Residents face off with Sunoco along pipeline right of way

Fencing  separates Mariner East 2 pipeline route and private residences in Delaware County. Jon Hurdle photo




Jon Hurdle reports for StateImpact:

On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Delaware County, three residents of Thornbury Township stepped over a spray-painted line marking the edge of a right-of-way where a contractor for Sunoco Pipeline was preparing land for construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

The response from one of about eight hard-hatted workers was immediate: he got on his phone and called the police, claiming that the residents were trespassing.
Within a few minutes, two state troopers showed up and began to question the contractors and the residents, some of whom are members of the Andover Homeowners Association, which represents a development of 38 substantial suburban houses a few yards from the pipeline route, and owns the land on which the pipeline will be built.
For the second consecutive day, the residents told the police that they have a right to walk on the land, as instructed by their attorney, because it is owned by their association, and because they are not interfering with the contractors’ work.
“I’m allowed to walk on this property as long as I don’t impede their progress,” said Jennifer Berlinger, in an exchange with State Trooper Carlton Wright. “As much as I would like to chain myself to that 200-year-old tree so that they don’t cut it down because I love it, I’m not doing that.”
Berlinger, owner of a 1798 farmhouse on whose land the development was built, said she was there to record the damage done to the property by the pipeline preparations.
“I’m allowed to do that,” said Berlinger, whose back porch is about 50 feet from the right of way. “I don’t know where they get the idea that we can’t walk on our own property.”
The confrontation between some private landowners and pipeline representatives, fueled by lawyers, police and local officials, can be seen at other places along the 350-mile pipeline route from southwest Pennsylvania to the Sunoco terminal at Marcus Hook. Opponents such as the Andover residents continue to fight the company’s use of eminent domain even though construction has been underway since February, and continue to claim that their safety will be threatened by a pipeline carrying highly volatile liquids a few yards from their homes.
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Is NJ finally getting smarter about smart meters?

BPU authorizes Rockland Electric to deploy smart meters in homes of 74,000 customers, a first for a Garden State utility


Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

smart meter

New Jersey is finally embracing smart meters. Well, maybe.
Rockland Electric won approval last week from regulators to install smart meters in the homes of its 74,000 customers, the first time a utility has been given the go-ahead to put the two-way enhanced-communication devices into use in New Jersey.
Smart meters offer a multitude of benefits. Commonplace in other states — there are more than 65 million smart meters installed nationwide — they can help customers better manage energy use and reduce their bills.
“With new, smart meters, Rockland Electric’s customers can cut energy waste, boost renewables, and take control of their energy use and costs,’’ said Mary Barber, a clean-energy advocate for the Environmental Defense Fund. “This investment in smart infrastructure will improve the grid’s reliability and resiliency, deliver cleaner air and better health, and accelerate New Jersey’s clean-energy economy.’’
Known as the Advanced Metering Infrastructure program, the devices also boost reliability and cut the length of outages by notifying the utility quickly when power is lost. They also are good for the environment, reducing energy waste and better integrating cleaner energy options like solar and wind into the electric grid.

Click to expand/close
But not in New Jersey. The state ranks 47th in the nation in the use of smart meters, according to a recent report by the nonpartisan Center for Data Innovation in Washington, D.C.

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Biz leaders: NJ can’t keep ducking economic issues

Pointing to recent lack of substantive legislation, members of business community argue that high taxes and underfunded pension system aren’t taking a summer break

opportunity nj

Members of Opportunity New Jersey, a nonprofit organization led by the state’s top business leaders, speak about the need to address the state’s biggest economic and fiscal problems yesterday.
John Reitmeyer reports
for NJ Spotlight:


New Jersey’s business leaders are concerned the state is approaching a crisis point precipitated by its notoriously high taxes and severely underfunded public-employee pension system. And they want to help lead a statewide discussion of possible fixes that could be enacted before it’s too late.
The call to action was aired yesterday by the leaders of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey Business & Industry Association, and other organizations, and it comes just as voters are getting ready to elect a new governor to replace the term-limited Chris Christie. All 120 seats in the state Legislature are also on the ballot in the fall.
The business groups say they are hoping to rekindle some of the success they’ve attributed to a similar public-awareness effort that was launched in 2015, when lawmakers and the governor were largely ignoring what was then the looming expiration of the multibillion-dollar New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund. The Republican Christie and Democratic legislative leaders ultimately came together in 2016 to renew the trust fund for another eight years.
This year, the business leaders have their work cut out for them, as lawmakers have largely taken the summer off in the wake of an ugly state government shutdown that occurred earlier this year after Christie and legislative leaders were deadlocked for several days on a new state budget. 

