EnviroPolitics Blog

Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows

By Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press

Water levels have dropped to record lows at the Brick Reservoir in Ocean County, the primary drinking water supply for about 100,000 people.

John Barrett, a Brick resident who lives near the reservoir, used a drone to record a shoreline of sand and rock that he had never before seen exposed to the air.

“It’s a little bit of visual scare, because that’s our main water source for Brick Township,” Barrett said.

Across New Jersey, reservoir levels are dropping fast, but other, less noticeable water supplies are also shrinking. Deep underground, some of the state’s aquifers have dropped to record lows and are continuing to fall fast after months of unusually dry weather.

Read the full story here

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Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows Read More »

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public

A small Kansas county filed a lawsuit last week against major oil and chemical companies, alleging the companies made “profit-driven” decisions for decades to deceive consumers about plastics recycling’s effectiveness.

Ford County, Kansas, filed the federal suit against companies including Celanese, Chevron, Dupont, Dow Chemical, Eastman, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell, along with industry trade association the American Chemistry Council.

The class-action lawsuit says the companies promoted plastic recycling as a solution for waste, but their actions did not improve recycling. Instead, they increased production and demand for new plastic products while increasing “issues with the remediation of plastic waste,” the suit says. ACC said the lawsuit is based on information that is “inaccurate, misleading and out of date.”

Read the full story here

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public Read More »

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83

A massive, overnight fire at a Baltimore wood recycling facility in the Woodberry neighborhood prompted I-83 to be shut down and three schools to cancel classes.

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83 Read More »

NJ gov says drones pose ‘no threat.’ No comment on Jersey Devil

By Craig McCarthy, Caitlin Doornbos and Steve Janoski, New York Post

The spate of drone sightings across New Jersey has alarmed residents and confounded authorities — but the Garden State’s governor said Thursday the mysterious flying objects don’t seem to pose any immediate threat.

In a social media post, Gov. Phil Murphy said he spoke Wednesday with a handful of state and federal officials — including US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — about the drones, which began appearing over North Jersey skies several weeks ago.

And there seems to be nothing for residents fear.

Editor’s Note: Um, excuse me?

Still, the feds are looking into it — and the dozens of nighttime sightings over homes, neighborhoods and near military installations have left local police and federal law enforcement officers scratching their heads.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have many answers, and we don’t want to guess or hypothesize about what’s going on,” FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson told NJ.com on Wednesday.

“We are doing all we can to figure it out.”

NJ gov says drones pose ‘no threat.’ No comment on Jersey Devil Read More »

Consumer Reports finds EVs more reliable

By Tom Krisher, Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — The reliability of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids has dramatically improved, narrowing a wide gap with gas-powered automobiles, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports.

But vehicles with internal combustion engines and gas-electric hybrids are still far more dependable, the survey found.

Consumer Reports subscribers, who filled out surveys during much of 2024, reported that electric vehicles had 42% more problems than gas autos on average. But that was down from 79% more in the 2023 survey. The survey released Thursday measured reliability of vehicles mainly from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 model years.

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Maryland wins final federal approval for 100-turbine wind project

By Christian Olaniran, Tara Lynch, WJZ News

The Maryland-based energy company U.S. Wind received approval for a major offshore wind project off the coast of Ocean City, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) signed off on U.S. Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which is the final step in getting a federal permit to begin construction. This is the last step for BOEM, the lead agency on the project.

Read the full story here

Maryland wins final federal approval for 100-turbine wind project Read More »

Water levels at NJ reservoirs and now some aquifers hit record-lows

Suit alleges major plastics manufacturers’ recycling messages deceived the public

Winds fuel fire at Baltimore recycling plant near I-83

NJ gov says drones pose ‘no threat.’ No comment on Jersey Devil

Consumer Reports finds EVs more reliable

Maryland wins final federal approval for 100-turbine wind project

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