EnviroPolitics Blog

EPA maps out $5 billion worth of pollution

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:44:53 PST

In a 2009 Compliance Summary released today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that its enforcement actions resulted in polluters investing more than $5 billion on pollution controls, cleanup, and environmental projects.

"Civil and criminal defendants committed to install controls and take other measures to reduce pollution by approximately 580 million pounds annually once all required controls are fully implemented," the agency said.

The agency also unveiled a new Web-based interactive map which, it says, "allows the public to get detailed information by location about the enforcement actions taken at approximately 4,600 facilities."

The maps show facilities where civil enforcement actions were taken for environmental laws for air, water, and land pollution, and a separate map shows criminal enforcement actions.

Viewers can click on specific facilities to find historical information about specific enforcement actions, such as violations and monetary penalties. In addition, viewers can use the zoom function to find out which facilities are located near water bodies that are listed as "impaired” because they do not meet federal water quality standards.

Not included in the map are the locations of drinking water treatment plants "due to potential security concerns."

Our most recent posts:

Week's top environmental news in NJ, PA & NY

Offshore wind energy faces stiff challenges
Lame-duck bill out to kill a NJ nuclear plant?
How offshore wind won in Delaware

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Week's top environmental news in NJ, PA & NY: Dec. 14-18, 2009

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:42:05 PST

Below are just a few of the environmental and political news stories for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and beyond that appeared in EnviroPolitics during the week
of Dec 14-18, 2009.

NJ Environmental

Christie may kill offshore LNG terminal

Plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on a 60-acre man-made island off the New Jersey/New York coast have run aground, with published reports saying that New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie will veto the project Queens Courier

Audubon lobbyist declines Pinelands Commission post New Jersey Audubon's top state lobbyist says she will decline an appointment to the state Pinelands Commission, a move by the Corzine administration that has stirred the ire of farmers and conservation groups AP Press

NJ vows more cancer reviews for Pompton Lakes Less than 24 hours after hearing impassioned pleas for help from cancer victims and their relatives in the so-called “plume” neighborhood of about 450 homes, the state Health Department on Wednesday said it will expand a recent analysis of cancer rates in the community The Record story and video

Camden water oversight slammed A scathing state audit, which compares Camden's water system to that of a developing country, says millions have been lost due to city mismanagement and a private water firm's poor performance Courier-Post

Federal takeover sought in DuPont pollution One by one, residents of a pollution-threatened Pompton Lakes neighborhood told state health officials about the cancers they were being treated for, or a relative was suffering from, or the tumor that killed their neighbor The Record

Pine snake, builders battle continues The New Jersey Builders Association asks that the Pinelands dweller be removed from the state endangered species list Bulco Times

Senator: Oyster Creek must change cooling method The operators of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station must look to alternative cooling methods -- whether cooling towers, geothermal exchange or even an ocean outfall line -- to lessen its ecological impact on Barnegat Bay, says the chairman of the NJ Senate Environment Committee at the start of a contentious hearing on his cooling tower bill AP Press EnviroPolitics Blog

NJ Politics

Christie's transition team gets up to speed Leaders shift from monitoring election to remaking Trenton Statehouse
> Full listing of all transition team members Star-Ledger Is this what they meant by a smooth transition? Incoming Gov. Chris Christie says waning-hours appointment of more than 200 to boards and commissions “creates an extension of the Corzine Administration after the time the people have already said they want the Corzine administration to end” AP Press S-L

Can anyone here fix a pothole? New Jersey can’t afford to inspect bridges, repair drainage systems or even fill potholes so it’s pushing off nearly $70 million in routine repairs onto a trust fund that is nearly bankrupt Statehouse Bureau

Report: Democratic leader paid for work he didn’t do In a scathing report, the state inspector general said a Democratic county chairman from South Jersey, who took the stand in defense of former Sen. Wayne Bryant during his federal corruption trial, received a salary and pension credits for legal work he did not perform Star-Ledger PolitickerNJ

Chris Christie chooses Paula Dow as attorney general Gov.-elect Chris Christie is to begin introducing his cabinet today by announcing Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as the state's next attorney general Statehouse Bureau

Gay marriage vote unlikely until after New Year The Assembly sponsor of gay marriage legislation said Friday he believes that after a volatile week in Trenton, further action on the bill could wait until after the holidays Statehouse Bureau
> Same-sex marriage proponent's fervor backfires Inquirer
> Opinion: How Dems distort same-sex debate P. Mulshine

PA Environmental

Susquehanna wary of gas-drilling plan From the center of Dimock, Pa. a natural gas drill rig lit up at night looks like a rocket launch pad. While it has stirred local anger, a Texas drilling firm has also given landowners hopes of making millions of dollars in gas royalties Inquirer

DEP chief: State must step up to protect bay The state's top environmental official said Thursday that the state must make tough decisions that result in cleaner water flowing into the Chesapeake Bay or face unwanted dictates from the federal government or a judge Lancasteronline

PPL has to rebate $30 million to residential customers The electric utility must pay the refund to residential electric customers in 2010 because it overcharged them for infrastructure investments, rules the PUC The Morning Call Times-Tribune

Report: 2004-06 flooding would have happened regardless Lower water levels at the reservoirs that feed the Delaware River could have reduced but not stopped the devastating floods that ripped through the Lehigh Valley several years ago, according to the Delaware River Basin Commission Morning Call
> Flood model online Express-Times
> More steps needed Intelligencer

Commission set to begin water quality monitoring The Susquehanna River Basin Commission announced it will install 30 water quality monitoring stations in 2010. Stations will be placed in waters just north of Williamsport and spread beyond the NY state line Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Gas drilling in state forests top concern for conservation chief As Pennsylvania prepares for what could be a 50-year period of drilling for deep natural gas pockets in its state forests, the long-term health of these previously damaged forests is on the mind of this conservation official Times-Tribune

Politicians choose sides in Marcellus Shale drilling debate State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton wants to slow it down. Sen. Thomas Libous is for speeding it up. Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is torn between extremes Press & Sun-Bulletin

PA Politics

Prosecutors charge DeWeese, 2 others Prosecutors in Pennsylvania’s so-called Bonusgate investigation today announced theft and conspiracy charges against former House Speaker Bill DeWeese and former state Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler - just hours after Stetler resigned Inquirer

Funds for Pennsylvania universities approved The prospect of unprecedented midterm tuition hikes at four state-related universities ended late last night when the House voted to approve funding after a months-long delay Inquirer

Local congressmen break with Dem. leaders on jobs bill Rep. Patrick Murphy, one of the fiscally conservative "blue dog" Democrats in the U.S. House, broke with his party's leadership Wednesday night to vote against a plan to finance job-creating infrastructure projects in part with bank bailout money Inquirer

For some, Corbett not a friendly face State Attorney General Tom Corbett, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for governor, was probably the most whispered-about politician during the PA Society weekend in New York Daily News

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Offshore wind energy faces stiff challenges

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:10:52 PST

In an informative article yesterday (US Offshore Wind Project Updates ) Renewable Energy World staff writer Graham Jesmer reports on the considerable obstacles faced by the intrepid companies that are seeking to convert offshore winds into the electricity that lights our homes and powers our workplaces.

