Agency wants to reduce PFOA in NJ drinking water


A New Jersey agency has proposed adopting what would be the most stringent standard in the nation to control levels of a cancer-causing chemical linked to an array of health problems and which is prevalent in drinking water systems across the state.


James M. O’Neil reports for The Record:

The chemical, commonly called PFOA or C8, has been used in the manufacture of stain-resistant carpets, waterproof clothing, non-stick cooking pans and other products that make life less messy. It has spread so far through the environment that it can be found everywhere, from the fish in the Delaware River to polar bears in the Arctic.

It has also become the subject of thousands of lawsuits.

The state’s Drinking Water Quality Institute on Thursday proposed the standard, which, if adopted, would require water utilities to treat water to reduce the amount of PFOA reaching taps.

“The institute is taking a pretty aggressive approach on PFOA,” said Howard Woods Jr., a private consultant to water utilities and a former water company executive. “It’s a good idea. The institute is deliberate and not rash. The stuff is all over the place.”

Smaller water utilities, including some in North Jersey, have said the extra treatment would be a major financial hit.

“System by system, you’ll find issues where the cost of treatment is prohibitive compared to finding an alternative water source, so some towns might abandon wells and buy water from a neighboring system,” Woods said.

The current state health advisory standard for PFOA is 0.04 parts per billion. The proposed standard is 0.014 – nearly three times lower – and many drinking water systems in the state have had levels above that.

The contaminant is found much more frequently in drinking water in New Jersey than in many other states. Sampling conducted by the state in 2006 and 2009 showed PFOA at levels above the state’s current standard in Garfield, Atlantic City, Brick, Greenwich, Montclair, Orange, South Orange, Paulsboro, Rahway and New Jersey American Water’s Logan, Raritan and Penns Grove systems.

The Montclair system has been blending water and is testing to determine if that lowers the levels. The two Orange treatment plants with high readings have been shut down. So has a treatment plant in Paulsboro. New Jersey American has installed treatment systems to remove PFOA at its Penns Grove and Logan systems, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

More recently, the federal Environmental Protection Agency over the past two years has detected PFOA in levels of at least 0.02 parts per billion in 14 drinking water systems, including Ridgewood Water, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Wallington and Hawthorne.

The institute’s proposed new standard drew praise from environmental advocates. “PFOA is a very significant carcinogen, it doesn’t degrade in the environment and levels are increasing over time, so it’s entirely appropriate for the state to regulate it,” said David Pringle, Clean Water Action’s New Jersey campaign director, who served on the Drinking Water Quality Institute from 2002 to 2010 and pushed the institute to address the issue.

The institute Thursday also unanimously approved recommending a maximum standard of 0.03 parts per billion for 1,2,3-trichloropropane, another contaminant found in drinking water. It is a man-made chemical solvent and a likely human carcinogen.
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NJ anti-bear trap activist gets himself trapped inside one

I don’t see him, Pop. I guess he got away

A Vernon Township man and noted bear activist was arrested last month after he got himself stuck in a bear trap while trying to remove bait, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said.
Joe Carlson reports for the New Jersey Herald that:

Albert Kazemian, 59, was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, resisting arrest, impeding the lawful taking of wildlife and obstruction of a governmental function.

According to the DEP, on the morning of Aug. 17 conservation officers from the Division of Fish and Wildlife responded to a home in Highland Lakes for a report of a man who had gotten caught inside a culvert bear trap, the DEP said on Wednesday.
The resident of the home told conservation officers that a man — later identified as Kazemian — had come to her door to dissuade her from having a state-deployed bear trap on the side of her home, the DEP said.
The trap was placed on the property after a bear had tried to enter the home, the DEP said.
Kazemian then entered the device and began tossing out the bait which activated the trigger trapping him inside, the DEP said.
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Union pulls shale conference support over Trump speech

One of the Appalachian shale industry’s biggest supporters and beneficiaries, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66, broke with the Marcellus Shale Coalition by pulling its sponsorship of the organization’s annual conference because Donald Trump is scheduled to speak there Thursday.

Anya Litvak reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:


“There’s just no way that I was going to associate Local 66 with any function that gives this guy an avenue to speak,” said Jim Kunz, business manager for the union who called the Republican presidential nominee a “snake oil salesman.”


The union’s sponsorship, at around $10,000, represents a drop in the bucket for the annual event that began today at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.


But it underscores the uneasy position that unions such as the operating engineers find themselves in, having publicly endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton who — judging from the comments and presentations at Shale Insight — is not the industry’s preferred choice.


The keynote address at the conference was delivered by oil and gas industry legend — and Mr. Trump’s energy advisor — Harold Hamm. Mr. Hamm, the chairman and CEO of Continental Resource, likened Mr. Trump to former President Ronald Reagan and said Ms. Clinton would work to hurt the industry. He played a clip where she says that with enough safeguards there won’t be many places left in the U.S. where fracking can take place.


