NJ’s Seaside Park handed legal victory to block dock

Linda Lindner reports for NJBIZ:
The New Jersey Appellate Division on Tuesday handed Seaside Park a victory over a disputed 10-foot-wide strip of riparian land, allowing the borough to block a proposed dock at the site.
The court ruled that Seaside Park owns the disputed land in Barnegat Bay and therefore can block construction of a proposed dock at the site.
“The borough has full ownership of that land, and it has no legal obligation to permit any adjoining property owner to build a dock, pier, or other similar structure on the borough’s property,” the court held.

Paul Schneider
“It was clear that Seaside Park owns the property and that is backed up by maps and other evidence,” said Paul Schneider, a shareholder with Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla in Red Bank who represents the borough.
James Ralph III and Diane Ralph sued Seaside Park, Ocean County and the state, claiming that the strip, adjacent to their property, had been conveyed to them through deeds in the chain of title.
The Ralphs applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection to build a dock running from their development’s wooden bulkhead and the state’s pierhead and bulkhead line, and continuing for 60 feet into the bay. The Ralph’s property is part of a 45-lot subdivision, Berkeley Quay, developed by Berkeley Point in 1966 and located on a peninsula of filled land in the bay. But, the borough opposed the construction, claiming it owned the property.
Ocean County Superior Court Judge Francis Hodgson Jr., previously sided with the borough, concluding that the Ralphs’ property ended at the bulkhead on the bay, not at the pierhead line.
The appeals court upheld Hodgson’s decision, finding “the plaintiffs’ property does not include any part of the adjacent ten-foot-wide strip of tide-flowed land in Barnegat Bay.”
The Ralphs also argued that Berkeley Point conveyed the strip to the borough in 1990 in error because Berkeley Point no longer had title to it. The Ralphs said the conveyance was invalid because it was done by Charles Kline Jr. and John Ricketts, the sole surviving shareholders of Berkeley Point, rather than in the corporation’s name.
But, the appeals court noted that, at the time of the conveyance, Berkeley Point was practically defunct. It had “filed its last annual report in 1986, its charter was declared ‘inactive/revoked’ in 1988, and a receiver had not been appointed for the corporation.”
Kline and Ricketts, members of the corporation, had the authority to ratify their actions on the corporation’s behalf, the appeals court found.
The appeals court also disagreed with the plaintiffs’ contention that the borough’s opposition to the dock is inconsistent with the public’s right to use the waters.
Any right “to use the waters does not include the right to construct piers and docks on the tide-flowed land,” the court said.

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Australian city sets new national record 115.9 degrees!

A beachgoer sits in the sun on Glenelg Beach in Adelaide, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. Adelaide sweltered through the highest temperature ever recorded by a major Australian city on Thursday, peaking at a searing 46.6 degrees Celsius (115.9 degrees Fahrenheit) as the drought-parched nation heads toward potentially the hottest January on record. (Kelly Barnes/AAP Image

By The Associated Press

ADELAIDE, Australia — Adelaide sweltered through the highest temperature ever recorded by a major Australian city on Thursday, peaking at a searing 115.9 degrees Fahrenheit as the drought-parched nation heads toward potentially the hottest January on record.

The South Australia state capital city of 1.3 million people beat its previous 80-year-old record of 115 F set on Jan. 12, 1939, and records tumbled in smaller towns across the state.

Adelaide’s Red Lion Hotel promised free beer if the mercury topped 113 F but only while it exceeded that benchmark. Bar manager Stephen Firth said the pub ran dry after giving away more than 700 liters (185 gallons) of beer over more than two hours.

“We probably thought it would come around one day, but we didn’t think it would be for such a prolonged period,” Firth said.

Adelaide beat the heat record set by Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, of 46.4 C (115.5 F) set in 2009.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rob Sharpe said he would not be surprised if January becomes Australia’s hottest on record with heat wave conditions likely to persist.

Last year was Australia’s third-warmest on record.

Heat wave conditions combined with a prolonged drought across much of Australia’s southeast have led to scores of major wildfires during the southern hemisphere summer.

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Report: Power Plants Leaking Cancer-Causing Toxins into Groundwater Across the State of Texas

An environmental group found that all of Texas’ coal-fired power plants have polluted groundwater with multiple chemicals, including arsenic, which was detected at 13 of the sites 
South Texas ranchers Jason Peeler (left) and Alonzo Peeler, Jr. (right).