While the proposed projects he reviews off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts and New York vary in size, distance from shore, and in their prospects for finding utilities to purchase their electrons, they all face similar challenges.

First and foremost, he says, is the lack of the vessels needed to construct the wind farms.

"There are currently no vessels in the U.S. equipped to install these turbines, and while a number of them exist in Europe they cannot simply be brought across the Atlantic Ocean and put to work," he writes.

But within every challenge lies an opportunity. Bluewater Wind's CEO Peter Mandelstam says building just three wind-specific vessels will create more than 7,000 green jobs for U.S. ports and ship builders.

Two other sizable hurdles? The projects also all need transmission lines and utilities willing to buy the electricity they carry, Jesmer says.

But possibly "the largest challenge facing U.S. offshore wind energy developers," he writes, is the lack of a "stable (national) policy and incentive regime that would bring more players into the industry, from all sides."

Despite that challenge, Mandelstam, for one, remains optimistic.

"The most important investor, the most important advocate and the most important public official for offshore wind is President Barack Obama," he says.

"This industry was dead, but the restructuring of the tax credit, the loan guarantees, the various stimulus provisions and the new regulatory regime totally revived us. We can't say enough good things about President Barack Obama."

Related:
Maine identifies 3 offshore wind-power test sites
Deepwater Wind Signs PPA for First Offshore Wind Farm
China the new challenger for world wind leadership
How offshore wind energy won in Delaware
Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?
Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?
Offshore Rhode Island wind power at a dead calm
Wind energy out to hook fishing industry support

Our most recent posts:
Lame-duck bill out to kill a NJ nuclear plant?
How offshore wind won in Delaware
Delaware River dredging plot line murkier still
New Jersey's 2009 environmental achievers
Attend this green conference without leaving the office

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Lame-duck bill out to kill a NJ nuclear plant?

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:48:23 PST

A new environmental bill, S-3041, has New Jersey's Oyster Creek nuclear power plant clearly in its crosshairs.

Branded as "anti-nuclear" by an industry blogger, the measure was introduced recently in the waning weeks of the current legislative session. Bills introduced this late generally have little chance of getting through the process before the session ends.

However, this piece of legislation has:

- an influential sponsor in Senator Bob Smith

- a hearing scheduled at 1 p.m. today (12/15) in the Senate Environment Committee, and

- an Assembly companion, A-4260, sponsored by Reed Gusciora

Is the bill designed to close down the nation's oldest nuclear-generating facility in Lacey Township--a facility that in April won federal approval to operate for an additional 20 years?

Consider this:

- The legislation would prohibit New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection from awarding any permit to an energy generation facility that takes up more than 170,000 gallons of water per day from a shallow lagoon, and

- The Oyster Creek plant draws in more than 1.4 billion gallons of water per day

That means the facility's owner, Exelon Nuclear, would have to come up with a way--within the legislation's two-year compliance period--to reduce the plant's cooling water use by some 88 percent.

Critics of the facility want Exelon to build cooling towers but the company says the expense of doing so would make the plant uneconomical.

One industry blogger has no doubt about the bill's intent.

John Wheeler writes in This Week in Nuclear that activists who were unsuccessful in challenging the plant's license extension:

"have been unable to show any safety or environmental basis for their cause, so they are taking another approach – trying to force the owners to make enormous plant modifications they hope will make the plant too expensive to operate."

On the flip side of the debate, The Asbury Park Press argues that the "too expensive to operate" defense is bogus. In an editorial appearing in yesterday's issue, the paper says:

"Exelon, which has been the most profitable U.S. utility over the past two years and bought Oyster Creek for a song — $10 million — 10 years ago, has returned an estimated $1 billion in profits since then, according to an Environment New Jersey analysis of financial statements. Three years ago, when the state DEP seemed poised to require cooling towers at Oyster Creek, Exelon claimed it would cost $700 million to $800 million to construct them, effectively forcing it to close the plant.

Independent estimates of the cost range from $50 million to $300 million. Amortized over 10 years, a cooling tower would not make a substantial dent in Exelon's handsome profits."

Today's committee hearing is expected to draw a large crowd of fishermen, environmental activists and Oyster Creek plant employees. The arguments should be interesting. You can listen to the proceedings via the Legislature's online service.

Related:
Crowd expected for hearing on Oyster Creek cooling tower bill
Editorial: Don't back off on cooling tower

Our most recent posts:
How offshore wind won in Delaware
Delaware River dredging plot line murkier still
New Jersey's 2009 environmental achievers
Attend this green conference without leaving the office
New Jersey's late season crop of green legislation

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How offshore wind won in Delaware

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:33:14 PST

Two developers hoping to build off-shore, wind-energy projects.
Both seeking public acceptance and local government approval.
In two different states--Massachusetts and Delaware.

Today, Delaware's project is moving toward construction.
Massachusetts' project--dead in the water for years--is only now inching forward.

The difference between the two?

Willett Kempton, an associate professor at the University of Delaware, says Bluewater Wind was successful in getting public opinion on its side because of the argument it used to illustrate the value of its energy-generating technology.

Kempton told an audience last week at an American Wind Energy Association conference that the Massachusetts project got bogged down by the argument that offshore turbines would ruin the view of Cape Cod residents and vacationers.

In Delaware, he said, Bluewater Wind summed up its approach to energy production as "wind versus coal."

And, therein, lies a valuable lesson for developers, lobbyists and public relations practitioners. To win: Frame your argument carefully.

Aaron Nathans provides the interesting details in a report today in the (Wilmington) News-Journal.

Related:
Utility bets on offshore turbines
Plan Advances to Build Wind Farm Off New York
Maryland picks NRG Bluewater to supply wind power
NRG of Princeton to supply energy to Maryland
Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?
Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?
Offshore Rhode Island wind power at a dead calm

Our most recent posts:
Delaware River dredging plot line murkier still
New Jersey's 2009 environmental achievers
Attend this green conference without leaving the office
New Jersey's late season crop of green legislation
New Jersey enviro-on-the-lam jailed in China

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Delaware River dredging plot line murkier still

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:34:08 PST

[Updated Dec 9 2009 to add related news stories]

Today, the latest and most astounding plot twist of all in the now multi-seasoned, New Jersey vs. Pennsylvania Delaware Dredging mini series.

But first, a quick recap.

You'll remember that, in the opening episode of Season 1, the media informed us that evil corporate and labor forces, joined by powerful Pennsylvania politicians, were out to destroy the fragile, interlinking ecosystems of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay by lowering the river by five feet so that modern supertankers could call on the Port of Philadelphia.

In subsequent episodes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emerges as the mercenary organization entrusted with the job of cooking the enviro-studies to justify the mission and seeing that the gook scraped from the bottom all got dumped (hell, why not) in New Jersey.

By the end of the first season, a motley mob of South Jersey residents, fired up by the usual cast of enviro-doomsayers are howling. Spare us, they cry.

