NY may increase payments for distributed solar generation

Robert Walton reports for Waste Dive:

Distributed generation is already paying off for New York, and state regulators say they want to ensure more is added. The PSC says distributed generation has helped lower carbon emissions and boosted economic activity, along with generating ratepayer savings, and helping grid resiliency.
Proposals, which the commission said would be important steps in “the evolution of the state’s VDER policy,” include:
  • A consideration of enhanced and additional opportunities for electric customers to receive market transition credits in areas of New York where CDG market development has not been strong.
  • Alternative incentive mechanisms may be developed for community solar in areas where CDG development has been successful, including Central Hudson Gas & Electric and Orange and Rockland service territories.
  • Regulators want to make improvements in calculating and compensating the distribution value of distributed resources.
  • Another idea is to consider the extension of net energy metering to systems up to 750 kW, in cases where onsite energy generation is primarily used to satisfy a customer’s demand.

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Court abides those painted ponies in a Jersey Shore swap

Conservationists tried to block trade, which brings almost 70 acres of land to Toms River, by arguing Green Acres property should not be ‘diverted into private hands’ in Seaside Heights

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

carousel seaside heights

A state appeals court yesterday upheld a disputed deal that transferred 1.37 acres of municipally owned beach property in Seaside Heights to the owner of a local pier to allow it to be rebuilt following Hurricane Sandy.
The transaction allowed the borough to obtain and preserve a historic wooden carousel and acquire a 67-acre tract in Toms River adjacent to a park in exchange for the sliver of beach owned by the municipality.
The case is the latest in which Green Acres-protected property has been disposed to promote other interests — in this case, parts of a public beach at one of the more popular tourist attractions at the Jersey Shore traded to a private developer.

Proceed at your own risk

As it happens, the developer, AFMV, went ahead and rebuilt the portion of the damaged pier at its own risk as the case was litigated. The pier has reopened with new amusement rides on the contested sliver of beach.
The transaction had been challenged by the American Littoral Society, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, and two local residents and consolidated into one appeal by the court. The latter portion of the case was dismissed on a technicality.
Essentially, the conservation groups contested actions by the state Department of Environmental Protection and State House Commission in approving the deal, arguing they lacked authority to do so under Green Acres statute and regulations and failed to consider common-law public trust doctrine.
“We don’t like to see Green Acres land, which is supposed to be protected and preserved, to be diverted into private hands,’’ particularly public beaches, said Andrew Provence, an attorney for the conservationists. “It’s the best type of parkland we have. Here, in this case, it was traded.’’
In a 35-page decision, the court said it found no merit in the appellants’ argument. “We are limited to deciding whether the agency’s decisions are lawful; it is not our role to second-guess the wisdom of [the] agency’s policy choices,’’ the court found.

Merry-go-round museum

The court, however, did modify one aspect of the State House Commission’s decision, ruling that the carousel be built in a museum on a boardwalk-fronting parcel owned by the developer to ensure public access to it. That ensures the transaction involves replacement land in transfers, not just personal property, to comply with state law.
The historic carousel, one of only four wooden carousels remaining in New Jersey, was cited by the DEP as the “determining factor’’ in its decision to approve the transfer. Described as an “irreplaceable historic asset’’ by the agency, it features wooden animals carved between the 1890s and 1910s during the golden age of carousels.
The conservation groups argued the DEP and the SHC acted beyond their authority because their acquisition of personal property to be housed indoors is beyond the mandate of the commission’s and department’s Green Acres program.
The court found otherwise, noting the Garden State Preservation Trust Act authorizes the use of land to preserve historic properties, including historic objects. The court also contended the public will continue to have ample beach access on the borough’s remaining 33 acres of publicly owned beach.

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Oyster Creek nuclear plant to be sold to Holtec


Amanda Oglesby reports for the Asbury Park Press:

LACEY — A Camden-based company specializing in nuclear and solar energy intends to purchase Oyster Creek Generating Station and decommission the plant in eight years, more than half a century earlier than previously planned.

The deal will transfer ownership of Oyster Creek to Camden-based Holtec International. The company will also take over the plant’s spent nuclear waste and its decommissioning trust fund, worth more than $890 million.

The deal is expected to be finalized sometime in 2019, but needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other regulators. The plant’s current parent company, Exelon, said the purchase will not impact current decommissioning activities. The plant is scheduled to stop generating electricity mid-September.

“This landmark agreement is good news for Oyster Creek employees, the Lacey community and the state of New Jersey,” Exelon chief’s nuclear officer Bryan Hanson said in a news release. “Holtec’s commitment to the nuclear industry and its presence in New Jersey will allow many of our employees previously facing relocation to continue living and working in the

Exelon’s original plan including storing the plant for more than a half-century to allow radiation levels to drop and its trust fund to accrue more money before taking down the plant.

