EnviroPolitics Blog

Thanksgiving Day NJ Covid-19 Report

New Jersey State Flag

As families gathered across the state for Thanksgiving, the holiday brought little let-up in the worrisome public health numbers for New Jersey, with new COVID infections reported again topping 4,500 and hospitalizations staying close to 3,000.

Statewide, 39 deaths were reported, down from the 50 fatalities reported the day before.
The rate of transmission rate ticked down to 1.21.
Hospitalizations saw their first drop — however slight — in more than three weeks.

Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted: “This Thanksgiving, please stay safe. Avoid large gatherings. Wear a mask. Social distance. Wash your hands.”

Murphy yesterday announced that travelers to and from all states except New Jersey’s close neighbors — New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Connecticut — are now being asked to quarantine for 14 days.

The pronouncement is a break from the state’s previous travel advisories for individual states, dating back to when many states and locations had much worse COVID-19 statistics than the Garden State.

Murphy also repeated his earlier discouragement of all interstate travel that is not essential.

Amtrak officials predicted their passenger load this weekend would be 20% of what’s normal for the holiday. For a report on how rail passengers were faring, see NJ Spotlight News.

The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development yesterday reported another drop in the number of New Jerseyans who filed new unemployment claims the week before, a sixth straight week of decline.

Initial claims filed last week were 12,192, down from 12,986 the week before, or roughly 6%.1.8 million workers have applied for unemployment benefits of all sorts in the state since mid-March, and $19 billion has been paid, from state and federal sources.

Unemployment numbers for the nation, meanwhile, were headed in the opposition direction, with 778,000 new claims filed last week, up by 30,000.

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Dick Dewling, an impactful environmental regulator in the early days of the USEPA and New Jersey’s DEP, dies at 84

Richard T. ”Dick” Dewling with his wife,, Dolores, who predeceased him in 2017

Editor’s Note: Fred N. Rubel, M.S., QEP, (Manager Special Projects & Principal at Environmental Consulting, Inc.) was a close associate of Dick Dewling for many years. He kindly provided the information below. –FB

Richard T. Dewling, P.E., Ph.D., passed away on Sunday, November 22, 2020 at his home in New Jersey at the age of 84 after experiencing health issues that he could not overcome.

His distinguished career included working in the environmental profession for entities that preceded the establishment of the U.S. EPA, and he was among the first professionals that staffed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when it was first established in 1970. In 1973 he was appointed Director, Surveillance and Analysis Division for the U.S. EPA Region 2. This was the technical arm of the EPA that developed and employed analytical methods for detecting pollution, as well as conducting studies to determine the magnitude of industrial and municipal pollution in Region 2. In 1978, he was appointed Deputy Regional Administrator for EPA, Region 2 and held that position until 1983. During that time he also served as Acting Regional Administrator for almost three years.

In 1983 he became First Deputy Commissioner, and then Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Some of the interesting challenges that Dick had to deal with during his government years that some might recall included:

Establishing and operating the OHMSETT facility in Leonardo, NJ in 1974.
Regulating ocean dumping in the NY Bight, and then helping to bring ocean dumping to an end.
Public outrage over repeated beaching of waves of trash, medical wastes, alleged sludge balls and other wastes that washed up on Long Island and New Jersey beaches.
The public health crises and government response to Love Canal – 1978 and beyond, including the holding of at least one EPA employee essentially as a hostage by local residents.
The advent of the first RCRA regulations in 1980.
Promoting efforts to get massive volumes of untreated sewage entering the Hudson River from the west side of Manhattan treated.
Waste disposal issues that included the disposition of low level radioactive soils, and the ‘Garbage Barge’ that no one wanted.
Investigating horrid intermittent odors that prompted citizen complaints and Congressional inquiries, Staten Island, NY.
Initial searches in anticipation of Superfund for and listing of numerous uncontrolled chemical disposal sites, including PAS in Oswego, NY, Kin Buc and the LiPari Landfill in NJ.
The fire and explosion at the Chemical Control site in Elizabeth, NJ in April of 1980.
The advent of Superfund after December, 1980.
The government response to radioactive (radium) contamination of residential properties in Glen Ridge and Orange, NJ.
The identification of highly toxic dioxin that was found to have spread in areas of Newark, NJ.
Getting the extensive, long running underground fire at the P.J.P. Landfill in Jersey City, NJ extinguished.

Always a ‘mover and a shaker’ in 1988 he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., a nation-wide environmental engineering firm. Dick established his own consulting and engineering firm, Dewling Associates, in 1993. For more than 25 years he and a cadre of other professionals, provided environmental consulting and engineering services to clients throughout the U.S. Dick was predeceased in passing by his wife Dolores, and is survived by his three children, their spouses, and many grandchildren, all of whom he loved dearly.

There were many, many more significant environmental challenges that occurred than listed here that many no doubt could recall Dick Dewling having a role in addressing.

Obituary from Bradley and Son Funeral Homes

Dick Dewling was not someone you could easily forget. His knowledge, wit, rapid-fire delivery and political savvy were hallmarks of more than a few bright, young, Irish-American natives of Brooklyn, New York. Many of you no doubt have Dick Dewling stories to tell. If you’re one of them, use our comment block on this blog or on our Facebook page to share it with your fellow readers.

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Supreme Court sides with religious groups in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions in New York

Masses were canceled in March due to the coronavirus pandemic in New York City.

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter
Updated 3:55 AM ET, Thu November 26, 2020

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court sided with religious organizations in a dispute over Covid-19 restrictions put in place by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that limited attendance at religious services.

The case is the latest pitting religious groups against city and state officials seeking to stop the spread of Covid-19 and highlights the impact of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Court. It comes as Covid-19 related cases are spiking across the country.