Season Two: South Jersey congressional leaders make angry noises and threaten to threaten and threaten and threaten again again until Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell withdraws his support for the project--or the newspapers stop running their press releases. Rendell smiles.

Then the enviros paint verbal pictures of sludge piles ruining New Jersey's pristine river coast line. Rendell smiles.

Then the Army Corps starts issuing implementation schedules. South Jersey residents despair. We've been screwed again, they wail, and this time not by North Jersey.

Suddenly, on a white steed with a tiny G-S brand partially obscured by the saddle, a hero gallops into town. It's New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He draws a line in water with his lancet.

Not on my watch, Fast Eddie, he growls. The scene (and season) fade to black, as we imagine Rendell skulking away in the shadows of the Ben Franklin Bridge.

Time passes. Summer reruns and new show trials intervene. Then our soap returns, promising all new episodes.

Season Three. Rendell has dispatched envoys to explore peace talks. Secret negotiations take place. Details, are sketchy. Then a writers strike. Few new episodes follow. Reporters try to refresh the story but only tell us that something's going on...but the details are sketchy.

Finally, in a triumphant season-closer, Corzine and Rendell emerge, arm in arm. It was all a misunderstanding, they say through clenched smiles. New Jersey won't try to stop the project and Pennsylvania will truck all the muck to abandoned coal mine shafts which are already pretty screwed up anyway.

Ahem, the enviros say. What about the looming environmental catastrophe?

Ah, we'll get back to you on that, say the reunited Democratic brothers. But take heart (wink, wink). This is Rendell-Corzine, not Bush-Cheney.

So that's it, right? Time to close down the series or maybe morph it into a reality show? America's Dirtiest River Jobs, perhaps? Not hardly.

Current Season. In the opening episode, the state of Delaware was going to court to block the project. Governor Corzine, then in the midst of his re-election campaign and getting hammered daily by a major enviro mouthpiece, tells his Attorney General: For god's sake, join the suit. I'm getting killed here.

And then today, the absolute topper. The Philadelphia Inquirer discloses the latest and most dramatic Delaware dredging plot twist--one guaranteed to extend the series into another season.

It turns out, the gunk isn't headed down a mine shaft after all. It's apparently getting dumped in the Garden State.

Incredible? Amazing? Maybe, but we've had a sneaky suspicion about this one all along.

What's the explanation? Well, the details continue to be, ah, sketchy. But Inquirer writer Jan Hefler does a good job today of exposing some of the behind-the-scenes machinations.

Needless to say, stay tuned for more.

Related:
Dredging battle goes to court
Delaware urges court to block river dredging
Federal judge hears arguments on Delaware dredging
Delaware River: Dredging battle pits jobs vs. river
Delaware River dredging causes environmental, economic worries
N.J. steps up opposition to Delaware River dredging
PA and NJ dredge up an environmental dispute
A Call for a Summit on the Delaware Estuary

Our most recent posts:

New Jersey's 2009 environmental achievers
Attend this green conference without leaving the office
New Jersey's late season crop of green legislation
New Jersey enviro-on-the-lam jailed in China
Upcoming environmental events in NJ & PA

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New Jersey's 2009 environmental achievers

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:41:00 PST

New Jersey Meadowlands photo by shutterbugMike

It was good to see the outstanding environmental achievements of numerous individuals, companies, organizations and government units recognized by New Jersey's governor on Thursday night.

Among the winners of the 2009 Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards were our friends Michael Catania and his colleagues at Conservation Resources Inc in Chester who have devised numerous creative methods to match tiny-to-large conservation projects all over the state with available funding sources.

And there's the New Jersey Audubon Society which was recognized for its many years of work in protecting and restoring endangered Delaware Bay ecosystems, home to many lifeforms, including the energizer bunny of the bird world, the famed but imperiled red knot.

Someone should immediately nominate the Audubon folks for the same award next year in recognition of their leadership in the second half of 2009 when the state's open space and farmland preservation program ran out of money and chances of winning voter support for new borrowing via a November ballot question appeared dim at best.

Undaunted, the Audubon Society rallied hundreds of environmental and conservation organizations and local governments behind a NJ Keep it Green campaign which convinced voters to approve $400 million in new funding.

This year's winners included some big names, like Hoffman LaRoche and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. And some lesser-known folks, like Dr. John Kirk of the New Jersey School of Conservation at Montclair State University, who developed a multi-disciplinary approach for teaching environmental education around the world...

... and Clem Fiori, and artist and photographer, who helped secure federal funding which led to the planting of more than a thousand trees on a network of open spaces in his hometown of Montgomery Township, Somerset County.

Maybe the most timely recognition of all was that given to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association which is celebrating its 60th year of protecting and enhancing the waterways of central New Jersey through conservation, advocacy, science and education.

The annual awards program is coordinated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and is sponsored by sponsored by the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities. A panel of judges evaluates nominees based on innovation and the long-term benefits the work has achieved.

You can read about all the 2009 award winners here, and about last year's winners here.

Related:
Watershed Association Wins Environmental Excellence Award

Our most recent posts:

Attend this green building conference without leaving the office
New Jersey's late season crop of green legislation
New Jersey enviro-on-the-lam jailed in China

Upcoming environmental events in NJ & PA
New Jersey boosts solar energy, green building

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Attend this NJ green building conference without leaving the office

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:13:45 PST

You suspect there may be valuable things to see and learn at the Jan. 12-14 New Jersey Builders Association's Green Build Event and Expo but you don't know how you'd possibly find that time and to travel to and tour the event.

Fortunately, you won't need to. The only travel involved is the distance to your computer and you can budget the time whenever you find some. That's because this three-day event, featuring educational tracks, an exhibit hall, and keynote presentations is all online.

Yes, it's a 'virtual trade show' you can attend via your computer. No travel, parking, lines, or aggressive salespeople. You can cruise this one in your pajamas if you like (no one will know).

Still, event promoters promise you'll gain access to:

"leading experts in residential construction, commercial and industrial development, remodeling and redevelopment, governmental policy, and marketing who will present informative and educational seminars throughout the three-day conference" PLUS...

"...a virtual exhibit hall will feature the latest products and services pertaining to green building, so that all participants can maximize their investment of time and resources,"

For more, visit our Enviro-Events Calendar, where you'll also learn about other New Jersey and Pennsylvania environmental events, like these:

December 8
Site Remediation Reform Act and LSRP Program: A Revolutionary New Way of Doing Business in New Jersey 8:30 to 4:30, Newark, NJ. This one-day program is designed to familiarize practitioners and those associated with site remediation with the Site Remediation Reform Act and the new way of doing remedial business in the Garden State. The newly adopted regulations will be discussed in depth by the NJDEP officials who developed the rules. Presented by NJDEP, Rutgers University Office of Continuing Professional Education, and the Licensed Site Remediation Professional Association Information & Registration

December 8
The Economy and Government Policy: What's in Store for New Jersey? 7:45 a.m. - 2 p.m., Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, Route 1 South, Iselin, NJ. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) has convened many of the State's top political and business leaders for a day of lively discussion about the many challenges facing New Jersey today and in the future. Invited keynote speakers include Governor Jon Corzine and US Senator Robert Menendez. Network with many of New Jersey's most influential business executives. Top legislative leaders, seasoned political observers and experts on the economy will tell you what to expect in 2010. At this networking event of the year, hear from: Governor Jon Corzine, US Senator Robert Menendez, NJ’s top legislative leaders, political experts on the recent elections and experts on the economy. Cost: $175 per person for NJBIA members and $250 for nonmembers (includes breakfast and lunch). Register online now or for more information, contact Katie Wittkamp at 609-393-7707, ext. 239. To become a sponsor, contact Sherry Esteves at 609-393-7707, ext. 219.

