a local developer to build a facility to transfer construction and demolition debris from residential and commercial projects to rail cars for disposal at an Ohio landfill.

The ACUA would have lost the tipping fees they currently receive to process the material within the county, so they had a vested interest in raising a stink. And quite a ruckus have they raised in recent months with their ‘Stop the Dump’ campaign. It is designed to shine public attention on what they view as a behind-the-scenes agreement between the city, the county, and the developer, James DiNatale.

Two attempts by the ACUA to organize a public meeting at Zion Baptist Church last month failed to work out but St. Mary Episcopal Church hosted the gathering on Thursday night at which several residents expressed anger at the inability of Pleasantville political leaders to provide advance notice of what they were agreeing to in resolutions that made no mention of a construction debris facility.

“They don’t have a problem getting the word out when they’re looking for support at election time,” one resident said. The audience responded with applause.

Related news stories:
ACUA holds town hall on Pleasantville waste transfer station proposal
Townhall meeting on controversial waste transfer station in Pleasantville, NJ is postponed again

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Large solar projects are encountering pushback

Some conservationists and local governments have fought off large-scale solar farms, leaving the industry to look for new places for panels.

By David Ingram NBC News

The price of solar panel equipment has plummeted in recent decades and made solar competitive with fossil fuels. Solar panels are now a common sight on houses, businesses, and some government infrastructure.

But analysts still expect most solar energy production in the near future to come from utility-scale projects, in part because of the savings that come with massive installations. 

It’s those projects that are facing pushback. Local governments in states such as California, Indiana, Maine, New York, and Virginia have imposed moratoriums on large-scale solar farms, as a national push for cleaner energy has collided with complaints about how the projects affect wildlife and scenic views. In one Nevada town west of Las Vegas, residents are trying to block a proposed 2,300-acre solar field. 

NBC News counted 57 cities, towns, and counties across the country where residents have proposed solar moratoriums since the start of 2021, according to local news reports, and not every proposed ban gets local news coverage. At least 40 of those approved the measures. Other localities did so in earlier years.

Read the full story here

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In Virginia, abandoned coal mines are transformed into solar farms

Six old mining sites owned by the Nature Conservancy will be some of the first utility-scale solar farms in the region — and the nonprofit group hopes the model can be replicated nationwide

By Zoeann Murphy Washinton Post

Empty freight cars line the railroad tracks as far as the eye can see from Tim Jennings’s backyard in Dante — a town of fewer than 600 residents.

“They should open up some more new mines around here,” the 61-year-old former coal miner says, pointing up at the mountains surrounding the valley. “Solar panels — that might work too.”

In southwest Virginia, abandoned coal mines are being transformed into solar installations that will be large enough to contribute renewable energy to the electric grid. Six old mining sites owned by the Nature Conservancy will be some of the first utility-scale solar farms in the region — and the nonprofit group hopes it’s creating a model that can be replicated nationwide.

In 2019, the Nature Conservancy acquired 253,000 acres of forest in the central Appalachian Mountains that it calls the Cumberland Forest Project. It’s one small part of the group’s efforts in the mountain range, which reaches from Alabama to Canada.

“We’ve identified the Appalachians as one of the most important places on Earth for us to do conservation,” says Brad Kreps, the Nature Conservancy’s Clinch Valley program director, who is leading the solar projects. “We put the Appalachians in a very rare company along with the Amazon, the wildlands of Kenya, and the forests of Borneo.”

The Cumberland Forest includes several abandoned mine sites scattered around Virginia’s coal fields region. Solar developers partnering with the Nature Conservancy, such as Dominion Energy and Sun Tribe, say the mine sites have vast flat areas exposed to sunlight that are a rarity in the mountains, and the sites offer advantages like being close to transmission lines.

“In the coalfield region, there’s about 100,000 acres that’s been impacted from mining,” points out Daniel Kestner with the Virginia Department of Energy. “Better to build on a lot of these mine sites than some prime farmland or some areas that maybe don’t want solar in their community.” He’s also hopeful the projects will bring tax revenue and jobs to the area.

Nationwide coal mining jobs dropped from more than 175,000 in 1985 to about 40,000 in 2020, according to a recent Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities report. Solar won’t replace what was once reliable long-term work. The jobs will primarily be in construction.

Read the full story here

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Water bills up for vote in NJ Assembly Infrastructure and Natural Resources Committee

The Assembly Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources will meet on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.

  The following bills will be considered:

A179 (Carter / Moen / Sumter) – Requires DEP to make certain information regarding water purveyors available on its Internet website.

A574 (Karabinchak / Swain) – Establishes ranking criteria for certain nonpoint source pollution control grants issued by DEP. (pending referral)

A672 (Verrelli / McKnight / Egan) – Establishes Water Apprenticeship, Training, and Resources Pilot Program in DOLWD.

A1115 (Chaparro / Reynolds-Jackson / Danielsen) – Requires DEP to prioritize funding for environmental infrastructure projects for applicants with established programs to employ, at the project or related facilities, local residents, or residents of nearby urban aid qualifying municipalities.

AR25 (Caputo / Karabinchak / Giblin) – Urges President and Congress of the United States to create National Infrastructure Bank. (pending referral)

FOR AMENDMENT ONLY:

A1736 (McKeon / Murphy / Timberlake) – Requires water purveyors to conduct, and report to DEP, water loss audits. (pending referral)

(The public may address comments and questions to Adaline B. Kaser, Committee Aide, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Pamela Cocroft, Secretary, at 609-847-3855 or e-mail: OLSAideANR@njleg.org. Written and electronic comments, questions, and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.)

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Assembly committee to take testimony on PFAS contamination in New Jersey water

Drinking water is one of the most common routes of exposure to PFAS.

The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee next week will receive testimony from invited guests concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the State’s waterways and drinking water supplies.

The committee will meet at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, New Jersey.

The State House Annex has reopened to the general public. The Committee will meet in person and there will not be an option to participate by telephone or video.  Visitors are required to wear a mask at all times.  Masks are mandatory inside the State House Annex, including in Committee Rooms, hallways, and other facilities. 

The public may address comments and questions to Carrie Anne Calvo-Hahn, Committee Aide, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Stephanie Cenneno, Secretary, at (609) 847-3855, fax (609)292-0561, or e-mail: OLSAideAEN@njleg.org.  Written and electronic comments, questions and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.

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