FERC’s admission of error comes too late for this Environmental Justice community

The Weymouth compressor station as seen from the Fore River Bridge on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020.

By Jessica Trufant The Patriot Ledger

WEYMOUTH, MA – While several members said regulators shouldn’t have approved the project to begin with, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says it won’t revoke authorization for the natural gas compressor station in Weymouth.

After reexamining operations and safety at the station following several accidental releases of natural gas, Richard Glick, the commission’s chairman, said regulators “should never have approved” the compressor on the banks of the Fore River, a “heavily populated area with two environmental justice communities and a higher-than-normal level of cancer and asthma due to heavy industrial activity.”

But Glick said the review and findings don’t justify revoking approval for the station, which the commission initially granted in January 2017. The compressor station is owned by Algonquin Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy, which was later acquired by Enbridge.

“Going forward, the commission needs to pay attention to the impacts of its (decision) and I will push for the those changes,” he said. “I recognize that is cold comfort to the folks who live near the Weymouth compressor station.”

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Does lame-duck lawmaking put New Jersey public last?

Lawmakers in recent lame-duck sessions plowed through hundreds of bills and resolutions — far too many to get a full and deliberate hearing

By Colleen O’Dea NJ Spotlight

The lame-duck session of the Legislature is known to be a busy time for New Jersey lawmakers. What may be less apparent is just how busy — and how shielded it is from public input.

It turns out that in the final two months of the legislative session that ended last week, New Jersey lawmakers introduced 650 new bills and resolutions and took action on more than 700 measures.

Among them were notable bills that are now law, such as the Reproductive Freedom Act that codified abortion as legal in the state. And there were the less exciting, such as a measure letting a small number of retirees return to work part-time for the state Legislature while collecting a pension.

But what they all had in common was a truncated process that continues to draw questions about how transparent and accountable such lawmaking is.

The public and stakeholders have little meaningful input on many of the bills, advocates say, many of them pushed through without the normal committee hearings and waiting periods before passing from one house to another.

“The legislative process often is messy, but this lame-duck session too often disregarded standard legislative practices and transparency,” said Jon Shure, interim president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive think tank. “When the process isn’t open, the public simply can’t be put first.”

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Philly councilman Bobby Hernon resigns ahead of sentencing

The three-term lawmaker, who has presided over his Northeast Philadelphia district since 2012, said after his November conviction that he would hold onto his seat until his sentencing in February.

Bobby Henon seen through the glass window at federal court, he came to the doorway In October. Henon officially announced his resignation from his city council seat. — *Bobby* Henon *seen through window at federal court in October. .JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer*

By Max Marin, Sean Collins Walsh, and Jeremy Roebuck Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon tendered his resignation from City Council on Thursday more than two months after a federal jury convicted him on a slew of corruption charges. His resignation is effective immediately.

The three-term Democratic lawmaker, who has presided over his Northeast Philadelphia district since 2012, said after his November conviction that he would hold onto his seat until his sentencing on Feb. 22.

In a statement, Henon said that he submitted his resignation to Council President Darrell L. Clarke early Thursday morning.

“I am grateful to the residents of the 6th District for allowing me to serve as Councilman for the past 10 years,” he said in the statement. “I worked hard each and every day to be an outspoken and bold advocate for the hardworking people.”

A federal jury convicted both Henon and labor leader John J. Dougherty on counts of conspiracy and honest services fraud and Henon of federal program bribery.

The panel found that Henon had sold his Council vote to Dougherty, the former leader of the Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers where Henon long held a side job outside of City Hall, using the powers of his office to advance the Dougherty’s personal and political interests in exchange for a $70,000-a-year salary. Henon’s highest charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

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Coalition sues Murphy administration over alleged failure on climate

The lawsuit follows DEP’s denial of a petition seeking faster action to fight climate change, restrict new fossil fuel projects

By Tom Johnson NJ Spotlight

A coalition of environmental groups sued the Murphy administration on Wednesday over what it views as the state’s failure to take steps to reduce climate pollutants by 50% by the end of this decade, a goal advanced by 14 other states and the Biden administration.