December 17
Free Penn State Marcellus Shale Webinar: Legislation and Litigation: A Year in Review 1 p.m. Presenter: Ross Pifer, director of the Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center, Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Information about how to register for the free webinars is available online. Online participants will have the opportunity to ask the speaker questions during the webinar. For more information, visit Penn State's Natural Gas Impacts webpage or contact Joann Kowalski, extension educator in Susquehanna County, at 570- 278-1158 or by sending email to: jmk20@psu.edu.

December 19
Winter Waterfowl and Birds of Prey 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ. The lakes, fields, and forests of Duke Farms attract a host of ducks, geese, hawks and even eagles. This birding experience is designed for beginning and intermediate birders. No bird-watching experience is necessary. Led by naturalists from New Jersey Audubon, this tour of Duke Farms will focus on the ways to identify these seasonal visitors to central New Jersey. Cost: $15 per person. Space is limited and advance registration is required at http://www.dukefarms.org/ or by calling (908) 722-3700. Duke Farms is located at 80 Route 206 South in Hillsborough, approximately 2 miles south of the Somerville traffic circle, enter via Dukes Parkway East.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These are just a few of the many great seminars, forums and other educational and networking opportunities on our Envio-Events Calendar.
Get on our list and receive f*ree email updates when new items are added. Just type the word 'events' in the subject line of an email and send it to: enviro-calendar@aweber.com Then watch your email for a one-step confirmation.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Our most recent posts:
NJ's late season crop of green legislation
New Jersey enviro-on-the-lam jailed in China
Upcoming environmental events in NJ & PA
New Jersey boosts solar energy, green building

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NJ's late season crop of green legislation

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:15:14 PST

Returning to Trenton from a prolonged vacation that began before July 4 and extended through the November 4 election, state lawmakers have already introduced a truckload of new environmental legislation--much of it addressing the hot areas of energy conservation and alternative energy production.

Although few of the bills have a chance to be enacted during the remaining weeks of the current lame duck session, they'll all be ready for consideration when the Senate and Assembly reconvene for a new two-year session in early January.

Here are just a few of the more than 50 new green bills introduced since November 23:

A-4179 Milam, M.W. (D-1); Albano, N.T. (D-1) Allows construction of wind dependent energy facilities within 500 feet of mean high water line of tidal waters under certain circumstances.
[Translation: on boardwalk piers]

A-4181 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Requires energy monitoring systems to be installed in new commercial buildings; allows credit against corporation business tax and gross income tax for costs of purchasing and installing energy monitoring systems.

A-4182 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Permits developer to qualify for low interest loan from NJEDA when building new green housing.

A-4184 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Authorizes county colleges and county vocational school districts to establish green job certification programs.

A-4185 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Creates a green building competition.

A-4186 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Provides gross income tax exclusion for income earned by completing qualified energy efficient and renewable energy job training.

A-4193 Burzichelli, J.J. (D-3) Establishes standards for fertilizer application to turfgrass systems.

A-4195 Coyle, D.M. (R-16) Establishes six-month paid green internship program in Department of Community Affairs.

A-4235 Vainieri Huttle, V. (D-37) Allows independent institutions of higher education to be eligible for NJ alternative fuel vehicle rebate and alternative fuel infrastructure programs.

A-4238 Wagner, C. (D-38) "Plastic Carryout Bag Reduction Act."

S-3004 Sarlo, P.A. (D-36) Changes the scope of public notification regarding contaminated site remediation.

S-3013 Singer, R.W. (R-30) Requires State entities to purchase biofuels in place of fossil fuels when it is reasonable, prudent and cost effective to do so.

S-3022 Smith, B. (D-17) Requires EDA to establish a "High Performance Green Building Demonstration Project."

S-3039 Smith, B. (D-17) Requires eligible applicants for innocent party grants from "Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund" to own subject property through application process.

S-3041 Smith, B. (D-17) Imposes certain conditions on NJPDES permit for energy generation facilities that withdraw water from, or discharge water to, a shallow lagoonal estuary

S-3105 Van Drew, J. (D-1) Requires BPU to provide same financial incentives for purchase and installation of wind technologies as for solar technologies.

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New Jersey enviro-on-the-lam jailed in China

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:52:05 PST

Justin Franchi Solondz, a 30-year-old native of Randolph, NJ, who has been running from the FBI for eight years after allegedly participating in the destruction of a horticulture center at the University of Washington, was convicted on Friday of drug charges and sentenced to three years in prison in Dali, China.

When his sentence is complete, he'll be deported to the United States to face eco-terrorism charges.

The FBI says Solondz made incendiary devices that destroyed a horticulture center at the University of Washington in Seattle in May 2001. Prosecutors also accuse him of burning down buildings and vehicles in Oregon that same day, and linked him to a later arson attack in California. The combined property loss was more than $5 million.

Our most recent posts:

Upcoming environmental events in NJ & PA

New Jersey boosts solar energy, green building
NJ-based NRG and Covanta get road wins
Setting your own biodiesel blend in New Jersey

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Upcoming environmental events in NJ & PA

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:30:44 PST

Check out these great upcoming events
in New Jersey and Pennsylvania:

December 1
Pennsylvania DEP Public Meeting on Results of TEC Emission Reduction Efforts
7 p.m., Perkiomen Valley Middle School East auditorium, 100 Kagey Road, Collegeville, PA.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting to update residents on efforts to reduce airborne trichloroethylene or TCE levels in that area of Montgomery County. Background information on the work conducted to date, as well as previous air monitoring reports and presentations from previous public meetings, have been posted on DEP's Southeast regional Web page - http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/redirector?varURL=http://www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Collegeville.

December 11
Roundtable Breakfast with NJ Board of Public Utilities Decision-Makers
8:30 to 10 a.m., Forsgate Country Club, Monroe, NJ. At the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce's next Roundtable Breakfast, BPU Commissioner Elizabeth Randall and BPU President Jeanne Fox will address the topic: How Does BPU Policies and Programs Impact NJ Companies? As part of the presentation, they will discuss the New Administration • NJ Clean Energy Program • Energy Master Plan • Natural Gas, Electricity, Water, Telecommunications and Cable Television Industries • BPU Funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and other items. Registration Information Registrations are only accepted with payment. Your credit card will be billed the appropriate amount. No refunds after December 9, 2009 • $10 cancellation fee. To register, go to:
http://www.njchamber.com/Events/fox%20randall%2009.asp

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These are just a few of the many great seminars, forums and other educational and networking opportunities on our Envio-Events Calendar. Get on our list and receive free updates when new items are added. Just type the word 'events' in the subject line of an email and send it to: enviro-calendar@aweber.com Then watch your email for a one-step confirmation.

