EnviroPolitics Blog

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 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 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

Also check out our:
Enviro-Business News
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

Also check out our:
Enviro-Business News
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:
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
Will NJDEP's water plan wipe out your development?
EPA developing remediation goals for dioxin
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.

Related:
TOMMYWONK Blog: Will NRG Buy Bluewater Wind?
Offshore Rhode Island wind power at a dead calm
Wind energy out to hook fishing industry support
We should all be in the solar and wind business
Will TX beat NJ and NY to offshore wind energy?
New York plans U.S.'s largest offshore wind farm
NJ's offshore wind energy pick is lobbying large

Our latest posts:
Like to fish & float? Have we got a gig for you
Will NJDEP's new water plan wipe out your development?
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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

Related:
Search is on for new head of Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Fish and Boat Commission Launches Search for Executive Director
PA Fish and Boat Commission search within agency

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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.

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on the tiny 'comments' line below.

NJDEP Water Quallity Management Plan website

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EPA developing remediation goals for dioxin

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:24:00 PDT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on a plan to develop interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for dioxin in soil at contaminated sites.

The plan includes a review of current dioxin cleanup guidance that has been established by the EPA, states and other countries, including the latest fully peer-reviewed dioxin toxicity assessments.

EPA will release the draft interim PRGs for public comment in December 2009, and anticipates issuing the final interim PRGs in June 2010.

The agency is currently undertaking a reassessment of dioxin, the results of which are expected to be released by the end of 2010.

More information on the plan and how to comment: www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/remedy/sfremedy/remedies/dioxininterimplan.html

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Offshore Rhode Island wind power at a dead calm

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:46:23 PDT

Plans to build the first offshore wind farm in Rhode Island have suffered a setback after the developer, Hoboken, New Jersey-based Deepwater Wind, failed to reach an agreement to sell electricity to the state’s largest electric utility, National Grid.

The Providence Journal reports: "National Grid this week rejected a proposal to purchase energy from a small wind farm that Deepwater Wind plans to build off Block Island. In documents filed with the state Public Utilities Commission Thursday, National Grid says that negotiations with Deepwater have so far failed to yield a “commercially reasonable” power-purchase agreement, mainly because the projected cost of electricity generated by the wind farm would be three times the price of energy from traditional sources.

“The [agreement], in pure financial terms, is uneconomic by a significant margin for Rhode Island customers for the entire term,” wrote National Grid attorney Ronald T. Gerwatowski.

The filing, submitted late Thursday afternoon to meet a deadline set by a new state law, does not signal an end to talks between the two sides. It is, however, a blow to Deepwater, which until now had encountered no significant obstacles in its race with other companies to install the first offshore wind turbines in the United States.

The New Jersey-based start-up company needs a contract not just because it would guarantee a buyer for its electricity, but also because such an agreement would help attract additional financing for its two projects in Rhode Island that will cost a total of $1.5 billion.

Deepwater first plans to install up to eight turbines three miles off the Block Island coast by 2012 and would follow that demonstration project with a much larger wind farm consisting of approximately 100 turbines at least 15 miles from the Rhode Island shore.

There is more to the story which continues here

Related:
With little precedent, cost of wind power up in the air
Maine pulls in $8M for floating offshore wind farm
DOE Awards $24 Million for Wind Energy Research
America's Offshore Wind Race is On
New York plans U.S.'s largest offshore wind farm
NJ's offshore wind energy pick is lobbying large

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NJ's Governor Candidates on 'Smart Growth'

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:14:24 PDT

New Jersey Future asked the state's three leading candidates for governor to respond to a questionnaire about smart growth.

The organization reports today that the responses given to six questions posed offered "many similarities-along with some nuanced differences."

Here's how New Jersey Future summarized the answers:

Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine, the incumbent, emphasizes steps his administration has taken, from the Global Warming Response Act to the Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant Program, as evidence of his commitment to promote both a strong economy and a healthy environment. In a second term, he pledges that his Policy Office "will convene a State Plan cabinet working group to align state agency actions with State Plan objectives."