  South Texas ranchers Jason Peeler (left) and Alonzo Peeler, Jr. 

Christopher Collins reports for the Texas Observer:

In 1975, Alonzo Peeler Jr. figured that selling a small section of his ranchland to a power company was a sage financial move. Now 78, the lifelong rancher says he never would have guessed that San Miguel Electric Co-op, which operates a 440-megawatt power plant 65 miles south of San Antonio, would transform the property into a dump for toxic waste, contaminating groundwater and killing vegetation. And Peeler, who took the company to court over the pollution in August, is shocked that San Miguel Electric Co-Op is seeking to seize one-third of his ranch through eminent domain to avoid cleaning up their act.

“I wish I would have been fortunate enough 40 years ago to question this, ‘cause then we wouldn’t be having all these problems,” Peeler told the Observer. His 25,000-acre ranch now holds a dubious distinction: Of all the groundwater adjacent to coal-fired power plants in Texas, the water beneath the ranch is the most contaminated, according to a report released Thursday by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). Arsenic levels there are 12 times higher than what’s considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. Massive levels of beryllium and cadmium, both known human carcinogens, have been detected in the water; beryllium at 190 times the safe level and cadmium at 130 times. The report also says that just across Peeler’s property line, San Miguel Electric Co-op operates improperly lined lagoons that hold coal ash, which is the toxic byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity.

On Peeler’s ranch and across Texas, coal ash contaminants have leached “into groundwater, poisoning drinking water aquifers and harming aquatic life in nearby surface waters,” the report says. The new information paints a staggering picture for Texas: All 16 plants for which data was available have tainted groundwater supplies with coal ash waste, and all but “one or two” have failed to properly line the bottoms of disposal ponds. The report appears to reveal widespread coal ash pollution stretching from South Texas along the Gulf Coast and into the northeast corner of the state.

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Surprise! PA embracing commercial hemp production

Hemp farming in a field in Upper Saucon Twp., Pa. Morning Call file photo


 
Anthony Salamone reports for The Morning Call:

In a surprising turn, Pennsylvania is throwing the door wide open for industrial hemp production — something the state, or the U.S. for that matter, has not seen since before World War II.

State Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said Tuesday that Pennsylvania submitted a plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that allows for the full commercial production of industrial hemp.

The move follows the December passage of the federal farm bill, which removed industrial hemp — cannabis plants with little of the chemical that gets you high — from regulation under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

At the time the law was passed, the state Agriculture Department had a research-based plan for hemp underway, and with no federal rules in place on how legalization would work, said it was too late to change course for 2019.

But on Tuesday, Redding said Pennsylvania will reopen the 2019 program to include applications for commercial growing operations.

The state said its program will also remove growing caps of 100 acres for current and new applicants.
“Pennsylvania’s story is shaped by agriculture and the products that help grow the commonwealth, and industrial hemp presents an exciting new chapter in that story,” Redding said in a news release.

The farm bill, signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, allows the interstate commerce of hemp products and hemp cultivation and processing for any use.

Hemp has a slew of potential applications, including beauty products, clothing, bioplastics for car parts and more, building materials and housing insulation, energy storage devices for electronics, 3D printing filament, pest resistance and weed suppression, and food oils and rope.

The new law also allows the extraction of cannabidiol, a nonintoxicating chemical compound that has a relaxing effect on many users and is already used to treat a variety of medical conditions including insomnia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.

The bill marked a big step from changes enacted in 2014 that gave states the authority to establish agricultural research pilot programs.

But the bill’s vague language left unclear the permitted commercial scope of state pilot programs, and it did not change the Controlled Substances Act to exempt hemp varieties of cannabis.

Pennsylvania launched a pilot program in 2016. As of Tuesday, it had conditionally approved 84 permit applications, pending a Feb. 1 deadline for paying a program fee and signing the agreement, according to department spokeswoman Shannon Powers. The list of growers is expected to be made public upon completion.

 Under Pennsylvania’s proposed plan, industrial hemp would be under the Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Committee, which in turn would make it a controlled plant. Such a label would require all growers to obtain permits and be subject to enforcement. But there would be no limit on the number of applicants.

Hemp supporters praised Redding’s decision.

“It’s one more step, but in this case, it’s a big step for Pennsylvania farmers who are certainly seeking alternatives in new rotational crops,” said Geoff Whaling, president of the Pennsylvania Hemp Industrial Council in Fleetwood, Berks County.