Our most recent posts:

New Jersey boosts solar energy, green building
NJ-based NRG and Covanta get road wins
Setting your own biodiesel blend in New Jersey
New Jersey sets new recycling grant record

New Jersey boosts solar energy, green building

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:24:33 PST

A new program providing rebates for solar panels and related equipment manufactured in New Jersey has been kicked off by the state's Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

Also making New Jersey environmental news is a bill scheduled for action on Monday in the state Legislature that would provide low-interest loans for building projects that meet green standards.

Rebates for solar equipment made in New Jersey
The BPU's new program offers consumers, businesses, and municipalities that purchase solar panels, inverters, and racking systems manufactured in New Jersey a rebate of up to 25 cents per watt for panels, and up to 15 cents per watt for inverters and racking systems. The program is expected to provide $1 million in incentives to the state’s consumers, businesses, and municipalities over the coming months.

BPU President Jeanne M. Fox said the program "supports our environmental, energy, and economic development goals and helps establish New Jersey as a hub for the growing green economy."

To qualify for the incentives, applicants must use products manufactured with at least 50 percent of the product cost – including the labor, overhead, components, and raw materials – from facilities located in New Jersey. Products must also comply with applicable Underwriters Laboratory standards and be commercially available to the public.

Yearly audits will be performed to ensure manufacturing compliance. Organizations awarded a grant under New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA) Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund (CEMF) are automatically certified as a New Jersey manufacturer.

Additional information about the program and all of the business and residential incentives offered by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program can be found at http://www.njcleanenergy.com/ or by calling 1-866-NJSMART (1-866-657-6278).

In the Legislature, a bill to encourage green buildings

The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee on Monday will take up A-2065, which permits developers to qualify for low-interest loan from NJEDA when building a high performance green building.

Sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) and Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden), the measure directs the Economic Development Authority to develop a program that makes low-interest loans available to

"a developer or redeveloper who constructs a new building or renovates an
existing building that, when completed, qualifies as a high performance green
building. "

The bill defines a "high performance green building" as one:

"having at least 15,000 square feet in total floor area that is designed and constructed in a manner that achieves at least a silver rating according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System as adopted by the United States Green Building Council.

Our most recent posts:
NJ-based NRG and Covanta get road wins
Setting your own biodiesel blend in New Jersey
New Jersey sets new recycling grant record
Law firm trolling for Marcellus water cases

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Enviro-Events Calendar

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NJ-based NRG and Covanta get road wins

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:14 PST

Results in the New Jersey Environmental-Energy big leagues:

Princeton-based NRG Energy picks up road win in Texas
Environmental regulators in the Lone Star State have approved a draft permit to allow the energy company to build a $1.2 billion pulverized coal unit at its Limestone station near Jewett, some 120 miles northwest of Houston.

The Jersey team recorded the win over a scrappy team of environmental groups and some nearby property owners who are challenging the state's air-permitting process, citing Texas' ranking as the leading emitter of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

In its last successful outing, NRG Energy acquired Bluewater Wind, the wind-energy company that hopes to install turbine farms off the coasts of Delaware and New Jersey.

Covanta scores win in South Carolina, loss in Connecticut
The Chester County Council gave initial approval this week to recommendations from the county's planning and zoning boards to rezone 100 acres off S.C. 9 to allow Fairfield, NJ-based Covanta Energy to build a waste-to-energy plant near Fort Lawn, SC.

The project is expected to cost at least $500 million and create around 50 permanent jobs, along with related temporary jobs, said John Phillips, vice president of business development for Covanta, which operates more than 40 of these plants around the country. The project faces as second vote at a specially called meeting Friday, and a final vote in December.

Meanwhile, Covanta suffered a loss to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Covanta has agreed to a settlement over an emissions violation discovered at the trash-to energy plant in Wallingford that Covanta operates for the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Instead of a fine, Covanta will pay $355,000 to the DEP to fund local recycling programs. The excess dioxin emissions were discovered during the plant's annual performance test on May 23, 2007.

Dennis Schain, a DEP spokesman, said the dioxin violation was not severe enough to pose an immediate threat to public health. Covanta corrected the violation quickly and that the plant has not had any emission violations since, he said.

Related:
Texas issues draft permit for new NRG coal unit
Chester County incinerator would add jobs, millions in taxes
Covanta funds recycling effort to settle pollution case

Our latest posts:
Setting your own biodiesel blend in New Jersey
New Jersey sets new recycling grant record
Law firm trolling for Marcellus water cases
Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water

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Enviro-Events Calendar

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Setting your own biodiesel blend in New Jersey

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:37:55 PST

Dixon Brothers, location on Cobb Street in Rockaway, is the first biodiesel retail fueling stations in Morris County--and one of only
two in New Jersey--where customers can set their own blend of conventional diesel fuel and a domestically produced, renewable soybean product.

Daily Record writer Megan Van Dyk reports today that Jennifer and Sally Pierson, who are the fourth-generation family owners of the business, invested $25,000 to install a heated storage facility where the 100 percent bio is kept in a tank aside a diesel tank. Pipes leading to the self-serving pump outside mix the two fuels to the customer's specifications--ranging from 2 percent bio to 20 percent bio.

Biodiesel produces less pollution and improves the longevity of diesel engines because of improved lubrication, and it can be used in existing diesel engines without the need for modifications. For now, Dixon Brothers is offering its biodiesel at five cents more per gallon than regular diesel fuel, which Levitt admits can be a hard sell in this economy.

The company is pitching its product to area municipalities alongside information about the state's Biodiesel Fuel Rebate Program, which offers rebates to government entities for the price-per-gallon difference between biodiesel and regular diesel to fuel their fleet of construction vehicles, police cars and school buses.

The first company in New Jersey to offer biodiesel was Maplewood-based Woolley Fuel, which opened its pump in December. Demand for biofuel is "one of the few things that has increased every month,'' said Norman Woolley Jr., the company's vice president.

Our most recent posts:
New Jersey sets new recycling grant record
Law firm trolling for Marcellus water cases
Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?
Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water
Enviros (and business) split over climate bill

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New Jersey sets new recycling grant record

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:45:09 PST

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is awarding $14.5 million in grants to boost local recycling efforts--nearly twice as much as last year's $8 million and almost three times higher than the previous high of $5.5 million set in 1995.

What accounts for the difference?

The Recycling Enhancement Act, a law passed in 2008, which sets a $3-per-ton surcharge trash taken to disposal facilities in the state.

The law was enacted to provide municipalities and counties with more funds for recycling programs, including education and enforcement (the carrot and the stick).

The amount that each municipality is receiving this year is based on its respective recycling level in 2007, the last year for which official figures have been established.

