Assembly committee to take up wave power’s potential adaptation in New Jersey

The New Jersey Assembly Special Committee on Infrastructure and Natural Resources will meet at 10 a.m, Thursday, March 17, in Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.

The committee will hear testimony from invited guests regarding wave energy in the State, including testimony on

  • the extent to which wave energy is generated and supplied to consumers,
  • where in the State wave energy is currently generated,
  • how the State can most effectively harness and facilitate the expanded use of this energy resource,
  • whether and how the Legislature has previously attempted to address wave energy in the State, and
  • ideas for future legislative action on this issue.

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. Masks are mandatory inside the State House Annex, including in Committee Rooms, hallways, and other facilities. Please visit https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/Publications/PDF/JMC%20Rules.pdf for more information.

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Atlantic commissioners satisfied with ACUA explanation of ‘Stop the Dump’ spending

By Michelle Brunetti Post of Atlantic City

Atlantic County commissioners voted Tuesday not to investigate the finances of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority after ACUA President Rick Dovey answered questions about spending $10,000 on a campaign against a proposed trash transfer station. Caren Fitzpatrick, of Linwood, had sponsored a resolution to authorize the investigation but withdrew it later in the meeting.

ACUA President Rick Dovey

She said she felt she had an obligation to question such spending but got the answers she needed. The commissioners unanimously voted to withdraw it.

“To find that $10,000 was spent on what amounts to a campaign not related to trash or recycling … we want to know why,” Fitzpatrick said in explaining the resolution. “That’s what this is about.”

Councilman Ernest Coursey, of Atlantic City, asked Dovey whether he had authorization from his board of directors to start the opposition campaign.

There was not a vote by our board,” Dovey said. “I have the authority to do it, and they ratified it when the bills came due.”

The campaign included yard signs saying “Stop the Dump” and other materials in opposition to the project proposed for a site off Washington Avenue in Pleasantville. Workers installed the signs around Pleasantville using ACUA trucks that are still marked as county vehicles, causing confusion about who was sponsoring the campaign.

Read the full story here

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Walmart constructing massive facility near Shippensburg, Pa

Walmart
Walmart is opening a massive warehouse in the Shippensburg area. (Provided)

By Daniel Urie | durie@pennlive.com

Walmart has announced that it will open a massive fulfillment center in the Shippensburg area.

The retailer will open a more than 1.8 million-square-foot facility at 2281 United Drive in Southampton Township, Franklin County, near Shippensburg, which is expected to open in the spring.

“Walmart fulfillment centers are an important part of the retailer’s supply chain network,” the company said in a news release. “Unlike distribution centers, which are focused on receiving, storing, and distributing product to Walmart stores, fulfillment centers are focused on storing millions of items that are picked, packed and shipped directly to customers as soon as next-day.”

Click here to read the full story

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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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