Whaling, who is also chairman of the National Hemp Association, said Pennsylvania’s changes will give farmers a chance to earn more revenue.

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Feds to launch lithium battery research center










A bulldozer is seen at the lithium plant of the state-owned Bolivian Lithium Deposits (YLB) in Llipi, on the salt flats of Uyuni, Bolivia, November 29, 2017. REUTERS/David Mercado/photo

Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Bill Berkrot

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday it is launching a research center on lithium battery recycling in an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources for the metal that is increasingly being used in electric vehicles and electronics.


The department is also launching a prize for lithium battery recycling, with awards of $5.5 million, to speed the process of taking recycling designs from concept to demonstration.

Lithium-ion batteries are used widely in everything from laptop computers to cars made by Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and others, and demand for them is increasing rapidly as more electric vehicles begin to hit the roads.


Like this? Click to receive free updatesThe initiatives will “leverage the power of competition and the resources of the private sector, universities, and the national laboratories to … bolster economic growth, strengthen our energy security, and improve the environment,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said at a Bipartisan Policy Center event.


The moves are aimed at boosting the reuse of materials used in batteries needed for electric cars and other devices. The department hopes to boost the collection and recycling rate to 90 percent of all lithium-based technologies, up from 5 percent currently.


The Trump administration last year launched a strategy for the United States to boost domestic production of 35 critical minerals used in manufacturing, batteries and electronics, including lithium, uranium and cobalt, to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.


The department said it is investing $15 million in the lithium battery recycling center, to be led by its national labs.


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NJ bill would bring ‘dark money’ donors into the light



Susan K. Livio and Brent Johnson report for NJ.com:

 Political organizations that raise money to influence elections and policy in New Jersey would be forced to disclose their donors under a bill a state Senate panel approved Thursday that would help shine a light on so-called “dark money” in politics.

The measure comes after non-profits with ties to Gov. Phil Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney came under fire in recent weeks.

New Direction New Jersey, a group that promotes Murphy’s agenda, last year pledged to disclose its donors but recently reversed its decision, citing “increased attacks from powerful special interests seeking to preserve the status quo.”

Under current state law, so-called “super PACs,” 527 groups, and 501(c)4 “social welfare” organizations are allowed to keep their donors secret as long as they spend less than half of their funds on political activities.

But this bill, approved 12-0 by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, would require groups that spend at least $3,000 bolstering a candidate or influencing policy to publicly reveal donors.

The groups would have to disclose contributors who give them more than $10,000 a year and report expenditures that exceed $3,000, according to the measure (S1500).

“There’s a growing cynicism that happens between the public and those who are elected to represent them pretty much on all levels of government,” the bill’s prime sponsor, state Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, said in a statement.

“Bringing greater transparency through more disclosure will help empower voters,” Singleton added. “They deserve more information about the interests working to influence the political process so they can make informed decisions.”
The campaign reports would have to be filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, a nonpartisan organization that has advocated for more transparency in politics. An analysis by ELEC found the top 25 special-interest groups in the Garden State spent $74 million trying to influence elections and policies in 2017, with $41 million coming from “dark money” groups.

“This reform measure will lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds the actions of organizations working to influence the political process,” said state Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex, also a prime sponsor. “As candidates, we disclose our donors and expenditures. The disclosure requirements should extend to the groups that are spending to get favored outcomes.”

New Direction New Jersey is run by members of Murphy’s inner circle, including Brendan Gill, who was the Democratic governor’s campaign manager. Long-time Democratic operatives and Murphy advisers Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence also run the group along with pollster Danny Franklin.

New Direction New Jersey won’t reveal its donors even though Murphy has repeatedly called on its leaders to be transparent. The group has run ads advocating the governor’s agenda, including during tense budget negotiations last summer with Democratic leaders in the state Legislature.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, was also the target of criticism after a 501(c)4 aligned with his confidante, South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross. Public Service Electric & Gas mistakenly donated $55,000 to super PAC linked to Norcross, General Majority, just months after the Legislature passed a nuclear subsidy plan that benefited the company, according to news reports. The money only became known because General Majority has to disclose its donors under the law.

Sweeney has said he supports the new bill, which also increases how much money donors can give — including from $2,600 to $3,000 for candidates, and from $8,200 to $9,300 for political committees.

Both the Democrat-controlled state Senate and Assembly would need to approve the legislation before Murphy could decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.

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