Holtec’s ownership will speed up the process. The company intends to hire Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI), a joint venture company of Holtec and engineering and nuclear waste management firm SNC-Lavalin, to help decontaminate and decommission the plant. Terms of the sale agreement require CDI to offer jobs to current Oyster Creek decommissioning employee.

Holtec’s President and CEO Kris Singh said in a news release that the company will use the latest technologies to preserve the shore near the plant and minimize radiation exposure to workers.



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Elcon clears DEP hurdle to build waste treatment facility

A graphic rendering of the proposed chemical treatment plant

The controversial proposal in Lower Bucks County, Pa
will now undergo a
10-month technical review by Pa. Department of Environmental Protection.
                             Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:

Circle May 2019 on the calendar. By then, residents of Lower Bucks and Northern Burlington counties should know whether the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has given the green light for a hazardous waste treatment facility to be built near the Delaware River in Falls.

Proposed by Elcon Recycling Services, the plant would process between 150,000 to 210,000 tons of chemicals and pharmaceutical waste each year, according to the company’s past filings. The company aims to build the facility on a 23-acre site in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, an approximately 3,000-acre industrial park encompassing the former footprint of U.S. Steel’s Fairless Works operation.

The DEP announced Thursday afternoon that Elcon cleared a key part of the application process, in which the department reviewed its application materials to ensure all necessary materials were included. Elcon previously failed to clear that hurdle twice, when the DEP announced the materials were “incomplete” in May and October 2017.

The third time proved to be the charm for Elcon, as it resubmitted the materials again in late May. Now that the DEP has all necessary materials, Elcon’s application will “undergo a 10-month technical review which will include opportunities for public participation,” according to the DEP.

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Military: No chemical tests for fish near PA, NJ bases

Mirror Lake in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton, NJ Burlco Times photo

Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Burlington County Times:

Last week, the NJDEP released a study finding fish near the bases could be contaminated with enough chemicals to harm residents who catch and eat them. However, military officials say there are no immediate plans to test fish near Pennsylvania and New Jersey bases.
But Navy officials in Pennsylvania said they’ll continue to work with regulators to “evaluate” potential ways which humans could be exposed to the chemicals.
In mid-July, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection released fish consumption advisories based on a study of the state’s fish for perfluorinated compounds or PFAS. The toxic chemicals are being found in water systems across the country after being used for decades in a variety of consumer and industrial products. They were also used in military-grade firefighting foams, and have been found in large amounts at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, as well as a trio of former and current bases in Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania.
The chemicals are not regulated at the federal level. That leaves states such as New Jersey to conduct much of their own research into potential health risks. As a part of that effort, New Jersey studied fish in about a dozen lakes and creeks near sites of suspected PFAS contamination to assess how much of the chemicals had been built up in their bodies. Lakes near the joint base showed the highest levels of the chemicals of anywhere in the state, leading the NJDEP to recommend limiting fish consumption to just one meal a season or year, depending on the species.

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PADEP reaches settlement over Mariner East 2 pipeline

Mariner_East_2_pipeline_activity

    • Marie Cusick reports for
      StateImpact:
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental protection has reached a settlement with three environmental groups that were challenging its issuance of permits for the embattled Mariner East 2 pipeline.
The pipeline is planned to carry natural gas liquids from western Pennsylvania to an export terminal near Philadelphia; it has faced numerous problems throughout its construction — including spills, sinkholes, and legal disputes, like this one.
In 2017,  the Clean Air Council, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Mountain Watershed Association challenged the construction permits DEP issued to Sunoco for the project.
“While this doesn’t cure the violations that have already taken place, it puts in place critical protections for future projects,” said Maya van Rossum, of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “Holding this company accountable and holding the DEP accountable at every turn is vitally important.”
Lisa Dillinger, a spokeswoman for Sunoco’s parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, said the settlement agreement will have no impact on the project.
“From the outset, Sunoco has maintained that the permits were properly and lawfully issued by PADEP and fully protective of the environment,” she wrote in an email.
The state Public Utility Commission has temporarily halted construction on the project in West Whiteland, Chester County due to safety concerns.
On Thursday DEP agreed to pay $27,500 to the environmental groups, money that will help them recoup costs. The agency also agreed to implement new policies aimed at enhancing public participation around pipeline projects.
Among other things, DEP has pledged to post more information online, including non-privileged, non-confidential materials it receives from companies seeking pipeline permits, as well as technical deficiency letters it issues to pipeline companies, and final decision documents.

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