The DEP reports that, in 2007, New Jersey:

Recycled 12.4 million tons of a total 21.6 million tons of solid waste, for an overall recycling rate of 57.3 percent. This includes all types of waste, including municipal solid waste as well as bulky waste such as construction and demolition debris, scrap metal and wood.
Of the total amount above, the state recycled 3.8 million tons of some 10.5 million tons of municipal solid waste, for a municipal solid waste recycling rate of 36.5 percent. Materials recycled as part of municipal programs includes paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans and plastic.

The expectation is that the additional funding will enable counties and towns to improve the state's overall recycling numbers which have been on the decline in recent years.

The danger is that cash-starved municipalities will look to siphon off some of the recycling funds for other purposes. State law forbids such diversions, but the temptation will be there, making state-level auditing and other oversight practices more important than ever.

Our most recent posts:
Law firm trolling for Marcellus water cases
Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?
Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water
Enviros (and business) split over climate bill
Politics by the pound in New Jersey

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Law firm trolling for Marcellus water cases

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:47:08 PST

Can the use of 'fracking' to extract natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania pollute private wells?

A Texas-based law firm thinks it can and it's actively searching for affected property owners to represent in law suits against drilling companies.

The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm in Southlake, TX is using its website to spread the word about George Zimmermann, the owner of 480 acres in Washington County, southwest Pennsylvania, who claims that Atlas Energy Inc. ruined his land with toxic chemicals used in or released there by hydraulic fracturing, also known as 'fracking.'

The law firm's web site reports:

"Water tests at three locations by gas wells on Zimmermann's property --one is 1,500 feet from his home -- found seven potentially carcinogenic chemicals above "screening levels" set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

"The gas is being extracted by hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is forced a mile or more underground at high pressure, fracturing the shale and causing the release of natural gas.

"In June, water tests found arsenic at 2,600 times acceptable levels, benzene at 44 times above limits and naphthalene five times the federal standard. Soil samples detected mercury and selenium above official limits, as well as ethylbenzene, a chemical used in drilling, and trichloroethene, a naturally occurring but toxic chemical that can be brought to the surface by gas drilling.

"Zimmermann's suit, filed in September in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas, follows claims by residents in many gas-drilling areas of the United States that fracking pollutes private water wells with toxic chemicals and threatens widespread contamination of aquifers from which many rural households draw drinking water."

Should anyone miss the point of the reportorial exercise, the law firm ends with the following paragraph:

"If you or a family member has been injured because of the fault of someone else; by negligence, personal injury, slip and fall, car accident, medical malpractice, trucking accident, drunk driving, dangerous drugs, bad product, toxic injury etc then please contact the Dallas Fort Worth Texas Toxic Injury Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 817-255-4001 or Contact Me Online."

For a more robust, and perhaps less self-interested report on Mr. Zimmerman's case, we recommend the Reuters news story Pennsylvania lawsuit says drilling polluted water

Have an opinion you'd like to share on this topic? Use the opinion box below. If one isn't open, click on the tiny 'comments' line below to activate it. You can remain anonymous, if you'd like, but signed comments are appreciated.

Related:
DEC extends Public Comment period for Marcellus Shale
Pipelines a must for Marcellus drilling to take place
State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years
New York proposes Marcellus Shale drilling rules
Bad economy? Not in the Marcellus Shale

Our most recent posts:
Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?
Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water
Enviros (and business) split over climate bill
Politics by the pound in New Jersey
NY/NJ Port shippers see wolf in 'green' costume

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Delaware: First to sign and the first to spin?

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:59 PST

The little state of Delaware's primary claim to fame for the last 222 years has been that it was the first of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Today it wants to make history again by becoming the first state to get some of its electric energy from offshore wind turbines.

Delaware's chances of pulling off that modern-day coup improved with Monday's announcement that Princeton, NJ-based NRG Energy has acquired Bluewater Wind, the wind energy development company that plans to construct a wind farm of 60 or more turbines some 13 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach.

NRG Energy brings a new source of critically needed financial backing to the project which has been underfunded since Bluewater's original owner, Babcock and Brown, ran into financial difficulty. See: Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?

The project is estimated to cost about $1.2 billion with the first turbines possibly erected around 2014.

NRG says current Bluewater president Peter Mandelstam will continue to lead the company and work would continue on designing other projects along the coast, including one envisioned off the coast of Atlantic City, NJ. All of Bluewater’s existing development team will become NRG employees, working out of Bluewater’s office in Hoboken, NJ.

Bluewater said the next step for the Rehoboth project is to install a meteorological tower off the coast to collect data needed for further design. Installation will likely take place during the summer of 2010.

A new, tri-state wind-energy partnership

Yesterday, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who is eager to claim bragging rights as the first state in the nation to develop an offshore wind farm, joined with Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia in announcing a tri-state partnership for the deployment of off shore wind energy in the Mid-Atlantic coastal region.

The three states signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creating "a formal partnership that will build on the region’s significant offshore wind resources to generate clean, renewable energy and a sustainable market that will bring new economic opportunities."

A press release announcing the MOU says that immediate tasks are " to identify common transmission strategies for offshore wind energy deployment in the region, discuss ways to encourage sustainable market demand for this renewable resource and work collaboratively in pursuing federal energy policies which help advance offshore wind in the Mid-Atlantic area."

The MOU also calls for "examination of ways to coordinate regional supply chain facilities to secure supply, deployment, and operations and maintenance functions to support offshore wind energy facilities."

Collaboration on strategies to utilize academic institutions to create standards and opportunities for training and workforce development will also be developed, as will a joint lobbying approach with such federal entities such as the Minerals Management Service, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Defense.

Related:
NRG purchases Bluewater Wind
Bluewater Wind is now an NRG company
Rehoboth Wind Farm on Track Despite New Owner
Wind energy out to hook fishing industry support
Will TX beat NJ and NY to offshore wind energy?

Our most recent posts:

Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water
Enviros (and business) split over climate bill
Politics by the pound in New Jersey
NY/NJ Port shippers see wolf in 'green' costume
Forbes takes a look at burying carbon at sea

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Radioactive news on Marcellus Shale water

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:15:42 PST

"As New York gears up for a massive expansion of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, state officials have made a potentially troubling discovery about the wastewater created by the process: It's radioactive. And they have yet to say how they'll deal with it."

So reports Pro Publica, the investigative journalism organization that, in a series of reports, has raised questions about the environmental impacts of the use of hydraulic fracturing to release and capture natural gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale.

The latest news comes from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, "which analyzed 13 samples of wastewater brought thousands of feet to the surface from drilling
and found that they contain levels of radium-226, a derivative of uranium, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink."

The findings could have a significant effect on the cost of drilling operations, which have been on hold in New York as the state develops specific regulations to address natural gas drilling.

If the findings are backed up with additional tests, Pro Publica predicts:

"The energy industry would likely face stiffer regulations and expenses, and have more trouble finding treatment plants to accept its waste -- if any would at all. Companies would need to license their waste handlers and test their workers for radioactive exposure, and possibly ship waste across the country. And the state would have to sort out how its laws for radioactive waste might apply to drilling and how the waste could impact water supplies and the environment."

In Pennsylvania, where no similar regulatory review has been imposed by state government, drilling operations are moving ahead in high gear.