Republican Christopher Christie criticizes the Governor's failure in his first term "to coordinate and focus the efforts of multiple departments" in redevelopment activities and land-use management. He touts his own "Bringing Back Our Cities" plan, which includes tax incentives aimed at revitalizing urban areas, adding, "The Office of State Planning needs to be restored to a leadership role" in carrying out the State Plan.

Independent Christopher Daggett proposes to promote smart growth by expanding transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) programs statewide and restoring Regional Contribution Agreements (RCA) as a tool for producing new affordable-housing units in receiving municipalities. He also pledges to "reconvene state and local government officials, builders, environmentalists, business leaders and housing advocates to re-examine the State Plan."

Read the candidates' full answers to all six questions here.

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Hate development surprises? Read this.
NJ enviro group backs Christie for governor
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Independent shaking up Jersey's Governor's race

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:13:46 PDT

In New Jersey, races for governor run the same predictable course.

Democrats and Republicans each choose a candidate. The Democrat gets the support of the teachers, construction unions and enviro groups. The Republican wins the blessing of major business organizations and each gets the editorial endorsements of some of the state's daily newspapers.

Sure, there are other candidates on the ballot but they represent groups so far out on the fringe that even their relatives have a tough time pulling their lever.

This year is different. Voters will get to select from three credible candidates--Democrat Jon Corzine, Republican Chris Christie, and the Independent Chris Daggett.

And this time, the Independent is not some guy in a tin foil hat. Mr. Daggett has solid experience in government--both at the state and federal level--and has not only won the support of one of the state's largest environmental organizations, the Sierra Club, but, in a real shocker, also was endorsed over the weekend by the state's largest newspaper--the Star-Ledger.

An Independent endorsed by the Star-Ledger? Whoa, now that's big.

Why? Because Independents don't have a chance of winning.

Why? Because:

1. Voters are most influenced by television ad campaigns.

2. Television ad campaigns are very, very expensive.

3. Independents can't rely on interest groups to fund ad buys.

The Star-Ledger understands all this, so why would they back the Independent?

Here's their explanation:

The newspaper’s decision is less a rejection of Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie than a repudiation of the parties they represent, both of which have forfeited any claim to the trust and confidence of the people of New Jersey. They share responsibility for the state’s current plight.

Only by breaking the hold of the Democratic and Republican mandarins on the governor’s office and putting a rein on their power will the state have any hope for the kind of change needed to halt its downward economic, political and ethical spiral.

New Jersey needs radical change in Trenton. Neither of the major parties is likely to provide it. Daggett’s election would send shock waves through New Jersey’s ossified political system and, we believe, provide a start in a new direction.

It would signal the entrenched leadership of both parties — and the interest groups they regularly represent — that an ill-served and angry electorate demands something better.

The lamentable fact is that the two parties are, themselves, little more than narrow special interests. Their competition for short-term political and/or monetary gain has jeopardized the state’s long-term economic health and left it with a tarnished national reputation.

Where the major parties have differed, their differences have been inconsequential. Where they’ve been the same, their similarities have been destructive.

They have contributed equally to gross overspending in Trenton by consistently pandering to the pay, pension and retirement policies demanded by powerful public employee unions. Democrats have financed the spree with tax hikes, Republicans with borrowed money, and both with pension-fund raids.

How do we now signal them that this has got to stop if not by rejecting their anointed candidates? How if not by electing Chris Daggett?

Agree? Disagree? Tell us what do you think in the comment box below. If you don't see one, click on the tiny 'comments' line to open it.

Related:
Voters are starting to listen to the independent candidate for governor
Independent Candidate Stirs Up the Governor’s Race in New Jersey
Star-Ledger endorses independent Chris Daggett for N.J. governor

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NJ governor hopefuls on key environmental issues

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:46:45 PDT

The (Newark) Star-Ledger got the the state's three gubernatorial candidates to answer questions on a number of important environmental issues today--from open-space funding and site cleanups to nuclear energy and bear hunts.

