Court sides with NJDEP on Newark natural gas plant mods

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:


Environmental and community groups fail in bid to require Newark Energy Center to file for new permit

newark energy center

Newark Energy Center
A state appeal courts has rejected a challenge by a community and environmental organization to a new air permit for five-year old natural-gas plant in Newark.
In a 15-page decision, the court on Friday affirmed the state Department of Environmental Protection’s approval of a significant change in the permit held by the Newark Energy Center.
The Ironbound Community Corp. and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance challenged the permit, arguing the plant should have been required to file public emergency-response and notification plans prior to obtaining it.
The 655-megawatt gas plant opened in 2012, the first of a handful of new gas facilities that have begun operating in New Jersey in the past few years as part of a trend that has seen natural gas emerge to rival nuclear energy in supplying the state’s power needs.
The court case stemmed from the plant’s significant modification of its air permit involving its increased use of sulfuric acid and other chemicals in reused water in the plant’s cooling tower.
According to the DEP, the increased use of the chemicals would not increase the emissions from the plant. The state agency issued the modified permit for the facility in August 2015.
In its decision, the court found the modified air permit maintained allowable emission limits and required additional monitoring and record keeping to ensure compliance.
In addition, the court rejected the appellants’ arguments that the permit also required the agency to determine if the plant was in compliance with other environmental laws dealing with spills and state air-control requirements.
“Simply stated, while separate, independent federal and state laws may impose public emergency-response and notification planning requirements upon industrial facilities such as NEC,” according to the court opinion, “they did not govern the DEP’s decision to approve NEC’s application to modify its permit.’’
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EPA: No dough to clean up your mess, miners? No problem

mining
Matthew Brown REPORT FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:
President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday that it won’t require mining companies to prove they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution, despite an industry legacy of abandoned mines that have fouled waterways across the U.S.
The move came after mining groups and Western-state Republicans pushed back against a proposal under former President Barack Obama to make companies set aside money for future cleanup costs.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said modern mining practices and state and federal rules already in place adequately address the risks from mines that are still operating.
Requiring more from mining companies was unnecessary, Pruitt said, and “would impose an undue burden on this important sector of the American economy and rural America, where most of these jobs are based.”
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How much did you say it will cost to fix NJ’s leaking pipes?


Jersey Water Works, a collaborative with some 350 members, wants to make water systems and their problems highly visible, even though they’re typically underground

Jon Hurdle reports for NJ Spotlight:

water pipe break

If New Jersey’s aging network of water pipes and sewers wasn’t buried underground, it might be easier to convince the public that it is in such bad shape it needs repairs and renovations that would cost tens of billions of dollars.
But since it is out of sight and mostly out of mind, advocates for a massive upgrade to the system have been frustrated in their efforts to convince people that sound water infrastructure is essential for the economy, the environment, and public health.
That’s why Jersey Water Works, a multi-interest collaborative representing about 350 organizations, is stepping up its efforts to educate the public on the urgent need for an overhaul to the system and to build political will for the big-ticket spending that will be required.


The $25 billion fix

The organization says leaking pipes lose 130 million gallons of treated water a day, and dump 7 billion gallons of raw sewage into waterways every year. The price tag for fixing the system would be some $25 billion over 20 years, the group says.
In a report released at its annual meeting on Friday, the organization called for a bigger effort to raise public awareness of the importance of taking care of water infrastructure. It said elected officials can be effective spokespeople for the cause, and should help to convince the public that the cost of deferring maintenance will be higher the longer repairs are deferred.


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Park protectors tell NJ Gov. Christie: Keep your hands off


Neither confirming nor denying that plans are afoot to to turn the popular southern end of Liberty State Park into a marina, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has assured park advocates that any development plan would be transparent and involve public hearings.


But Sam Pesin, who is convinced that Chris Christie will try to jam through the change during the last two months of his final term as governor, rallied 250 members of his Friends of Liberty State Park and others on Saturday to protest any such attempt.

Joan Verdon and Scott Fallon report on the event for The Record here and the video above. 


Related news story:

Liberty State Park group holds protest of state marina plan: ‘The people own this park!’ (Corey W. McDonald/Jersey Journal)

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Should NJ’s environment be constitutionally protected?


Ryan Hutchins reports for Politico:

Several lawmakers in New Jersey want voters to add the right to clean air and water to the state Constitution, a move that supporters admit would create legal uncertainty for both government and industry.

Assemblyman Tim Eustace and two other Democratic colleagues said Thursday that they planned to introduce the proposed ballot measure. It was unclear if they had any support from Democratic leadership in their house, but they said they’d begun to push the proposal with fellow lawmakers.


We’re talking about an environmental bill of rights. We’re talking about a bill that would guarantee every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment here in New Jersey,” Eustace said during a press conference at the statehouse. “Sounds like something that’s absolute common sense and something we’d all want to fight for.”

If the measure were to appear on the ballot and win approval from voters, New Jersey would be just the third state to provide a constitutional guarantee against pollution, after Pennsylvania and Montana.

While the measure itself lacks any sort of enforcement mechanism and does not require any action by the government, supporters say the changes would give environmental protection agencies a legal framework to go after polluters and also allow the public to hold government accountable.

A constitutional amendment would also force governments across the state to think about the environmental impact of their actions, supporters say, and would slowly build into a body of case law.


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