“Susquehanna County is inundated with drilling, fracking, water trucks, residual waste trucks and more companies coming in,” County Commissioner MaryAnn Warren told the Centre Daily Times. “People are going to get rich, but I am worried about our natural resources.”

Stephen Rhoads, president of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, said Wednesday that the Marcellus “play” in Pennsylvania is still in its infancy. He said the limited permitting and drilling statistics compiled to date are not sufficient to show a trend, although he expected to see an increase in the number of permits and the number of wells drilled.

Have an opinion you'd like to share on this topic? Use the opinion box below. If one isn't open, click on the tiny 'comments' line below to activate it. You can remain anonymous, if you'd like, but signed comments are appreciated.

Related:

DEC extends Public Comment period for Marcellus Shale
Pipelines a must for Marcellus drilling to take place
State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30 years
New York proposes Marcellus Shale drilling rules
Bad economy? Not in the Marcellus Shale

Our most recent posts:
Enviros (and business) split over climate bill
Politics by the pound in New Jersey
NY/NJ Port shippers see wolf in 'green' costume
Forbes takes a look at burying carbon at sea
Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?

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Enviros (and business) split over climate bill

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:41:24 PST

Both the environmental and business communities are undergoing internal disputes over climate-change legislation.

Washington Post environmental writer David A. Fahrenthold
reports today that a " curious debate has broken out among American environmental groups, as the Senate balkily starts
to focus on the threat of climate change."

Some groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, he says, are no loner using scare tactics in their ads. Instead, they're trying to win votes for the legislation by talking about how it would create "green jobs" and lessen the need for oil imports.

This approach isn't sitting well with other, smaller environmental groups, he says. They fear that the new approach "might send the signal that a weaker bill is acceptable."

Meanwhile, monolithic business opposition to climate change legislation continues to crumble.

A new group of businesses - including retail giant Gap Inc. and several large utility companies - joined the lobbying fray over climate change on Wednesday, arguing that Congress must pass legislation to limit greenhouse gases as soon as possible.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "American Businesses for Clean Energy will push for passage at the same time that other business groups, most notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, try to block or change global warming bills wending their way through Congress.

"We're way behind in taking action, and we need to go now," said Tom King, president of National Grid U.S., a utility serving parts of New England and New York."

In the latest change of lobbying tactics, if not intent, the Chamber of Commerce, which has suffered the defections of several large members who object to the group's opposition to climate change legislation, apparently now is modifying its position.

Have an opinion you'd like to share on the climate change bill or the lobbying positions or tactics of the environmental or business communities? Use the opinion box below. If one isn't open, click on the tiny 'comments' line below to activate it. You can remain anonymous, if you'd like, but signed comments are appreciated.

Related:
Democrats move on climate bill
Senate panel approves climate change bill despite GOP boycott
Republicans Boycott Climate Bill Debate
Will the GOP win or lose on opposing climate bill?
Chamber pushes 'bipartisan' climate bill
US puts climate debate on hold for five weeks despite plea by Merkel

Our latest posts:
Politics by the pound in New Jersey
NY/NJ Port shippers see wolf in 'green' costume
Forbes takes a look at burying carbon at sea
Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?
Like to fish & float? Have we got a gig for you

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Politics by the pound in New Jersey

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:30:50 PST

David Gewirtz weighed in as a guest contributor to Anderson Cooper's blog today with the following observations on the just-concluded New Jersey governor's race:

Jon Corzine lost by 4.4 percent to Chris Christie, a man who is by any measure big-boned. Corzine lost to Christie by just about 101,659 votes. In other words, he lost by the population of a mid-sized New Jersey town.

Corzine has made something of a campaign issue over Christie's weight, even to the point of running a campaign commercial accusing the heavier candidate of "throwing his weight around".

The dig was lost on nobody and was a matter of heavy press coverage for quite some time during the election process.

The thing is, we New Jersey folk don't take being insulted lightly. I'm a big guy and so are a lot of New Jersey citizens. Sure, there's some svelt former bankers running around the Garden State, eating up all those yummy Jersey-grown organic veggies, but New Jersey also has its fair share of rotund (and proud of it, you gonna make something of it?) citizens.

So here you have a fat cat picking on a fat dude. Out of the 2.2 million or so New Jersey residents, could there possibly have been 100,000 or so who didn't vote on issues and didn't vote on party, but voted because they were simply pissed off about the fat ads?

New Jerseyians who vote because they're pissed off? If New Jerseyians do one thing really well (and we do a lot really well), we do "pissed off" with panache. Give us something to get righteously indignant about and we're happier than a pig in a poke.

And that's what I think happened to Jon Corzine. I don't think it was a resurgence of the GOP's reach and influence. I just can't see the helicopter-hunting Sarah Palin
carrying New Jersey in any way, shape, or form.

I just think some New Jersey residents remembered how much they hated bankers like Goldman Sachs and remembered that Corzine was the banker at Goldman Sachs. And I think some other New Jersey residents simply voted an "Oh, no, he didn't" about the weight thing.

I'm telling you. Don't piss off New Jersey. You'll regret it.

NY/NJ Port shippers see wolf in 'green' costume

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:49:33 PST

A broad group of retailers and other shippers are calling on the mayors of New York and Newark to withdraw their support for changes in federal law that they say would allow local regulators to bar independent owner-operators from harbor trucking.

The Journal of Commerce reported yesterday that "The 29 organizations, including the National Retail Federation and the National Industrial Transportation League, said they had “grave disappointment” with support the mayors announced Oct. 19 for the effort led by the Port of Los Angeles, which has targeted independent operators as part of its effort to limit truck pollution at the port. "

In a letter to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the organizations say they "fully support efforts by the ports, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to improve their air quality."

The organizations argue that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (and the NRDC) have been claiming that port trucking services should be exempted from federal preemption in order to improve air quality but that the union's real goal is "to eliminate competition from small independent businesses in favor of companies that the Teamsters believe could be more easily organized."

Among the organizations signing the letter were the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, the New York State Motor Truck Association, and the New York Shipping Association.

Related:
Clean Trucks Settlement a Boon for Clean Air
CRT Sets the Record Straight on Port Air Quality
LA Ports Meet Clean Air Goals Years Ahead of Schedule

Our most recent posts:
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Offshore Rhode Island wind power at a dead calm

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Forbes takes a look at burying carbon at sea

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:21:16 PST

Forbes has found a place capacious enough to store several hundred billion tons of CO2, enough to take on all the power plants within 155 miles of the coast from Maryland to Massachusetts for the next 100 years. Can you guess where it is?

Both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have participated in national surveys to locate potential underground locations for the disposal of carbon dioxide emissions produced in the generation of electricity from coal-burning power plants.

New Jersey is even reviewing plans for a new coal-burning power plant in the city of Linden. The plan calls for the burial of the plant's CO2 byproduct beneath the ocean floor off the state's coast.

And the federal government is throwing a lot of money into research to test whether so the so-called 'carbon capture and sequestration' technology, which has been successful in small scale projects can be ramped up for industrial-sized applications.