Several of the answers are refreshingly specific. You might even find a surprise or two. For example, Republican Chris Christie is the only one of the three to dismiss nuclear energy as a part of New Jersey's energy-growth picture.

You'll find the entire Star-Ledger interview here.

As always, we encourage you to share your point of view. Use the comment box below. If one doesn't appear, click the tiny 'comments' line to activate it.

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Hate development surprises? Read this.

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:11:31 PDT

"Does your project development due diligence checklist include a review of resolutions passed by the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH")? If not, your project might be at risk, and you may not discover it until you are ready to start construction."

That's the alarm-bell opening paragraph in a bulletin sent by the Gibbons law firm to clients in New Jersey--especially those who have projects in the state's Highlands region.

The alert, authored by attorneys Douglas J. Janacek and Michael Miceli, both of the firm's Real Property & Environment practice, goes on to explain:

"Last year, Governor Corzine signed an Executive Order, which required the Highlands Council to cooperate with COAH, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Community Affairs to, among other things, ensure that municipalities in the Highlands maximize affordable housing opportunities while preserving critical environmental resources, including scarce land, water, and sewer resources, by dedicating those resources on a priority basis to the production of affordable housing.

"In response, the Highlands Council and COAH entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") to "develop a cooperative planning process that will enable each agency to carry out their respective" responsibilities. Regarding the preservation of scarce resources, the MOU required COAH to issue a "scarce resource order" for all Highlands municipalities under COAH's jurisdiction.

"Outside the rubric of formal rulemaking (and thus, subject to little if any public scrutiny), COAH adopted a resolution implementing a scarce resource restraint on the 51 Highlands municipalities under its jurisdiction (since then, COAH has lifted the restraint on 12 Highlands municipalities that submitted third round housing element and fair share plans; it extended the deadline to submit for certification for the remaining municipalities, but kept the restraint in place for them). The restraint, which impacts developments in the Planning Area and Preservation Area of the Highlands, reserves scarce resources that may be essential to fulfill a municipality's fair share obligation. It applies to municipal actions associated with development approvals, water allocation, and wastewater allocation.

"What does that mean to you? Essentially, in the affected Highlands municipalities, the restraint becomes an unfulfilled condition precedent to any development approval or construction activity unless the application is exempt or is formally granted a waiver."

Interested in reading more? You'll find the entire IN-SITES newsletter article here.

Other COAH news:
Township to split architectural plans for COAH project
COAH obligation may be reduced
COAH is a four letter word in the suburbs

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Week's top environmental news: Sep. 28 - Oct. 2, 2009
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NJ enviro group backs Christie for governor

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:39:17 PDT

No that's not a typo in the headline.

The New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF), one of the largest enviro-activist organizations in the state has endorsed not only a (gulp) Republican for governor but (double-gulp) one who served in the federal government under Bush/Cheney.

Yes, we're talking about Chris Christie.

Surprised? Amazed? And maybe a bit baffled?
We are, too.

It was one thing for the Sierra Club to endorse former NJDEP Commissioner Chris Daggett's independent campaign for governor. But it's another for the NJEF, which had originally announced it would make no endorsement in the race, to come out for Christie.

What's going on? We don't know. But here's a theory.

The state's other big enviro group, the Sierra Club, didn't just stop with their endorsement of Daggett. Its leader went on, in press release after press release, to rip incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine's environmental record.

The pounding culminated in the astonishing claim that Corzine is
the worst environmental governor in history.

Whoa! Did they forget all about Christie (Honey, I shrunk the DEP) Whitman and Jim "fast track development" McGreevey?

Is this the same Jon Corzine who the rest of us have seen signing one environmental bill after another? The governor who got out ahead of virtually all other states in setting aggressive goals for greenhouse gas reductions. The guy who has backed cap-and-trade, solar-energy incentives and offshore wind power development?

And, even if the Sierra Club wasn't satisfied with Corzine's record, it's one thing to back another candidate to display your convictions but totally another to flay a sitting governor who just might win re-election. That, we submit, is just plain dumb.