The lawsuit, filed in the appellate division, follows the state Department of Environmental Protection’s denial of a petition last month seeking to speed up actions to fight climate change and to restrict new fossil fuel projects in New Jersey. Among other demands, the petition wants the DEP to set benchmarks for achieving significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030, the so-called 50×30 target.

The failure to establish such benchmarks, the coalition argued, ignores Gov. Phil Murphy’s own executive order issued in November 2021, calling on the state to reduce carbon pollution 50% below 2006 levels by 2030. The coalition also argued the denial flouts amendments to the Global Warming Response Act signed by Murphy in 2019 requiring interim benchmarks be established to achieve the goal of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.

“There are only two ways to look at DEP’s outright denial of our petition: DEP has gone rogue or this administration is uninterested in pursuing its own stated policies and state law,’’ said John Reichman, chair of BlueWaveNJ’s environment committee and a member of the coalition, Empower NJ.

With signs of the climate crisis worsening, the coalition argued the denial of its petition is a dereliction of duty.

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NJ Stormwater Roundtable – Today at 4 p.m.

You are invited to attend:

Storm Flooding in New Jersey: Improving Stormwater Management & Preparedness

Thursday, January 20th, 2021 from 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

This will be an online event only. Please register to have a viewing link emailed to you Thursday, 1/20, at 3pm with a repeat send at 4pm.

Climate change is making rainstorms more intense in New Jersey, a factor leading to extensive flooding in the state. The problem is expected to worsen according to recent studies published by the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University and the New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection’s climate resilience report from 2020.

To guard against these events, the state and utilities are looking to improve policies and mechanisms geared toward managing stormwater runoff. What are the best practices for coping with stormwater in the nation’s most densely populated state?

Please join us for this NJ Spotlight News virtual roundtable as we discuss with the state commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, environmental advocates, and water infrastructure leaders how New Jersey can protect citizens, businesses, and property in the state.

Register here

Keynote:

Daniel J. Van Abs, PhD, FAICP/PP, Professor of Professional Practice for Water, Society and Environment Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers-School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

Panelists:

Jennifer M. Coffey, Executive Director, Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)

Shawn M. LaTourette, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)

Mark K. McDonough, President of New Jersey American Water, Senior Vice President, American Water

Senator Bob Smith, New Jersey State Senate, 17th Legislative District

Moderator:

Tom Johnson, Energy & Environment Writer, NJ Spotlight News

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Conservationists and crabbers clash over horseshoe harvest limits

*Migrating red knots chow down on horseshoe crab eggs.*

By Jon Hurdle NJ Spotlight

Conservationists’ ongoing battle to protect New Jersey’s shorebirds and specifically the imperiled red knot has taken a new turn, this time over limits on the harvesting of horseshoe crabs that are a vital food source to the birds.

Conservationists have formally challenged a plan by fisheries regulators to change their method of counting horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay and determine new limits on harvesting. The plan by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission would add two new crab counts to an existing survey and lift a ban on harvesting female crabs until their numbers reach a certain level.

The crabs provide the eggs that the red knot and other migratory birds depend on for their food. They are also taken in unknown numbers for their blood, which is used by the biomedical industry for detecting toxins in medical products.

Conservationists argue that the regulators’ plan will overestimate the crab population, allowing for more harvesting and resulting in fewer crabs. The harvest of female crabs, in particular, has been banned for almost a decade in an effort to rebuild the population after it was decimated by overharvesting in the 1990s.

“Now is not the time for ASMFC to revise its horseshoe crab management framework in a manner that would allow even greater harvest, including the resumption of the harvest of the critical female component of the population,” said Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit, in a letter to the commission on Wednesday.

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