Jennings Creek Wildfire. Photo Credit: New Jersey Forest Fire Service
By Cecelia Levine, Daily Voice, 11/15/2024 1:39 p.m.
The Jennings Creek Wildfire, which has scorched 2,283 acres across Passaic County, NJ, and Orange County, NY, was 90% contained Friday, Nov. 15, a week after it broke out, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
Residents in Bergen County, from Oakland to Fort Lee, reported smoke drifting from the wildfire.
A smoke map from AirNow.Gov shows the Air Quality Index (AQI) across the region. It appears that towns southeast of the fire had the worst AQIs as of 2:30 p.m.
Ridgewood’s AQI was by far the worst, with an AQI of 152, which is considered unhealthy. The rest had AQIs between 50 and 100, which is considered moderate.
The wildfire initially threatened 10 structures in New Jersey, including the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District, but no evacuations were necessary, and no buildings were damaged.
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Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final supplement to the risk evaluation and final risk determination for the solvent 1,4-dioxane under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA has determined that this chemical poses an unreasonable risk of injury to human health. 1,4-Dioxane has the potential to cause cancer and harm the liver and nasal tissue.
Although 1,4-dioxane was one of the first ten chemicals to be reviewed under amended TSCA, EPA’s 2020 risk evaluation did not evaluate general population exposures to 1,4-dioxane in drinking water or air, did not evaluate all the ways people could be exposed to 1,4-dioxane as a byproduct, did not evaluate the potential for simultaneous exposure to more than one source of 1,4-dioxane (aggregate risk) and did not evaluate potential exposures to fenceline communities.
These omissions led several Scientific Advisory Committee on Chemicals members to say that EPA’s “failure to assess 1,4-dioxane exposure in the general population may leave substantial portions of the population at risk. This is particularly concerning for drinking water.” The final supplement to the 1,4-dioxane risk evaluation addresses these concerns and provides the public with a more complete understanding of the risks presented by 1,4-dioxane.
1,4-Dioxane is a solvent used in a variety of commercial applications, such as in a laboratory, or in dish soap or laundry detergent used by cleaning services or laundromats, and industrial applications, such as the manufacture or processing of other chemicals (e.g., adhesives, sealants). It is also generated as a byproduct in several manufacturing processes, resulting in its presence as a contaminant in commercial and consumer products like dish soaps and laundry detergents which contribute to its presence in surface water when these products are washed down the drain.
People may be exposed to 1,4-dioxane at work or through consumer products. If industrial or commercial facilities release 1,4-dioxane into the air, people may breathe it in. Additionally, people may be exposed to 1,4-dioxane in water. Water can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane through industrial or commercial sources, or when consumer and commercial products that contain 1,4-dioxane are washed down the drain or disposed of in landfills.
EPA found that 1,4-dioxane presents unreasonable risk to workers and the general population, including fenceline communities. Ingesting or breathing 1,4-dioxane can cause cancer, liver toxicity, and adverse effects to nasal tissue.
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The U.S. EPA is soliciting comments on a series of white papers regarding landfill management practices through Jan. 23, 2025, the agency announced in a release. The agency said it is looking for ways to “streamline, improve, and harmonize the current suite of emissions regulations” for municipal solid waste landfills.
The agency has previously indicated that it would update emissions regulations for new and existing landfills next year.It previously issued an update in 2016 but that was not fully adopted until 2021.
In eight white papers, the agency included a series of possible changes to its New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines for new and existing landfills. Those changes include adding an organic waste diversion credit, allowing a regular aerial monitoring program, creating a methane emission threshold to trigger regulations for landfills and more.
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The U.S. EPA is soliciting comments on a series of white papers regarding landfill management practices through Jan. 23, 2025, the agency announced in a release. The agency said it is looking for ways to “streamline, improve, and harmonize the current suite of emissions regulations” for municipal solid waste landfills.
The agency has previously indicated that it would update emissions regulations for new and existing landfills next year.It previously issued an update in 2016 but that was not fully adopted until 2021.
In eight white papers, the agency included a series of possible changes to its New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines for new and existing landfills. Those changes include adding an organic waste diversion credit, allowing a regular aerial monitoring program, creating a methane emission threshold to trigger regulations for landfills and more.
If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics.It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month.
WASHINGTON — After winning the White House and majorities in the Senate and House, Republicans are poised to carry out a broad deregulatory agenda to slash environmental protections when they assume power in January.
When he takes office on Jan. 20, President-elect Donald Trump, a skeptic of global organizations like the United Nations, is expected to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord, an international deal to rein in planet-warming greenhouse gases.
Trump and congressional Republicans are also gearing up to cut environmental and clean-energy programs, hamstring public transit and pull away from international environmental agreements.
Two other federal programs critical to New Jersey — offshore wind development and a tax to fund toxic waste cleanup — are also in the crosshairs.
Presidential administrations hold enormous discretion over what federal departments prioritize and the issues they pursue, and each president seeks to make a mark promptly upon taking office, typically by issuing a flurry of executive orders and memoranda.
Second-term fallout
A second Trump term could add an additional 4 billion tons’ worth of carbon emissions by 2030, or the equivalent of the annual emissions from the world’s 140 lowest-emitting nations, according to Carbon Brief, a U.K.-based climate research organization.
That would generate more than $900 billion worth of environmental damages, Carbon Brief said.
During his first term, Trump and Cabinet officials rolled back or weakened hundreds of federal regulations on the environment, energy and wildlife.
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Don’t call it a comeback! For the first time in years, a company is making solar cells in the United States.
Suniva, which lays claim to the title of “oldest U.S. manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells,” recently restarted production at its Norcross, Georgia facility and has sent out the first shipments of its made-in-the-USA product to North American manufacturer Heliene.
“Suniva has fulfilled its promise to bring back solar cell manufacturing to the United States! America’s oldest and largest solar cell manufacturer is producing,” he wrote.
Suniva had been inoperative since 2017 when the company filed for bankruptcy, but bolstered by Inflation Reduction Act incentives, announced plans to give it another go last fall. The cells manufactured at the Norcross facility are the first to qualify for the 10% Domestic Content Bonus Investment Tax Credit under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s guidance published in May 2023. The company wants to ramp up production to produce about 1 gigawatt (GW) of cells per year.
In May, Heliene signed a $400 million, three-year sourcing contract to incorporate Suniva’s U.S.-made solar cells into its U.S.-made solar modules. The company has a facility in Ontario, Canada, and a growing footprint in Minnesota.
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