In a new article on the subject, appearing yesterday in Forbes, writer Bruce Upbin tells us that:

"Geologic cavities in the U.S. alone could hold between 2,020 and 14,220 billion tons of CO2, enough to soak up three to 36 months of national output. Doing so would cost $200 or so per ton of carbon. It would require permits from local, state and federal agencies and would generate a good deal of anxiety for those living above the gas. In 1986, a volcano crater in Cameroon released a CO2 bubble large enough to kill 1,800
people while they slept."

But what, he asks, "If you could put the carbon where nobody lives?"

Guess where that turns out to be?

"There is a perfect place 70 miles off the eastern U.S. seaboard and two miles below the ocean floor. It's a porous sandstone formation, trapped under a mile of hard shale, that stretches from New Jersey to Georgia. The section off the Jersey shore alone is capacious enough to store several hundred billion tons of CO2, enough to take on all the power plants within 155 miles of the coast from Maryland to Massachusetts for the next 100 years."

If you get the feeling that this topic isn't going away anytime soon, you're right. So we suggest that you might want to read the entire Forbes piece, which you'll find here.

Related:
British emissary says carbon capture is crucial
Prioritise project diversity says carbon capture institute
Carbon capture shows major potential in China
Is carbon capture the political key to climate bill?
Feds' $2.4B to 'stimulate' carbon capture projects
For carbon sequestration, it's test time

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Will NRG save Bluewater's wind projects?

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:08:40 PST

Princeton-based NRG Energy Inc. is reported to be discussing the financial rescue of Bluewater Wind, the company that hopes to build the nation's first wind-energy farm off the coast of Delaware and has similar plans for New Jersey.

Bluewater has been mostly dead in the water since its primary Australian financier, Babcock and Brown, was waylaid by the international economic tailspin triggered by the U.S. banking industry implosion.

Bluewater's president Peter Mandelstam said in September that he was confident that a deal with a new ownership investor would be completed within 60 days and that Babcock and Brown will be out
of the project by the end of the year.

The (Wilmington) News Journal reports today that unnamed sources familiar with the plan say that Bluewater is in serious negotiations to sell to NRG Energy Inc.

Rob Propes, Bluewater's project director for its planned Delaware wind farm, declined to comment about the identity of companies the firm is talking to about the sale of a "fully controlled interest," reports the News Journal's Aaron Nathans.

"A sale would include all of the projects in Bluewater's development pipeline, among them the planned wind farm off Rehoboth Beach, a similar venture planned in New Jersey and proposals in other states, he said. Propes said Bluewater expects to announce a deal in the coming weeks."

There are two ironic twists to the story. Nathans notes that:

"Such a deal, if culminated, would pair Delaware's most prominent clean energy project with one of the state's most prominent polluters. NRG...owns the coal-fired Indian River Power Plant, which long has ranked among the state's major air-pollution sources.

But he also reports that NRG earlier this month received "final approval for the largest air-pollution control effort in state history. The $500 million project will cut some smog-forming and toxic emissions at Indian River by 75 to 90 percent. The effort includes shutting down the two oldest units at the four-unit facility."

The second irony is that NRG and Bluewater were competitors at one point and NRG did its best at that time to denigrate Bluewater's Delaware wind plans.

Nathan explains:

"The Bluewater project was a response to a 2006 state request for proposals for new, in-state generation to stabilize electricity prices and increase reliability on the Delmarva Peninsula. At the time, few Americans had given much thought to offshore wind farms, which made the Bluewater proposal novel. It picked up substantial public support as company officials toured the state.

"But Bluewater had competition from NRG, which was proposing a coal gasification plant, known in some circles as "clean coal," and many believed NRG had the inside track. A third competitor, Conectiv, proposed a natural gas-fired plant.

"During the competition, NRG officials were critical of the Bluewater project, raising questions about the wind company's ability to provide electricity during the hottest summer days, when winds are light. Bluewater ultimately won the competition, and state agencies, lawmakers and eventually Delmarva agreed on a power purchase agreement."

Bluewater's offshore Delaware project envisions the installation of least 79 turbines about 14 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach. They are expected to generate enough electricity to power 55,000 homes

In New Jersey, Bluewater has received a $4 million state grant for an offshore meteorological tower and hopes eventually to develop a 350 MW wind project some 16 miles off the coast of Atlantic City.

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently released rules governing offshore wind farms, which developers say will speed construction of such projects.

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Like to fish & float? Have we got a gig for you

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:57:11 PDT

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is searching for a new executive director to replace Douglas Austen, a man the commission has been trying to cast overboard for the last 18 months.

Commission members voted in January 2008 to fire Austen but the Patriot-News reports that they reversed themselves a week later "under threat of removal as commissioners by Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration."

Apparently, the 10-member group now has a green light from the front office. It announced on Monday that it was conducting a nationwide search for Austen's replacement. The commission's news release described the move as “a transition in leadership of the organization.”

Required qualifications include "upper level management or policy-making experience in a fisheries, wildlife, conservation, or natural resources organization and minimum of a bachelor’s degree from a college or university.”

In addition to directing the operations and activities of the agency, the executive director serves as the agency’s chief law enforcement officer, and is a member of the Environmental Quality Board, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Mid-Atlantic States Fisheries Management Council and an ex-officio member of the PFBC Boating Advisory Board.

Interested individuals should submit a résumé by Dec. 1, 2009 to: Executive Director - Search Committee, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, C/O Human Resource Office, 1601 Elmerton Ave., P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000

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Will NJDEP's new water quality plan wipe out your development?

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:25:21 PDT

NJBIZ reports that "the value and development potential of some real estate properties in New Jersey could take a hit as county and municipal governments prepare new wastewater management plans and redraw sewer service area boundaries.

"And despite the potentially devastating impact of such changes, many property owners are unaware they may be affected."

The business publication's Evelyn Lee explains:

"Last year, the state Department of Environmental Protection amended its Water Quality Management Planning rule, making county and municipal governments responsible for updating their wastewater management plans.

"The amended rule removes environmentally sensitive features — such as wetlands and endangered species — from sewer service areas, which encompass properties served by wastewater treatment systems. In amending the rule, the department came up with a draft map of sewer service areas to reflect the rule change, and guide counties and municipalities in developing their own sewer service area maps.

"The new maps could reassign properties currently within a sewer service area to a non-service area, said Ellen Radow Sadat, a partner at the Princeton office of law firm Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP.

This could significantly reduce the value of the site by eliminating future development, she said, as “without sewer service, it’s very difficult for development to occur.”

Radow Sadat is calling for projects already underway to be grandfathered into the state’s new sewer service areas: “People have invested their money in the land, with the prospect of potentially growing and expanding in New Jersey.”

See the entire NJBIZ story here.

Care to share your knowledge or opinion on this topic? Use the comment box below. If one isn't visible, activate it by clicking
on the tiny 'comments' line below.

NJDEP Water Quallity Management Plan website

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EPA maps out $5 billion worth of pollution

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Week's top environmental news in NJ, PA & NY: Dec. 14-18, 2009

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