Epitomizing the summer’s lack of substantive activity was last month’s introduction of new legislation seeking to rewrite how the state regulates bells attached to horse-drawn sleighs. 

The policy debate among the candidates running for governor this year hasn’t been much better, with Republican Kim Guadagno and Democrat Phil Murphy attacking each other in recent days on issues related to the Confederate flag and anti-Semitism.

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Two large Philly law firms announce separate mergers

Harold Brubaker reports for Philly.com:

Ballard Spahr LLP and Saul Ewing LLP announced separate mergers on Tuesday that will expand the Philadelphia firms’ geographic reach and service offerings.

Saul Ewing said it had merged with Arnstein & Lehr LLP, which has its biggest office in Chicago, effective Friday and had changed its name to Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr. Barry F. Levin, of Saul Ewing’s Baltimore office, will be the managing partner of the combined firm, which will have 408 attorneys and 409 staff in 15 offices.

Ballard’s deal, expected to be completed Jan. 1, is with Lindquist & Vennum, a Minneapolis firm with specialties in mergers and acquisitions and finance. The combined firm will be called Ballard Spahr. It will have more than 650 lawyers in 15 offices nationwide, Ballard said.


See Saul Ewing announcement here

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The Trump EPA’s new one-man-politburo grant reviews


Welcome to the new EPA where a Trump campaign aide is in charge of reviewing requests for grants and is quashing any linked to climate change


Taylor Link writes for Salon:

A politically-appointed public affairs officer who has little background in environmental policy has the sole authority to approve the EPA’s funding of grants and awards. John Konkus, a former Trump campaign aide, has been using this new authority to veto any grants related to climate change.

According to The Washington Post, Konkus has cut $2 million of grant awards to universities and nonprofit organizations. The state of Alaska has lost out the most thus far.
EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman downplayed concerns involving Konkus’ politicized influence, writing in an email to the Post that grant decisions “ensure funding is in line with the Agency’s mission and policy priorities. We review grants to see if they are providing tangible results to the American people.”
Former EPA head and Republican Christine Todd Whitman criticized the role of Konkus, telling the Post, “We didn’t do a political screening on every grant, because many of them were based on science, and political appointees don’t have that kind of background.” Whitman said she could not recall a time when a political appointee offered input on a grant, let alone determine whether or not a grant would receive funding.
Konkus is a longtime Republican politico from Florida who served as Trump’s Leon County campaign chairman. He previously worked as a consultant for Florida lawmakers. Konkus joined the EPA in February to work on communications issues, Politico reported at the time.
In a recent letter obtained by the Post, Democratic Sen. Tom Carper, who is the ranking member of the environment and public works committee, asked EPA head Scott Pruitt to outline which grants were now under consideration of political review.
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Federal judge orders EPA to act on Delaware air pollution

Marcus Hook, Pa industries. Delaware officials say the state gets much of its air pollution from other states.



























Karl Baker reports for The News Journal:

A federal judge on Friday ordered The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action within 90 days on a Delaware plan to reduce ozone-causing air pollution.

The order came as Judge Phyllis Hamilton denied EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s motion for relief from a consent decree, which had mandated the EPA either approve or reject Delaware’s plan to use “reasonably available technologies to control major sources” of ozone pollution by Sept. 29.

“EPA is hereby ORDERED to take final action on the Delaware (plan) … within 90 days of the date of this order,” Hamilton stated in her ruling in the U.S. District Court in California.

The EPA delegates authority to states to enforce certain parts of the federal Clean Air Act.

The judge’s order was the latest action in a case involving a coalition of environmental groups, which in July 2016 had sued the EPA, alleging the federal agency failed to act on numerous states’ air pollution plans.

The environmentalists in a statement said the “decision means Delaware is one step closer to having a plan in place that assures protections around the clock against smog.”

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