“You heard it from her. Not me. She wants to stop it. She wants to stop what we’re doing,” Mr. Hamm said.


The attitude was pervasive among conference participants. Oil and gas company leaders and their suppliers expressed concern that a Clinton presidency would mean more regulation and lead to fewer jobs.


At a booth for London-based energy publisher Kallanishnergy, which featured cardboard cutouts of the candidates, several participants took selfies strangling Ms. Clinton. Others overwhelmingly “voted” for Trump on a white board with the candidates’ names.


Mr. Kunz, whose local represents 7,000 members who work on roads, pipelines, and well pad construction projects, said he believes that the vilification is misguided and that the real danger to jobs and working people would come from Mr. Trump.



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Gov. Christie’s press guy had such a way with words. Yikes!

Gov. Chris Christie and his former press secretary Michael Drewniak

Star-Ledger editorial writer Tom Moran couldn’t wait to get a seat Monday morning for the opening day of the Bridgegate trial in federal court in Newark, NJ.  


He was convinced that Gov. Chris Christie had lied when he told the world that he was unaware of the politically inspired closing of traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge until months after the event. Moran was delighted to hear the federal prosecutor state that, indeed, the governor knew much sooner than that.


What Moran did not expect to hear (read aloud into the record) was an email written at the time by the governor’s press secretary Michael Drewniak that said of Moran:

“I hate that fucker. I want to beat him with a lead pipe…That would put everyone on notice.”


Moran writes today in Christie’s pal wants to kill me. What bully culture? that the message “explains the Bridgegate scandal in a nutshell.”

They went nuts when the mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich, refused to endorse the governor, as if he had an obligation to obey their imperial commands. 

Keep in mind that the gridlock they created came after he refused to endorse. This wasn’t an attempt to pressure him; it was punishment. And it was standard practice. 

That’s why defense attorney Michael Critchley read Drewniak’s e-mail. He wanted to the jury to know about the sick culture of this administration, to spread the blame. And he had about 100 examples like this. 

If you think what Drewniak wrote about Moran was harsh, read his column to learn what the governor’s wordsmith said about Bridgegate chief conspirator David Wildstein. Smokin!


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DEP picks smallest-impact, flood-protect plan for Hoboken

After months deliberations on how best to protect Hoboken and part of Weehawken from a Hurricane Sandy-like storm surge, the state has chosen a plan that officials say offers the least protection among three final alternatives.

But the plan, which uses a $230 million federal grant, also has the smallest impact on the community, and can be completed at an affordable price.
Steve Strunsky reports for NJ.com
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials overseeing the project say the selected plan, known as Alternative 3, would protect 85 percent of the project area from a surge resulting from a 100-year storm. The cost will be roughly equal to the amount of the federal grant.
Essentially, the plan calls for flood barriers up to 10 feet high at the northern and southern ends of Hoboken’s Hudson River waterfront. The barriers would be built by an inlet along Observer Highway near the Jersey City border to the south, and extending up to 19th Street in Weehawken to the north.
The barriers would be landscaped and otherwise integrated into the city streets. The plan would incorporate high ground along the city’s central waterfront, occupied mainly by the Stevens Institute of Technology Campus, to act as a natural flood barrier.

Hurricane Sandy Hits Hoboken

According to DEP’s Alternatives Summary Sheet, the plan would offer substantially less flood protection than Alternative 1, a nearly continuous series of waterfront walls and gates that would protect 98 percent of the project area.
But the DEP says Alternative 1, would also substantially alter the character of the waterfront and even hinder access to it.

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Bridgegate Trial – Day 2 – Duller details on lane closures

Bridgegate Trial. It would have been hard to duplicate the explosive revelations of Day 1, and today’s testimony did not.

The prosecution settled into painting a detailed picture of how disruptive and dangerous the lane closures were for Fort Lee motorists and residents.




The trial is expected to run for several weeks.


Related news stories:

Sokolich details pressure to endorse Christie  Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich testified in U.S.
District Court on Tuesday that an aide to Gov. Chris Christie repeatedly
pressured him to endorse the Republican’s re-election campaign, first telling
him that other Democrats had done so before eventually asking directly for his
support Politico
Trenton
Bureau 
    
Fort
Lee chief recalls chaos as lanes were closed “I
was hot,” he said  “Public safety
was being compromised.”
NYT

Trump
stands by Christie despite revelations in trial Mr. Trump made no mentioning
of the trial. And his view of Mr. Christie seems shaped by a single factor that
shapes many of Mr. Trump’s views: loyalty New
York Times   

                                                
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