Group forms to oppose Norristown, Pa rail line extension

Laura Benshoff of Newsworks, reports today in the Philadelphia Business Journal:

A group in Upper Merion is drumming up dissent for a proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia.

Calling themselves No KOP Rail, the neighbors have launched aChange.org petition and are asking local state representatives and state senators, as well as Gov. Tom Wolf, to kill the project.

A group in Upper Merion is drumming up dissent for a proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia.
Jeff Fusco photo

The proposed extension is in the planning stages, several years out from breaking ground if it can secure enough federal, state and local funding to buck up to the $1 billion price tag for construction.








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Pipeline company wants to fell trees without NY approval



The company behind a 124-mile pipeline to carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale into New York wants to begin tree clearing this month despite the fact that it has not yet received approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC).

Marie J. French writes in the Albany Business Review: 


The Constitution Pipeline is seeking federal regulatory approvals to start above-ground tree clearing. Getting a start on that clearing is key for the planned natural gas pipeline because the tree clearing can only be done during a short window so it does not interfere with bird migration patterns.


The Constitution Pipeline Co. filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees cross-state pipelines, to begin limited tree clearing on Friday. The company wants to get the approval by Jan. 15 in order to start tree felling on Jan. 22 and complete it on March 31, according to public filings.


The project has not yet received approval from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. It received federal approval in December 2014.


Read the full story here






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Down, almost out in ’70s, eagles now flying high over NJ

By the time that the use of DDT was banned in 1972, the population of bald eagles in New Jersey had shrunk to a single nesting pair.


Amazingly, the birds slowly began to recover with the help of the Endangered and Nongame Species Program. 


Andrew Tredinnick writes in the New Jersey Herald that the New Jersey’s bald eagle population, is now thriving at an unprecedented level.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife released its annual Bald Eagle Project this week with more encouraging results.

The statewide population increased to 161 territorial pairs last year, up from 156 pairs in 2014. One-hundred-fifty of those pairs were known to have laid eggs, up from 146 in 2014.

Additionally, those 150 nesting sites produced 199 young, and with another chick from Maryland that was fostered in a Cumberland County nest, New Jersey’s total number of eagles fledged increased to 200.

“It’s one of the great success stories in wildlife conservation,” said Kathleen Clark, a biologist with the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program. “It’s the result of a lot of work in New Jersey, but also, the biologists in the surrounding states as well.” 

Read the full story here





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Coast Guard to ship owner: Yes, we got your bananas



The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Linda Loyd reports:

The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed a
$65,000 civil fine against a cargo ship that delivered fresh fruit to the Port
of Wilmington earlier this month. The Nassau, Bahamas-flagged Discovery Bay
reefer was cited for “nonfunctioning” oil pollution prevention
equipment, and other infractions, during a routine inspection by the Coast
Guard on Jan. 4.
The captain and 20 crew are being detained while the ship gets new
equipment, and the crew is retrained, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Dennis Miller,
chief of prevention for the Delaware River and Bay.

The fruit came from Valparaiso, Chile.

The Coast Guard said the crew did not know how to work the equipment; the ship
was not in compliance with “safety management regulations,” and ship
records had been falsified, Miller said.


The proposed fine is $65,000, however, a Coast Guard hearing officer will
determine the penalty, Miller said. The ship is expected to be ready to sail
next week, Miller said.






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NJ State Sen. O’Toole announces it’s his last rodeo

NJ State Senator Kevin O’Toole  (Star Ledger photo Tony Kurdzuk)

New Jersey Republican State Senator Kevin O’Toole, a staunch defender
of Gov. Chris Christie, announced today that he will not seek re-election when
his current two-year term ends.
Matt Rooney writes in The Save New Jersey Blog:

(O’Toole’s) 40th Legislative District encompasses portions of Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic counties
and includes the towns of Allendale, Cedar Grove, Franklin Lakes,
Ho-Ho-Kus, Little Falls, Midland Park, Pequannock, Pompton Lakes, Ridgewood,
Riverdale, Totowa, Waldwick, Wayne, Woodland Park, and Wyckoff.

As such, his district has been swept up in the in-fighting that’s
dominated both Bergen and Passaic in recent years; last
cycle, running mates Asm. David Russo, Asm. Scott Rumana fought
off a ballot-related
legal challenge from Republican
opponents. O’Toole endorsement was expected to play a role in the upcoming
Bergen Chairman’s contest.

An Irish-Korean American lawyer
with the firm of O’Toole Fernandez Weiner
Vanlieu LLC who was first elected to the Assembly in 1995 and served
5-terms there before moving up to his current post in 2007, Senator
O’Toole is also a long-time staunch Christie political ally who was the lead
candidate in a failed post-Election 2013 coup attempt to replace Tom
Kean, Jr. as the Republican leader in the State Senate.
The veteran Essex Republican lost his own
position in the leadership in the fallout.

For
now, there’s still two years left for the veteran legislator who, it seems,
will wrap up his career in politics to coincide with Christie’s own departure
from Trenton. “While I have decided not to seek another term in office, I
intend to complete the remainder of my term – which ends in January of 2018,”
O’Toole announced.”
 
Susan K. Livio writes in NJ.com:
O’Toole has served on two of the most
influential committees, Senate Budget and Appropriations and Judiciary, which
vets judges, prosecutors, cabinet members and justices serving
on the state Supreme Court. He said his proudest accomplishments include
sponsoring the 2 percent cap on property taxes, tougher penalties on child
predators and a ban on dual office-holding.
“When I first ran for office in 1989,
at age 24, I never dared dream that I would be fortunate enough to serve the
public for 29 years — when my term ends,” O’Toole said in his statement.
“As when I voluntarily left the Cedar
Grove Town Council after 7 years, the party chairmanship after 12 years, and
now 22 years in the Legislature, I believe it is time to create opportunities
for the next — younger — generation of dedicated public servants to have their
chance to make a difference,” he said. 






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Biggest threat to power grid, hackers? Nope, this guy

An eastern gray squirrel, perhaps plotting an attack on your local power plant.
(AP Photo/J. David Ake)


Andrea Peterson reports for The Washington Post:



Researchers say that hackers caused a December power outage in Ukraine — an attack that came after years of warnings about the digital security of the power grid.  But some say that we should be more worried about a different, furrier threat.
Squirrels.
They can strike at almost any moment — gnawing through the insulation guarding power lines or burrowing into substations in risky missions that can leave thousands without power at a time. The bushy-tailed rodent has even sparked economic mayhem: Back in 1987, a rogue squirrel took out the power to a NASDAQ computer center for nearly an hour and half, stopping an estimated 20 million shares from being traded, according to the New York Times.
The critters are such a big problem that the American Public Power Association even tracks the blackouts they cause with its own “Squirrel Index.”

But among some cybersecurity researchers, this furry menace has become a meme that highlights what they see as the alarmist tone of policy discussions around cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.






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