In the late-night ruling, Barrett sided with the conservatives in the dispute, while Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in dissent. The ruling underscores Barrett’s impact on the bench, reflecting the Court’s rightward shift.

Last spring and summer, before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court split 5-4 on similar cases out of California and Nevada, with Roberts and the liberals in the majority siding against houses of worship. Barrett was confirmed in October to take Ginsburg’s seat.

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Jersey shore town wins state award for recycling program that turns empty shells from dining tables into bay oyster reefs

By Juliet Kasas-Hoch, SandPaper

Last week the state Department of Environmental Protection recognized a handful of municipalities, businesses, organizations and individuals during a virtual ceremony celebrating recycling efforts throughout New Jersey. Among those honored was Long Beach Township, which won the “Leadership” award for its “innovative voluntary recycling project that diverts oyster and clam shells from restaurants for use in establishing a research oyster reef in Little Egg Harbor Bay.”

A few days a week in the summer months and less frequently in the off-season, the township collects mollusk shells from participating area restaurants and takes them to Parsons Mariculture or Stockton University – both of which are partners in the program, along with Jetty and the Jetty Rock Foundation. The shells cure for six months before they are set with spat – baby oysters – in mariculture tanks. Then, Stockton vessels deploy them onto a reef site in the bay and monitor their growth and survival.

As Jetty has explained, funding from the Barnegat Bay Partnership “established the Tuckerton Reef in 2016 with aquaculture-set oyster spat on whelk shell and transplanted seed from the Mullica River. The two-acre research site is located in the Middle Grounds area of Little Egg Harbor Bay, with initial and future aquaculture work done by Parsons and the scientific monitoring by Stockton.”

Since 2017, the township has collected 6,000 bushels of shell from local restaurants. Currently, there are 18 participating establishments, with plans to add more in 2021.

Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini noted, “We are the only municipality in New Jersey to put resources behind recycling shell, diverting this material from the landfill and getting it back into the bay where it belongs.”

“2020 was a tough year,” said LBT Sustainability Coordinator Angela Andersen, “but many of our restaurants managed to stay in the recycling program despite all the challenges. There is such great dedication to making this program continue to succeed.

“There is an ever-growing number of oyster farms in the bay,” she added, “and the volume of local shellfish coming to our tables locally is inspiring. The shell recycling is closing the loop on this amazing success story,” which sees the shells go from “bay to table to bay.”

“I commend the award winners for their innovative efforts to promote recycling and educate their communities about the importance of diverting waste,” DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe stated. “New Jersey has been a national leader in recycling for many years, thanks in part to the types of initiatives we see from our recycling award winners and those who follow their excellent examples. Their work helps protect our environment by keeping communities clean and reducing the impacts of climate change.”

“We proudly recognize these award winners for their diligent work to keep New Jersey’s environment clean and healthy,” said Paul Baldauf, assistant commissioner for air quality, energy and sustainability. “Every year our winners show us the value of recycling and its importance to the environment. We hope promoting their accomplishments will inspire others to adopt better recycling practices.”

In 2021, the township aims to grow the program not only with additional restaurants on board, but also by creating drop-off locations, expanded restoration education and opportunities, more-frequent outreach events and increased fundraising.

And, as Mancini remarked, “We look forward to further engaging the community, and our participating restaurants and their staff, in the coming year through our new facility in Holgate,” a science education center that will additionally serve as a launching point to visit the man-made oyster reefs.

In 1987, New Jersey became the first state to enact legislation that requires recycling in residential, commercial and institutional settings, achieving an overall recycling rate of 60 percent in 2017. The DEP administers a number of grant and educational programs to help improve the statewide recycling rate, and urges all residents to participate in their local recycling program, and to do their part to keep unacceptable materials – such as plastic bags, trash, propane tanks and used syringes – out of curbside and workplace recycling bins.

For more information about recycling in New Jersey, visit nj.gov/dep/dshw/recycling, or the Association of New Jersey Recyclers site at anjr.com.

To learn more about the LBT Oyster Shell Recycling Program and to support the project, visit followtheshell.com.

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Happy Thanksgiving to our readers

We are truly thankful to all of you who have made our daily EnviroPolitics newsletter and its companion EnviroPolitics Blog important parts of your reading lives.

Some of you have been with us since we shipped our first newsletter on November 14, 2007. Many of you have joined us over the intervening years, while others are signing up with every new month.

We could not do it without you and we sincerely offer our thanks.

Frank and Kate Brill

P.S. If you’re a newcomer, click here for today’s complimentary issue. Happy holiday!

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OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma pleads guilty in criminal case

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=47wYuR_0XjddLao00

By ABC News

Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal charges, formally admitting its role in an opioid epidemic that has contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths over the past two decades.

In a virtual hearing with a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, the OxyContin maker admitted impeding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts to combat the addiction crisis. Purdue acknowledged that it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market, even though it had told the DEA it did have such a program, and that it provided misleading information to the agency as a way to boost company manufacturing quotas.

It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to induce them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers.

The guilty pleas were entered by Purdue board chairperson Steve Miller on behalf of the company. They were part of a criminal and civil settlement announced last month between the Stamford, Connecticut-based company and the Justice Department.

The deal includes $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures, but the company is on the hook for a direct payment to the federal government of only a fraction of that, $225 million. It would pay the smaller amount as long as it executes a settlement moving through federal bankruptcy court with state and local governments and other entities suing it over the toll of the opioid epidemic.

Members of the wealthy Sackler family who own the company have also agreed to pay $225 million to the federal government to settle civil claims. No criminal charges have been filed against family members, although their deal leaves open the possibility of that in the future.

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