So, our theory continues, rather than risk seeing the governor's office door slammed on the environmental community for the next four years, it might be a good idea for the other big green group to back the other major candidate...even if he is a Republican friend of Karl Rove.

There's one tiny weakness to the strategy. Corzine could win.

Then what happens?

The enviros may be counting on the fact that Jon can't seem to repress a single "progressive" reflex. They may have good reason to suspect that, after a decent interval for sulking, he'll succumb to let's kiss and make up.

But what if the governor has been in New Jersey long enough now to adopt a more native political reaction? You know, the one called: Piss me off and see who wins.

Time will tell. In the meanwhile, we thought you might enjoy the Star-Ledger video below.

Even after today's NJEF announcement, is still a pretty good summary of the New Jersey environmental community's current political quandry.

Want to participate in the next RGGI auction?

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:59:56 PDT

Interested in learning about the procedures
and qualifications necessary to participate in the next Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region RGGI auction to be held on December 2, 2009?

You'll get a chance to learn all you need in a free webinar that will be presented by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc (RGGI) from 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 8.

The on-line seminar, which is open to all, will review the auction format, forms that need to be submitted, and bidder qualification processes. No registration is required. To access the webinar audio, dial the teleconference access number: (888) 875-4624 and enter
the participant code, 555661#.

For more information on the webinar and on RGGI, visit our
Enviro-Business News page.

While you're there, sign up for free email alerts and consider submitting your own news releases for publication.

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Week's top environmental news: Sep. 28 - Oct. 2, 2009
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'60 Minutes' on the problems with coal waste

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:34:59 PDT

Lesley Stahl yesterday on 60 Minutes focused on the environmental and human health threats posed by the 130-million tons of ash and other wastes produced annually in the U.S. in the process of burning coal to make electricity.

Environmentalists and others have been pressing to have the material declared a hazardous waste because it contains arsenic,
lead and other toxic materials.

The coal and power industries say such a designation would force disposal costs to skyrocket.

They argue, instead, for other "beneficial uses" of the material, for example, as fill material under golf courses.

In an interview with Stahl, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says her agency is reviewing a number of factors including "the toxicity of the material and how it is currently managed."

Jackson said her agency "will make a regulatory proposal no later than December."

Read the entire story here or watch it below.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Use the comment box below to share your views on the issue.
If it's not visible, click on the tiny "comment" line below.

Related:
Alabama: Coal Ash Cleanup Advances
EPA Promoting Coal Ash for Consumer Use

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Week's top environmental news in NJ, PA & NY: Sep. 28 - Oct. 2, 2009

Editor@EnviroPolitics.com (Frank Brill) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:11:46 PDT

Below are just a few of the environmental and political news stories for New Jersey, Pennsylvania and beyond that appeared in EnviroPolitics during the week of Sep. 28 to Oct 2, 2009.

New Jersey Environment

Popular oyster program nearly out of money
Federal funding has hit a predetermined $5M cap, and now the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Project can't go for more AC Press

NJ utility CEO fights for climate bill A new Senate bill putting limits on carbon dioxide emissions will raise the cost of electricity, but national regulation is needed and could makeNew Jersey more competitive, the head of the state’s largest utility said Wednesday The Record

Campaign seeks support for open space bond issue A coalition of 135 conservation, environmental and historic preservation groups launched a campaign today to win voter support for a $400 million referendum to replenish state funds for open space preservation Star-Ledger

Regulators want limit on weakfish by 2010 After a brief, dismal 2009 season for weakfish, recreational anglers may be limited to catching one or two weakfish on their 2010 trips — or not fishing for the species at all AP Press

Enviros, developers disagree over state plan's shape Enviro activists charged Thursday that an influential coalition of developers and their allies are hiding behind smart growth, economic recovery, and the election, to push a series of bills though the Legislature that the activists see as proposals that would undermine environmental protections NJ Newsroom Star-Ledger NJBIZ Gannett

New Jersey Politics

Governor candidates clash in first TV debate In the first televised debate of the hotly contested New Jersey governor's race, the three leading candidates last night focused on the economy, property taxes, health care, and education, with each arguing that he would be the best person to lead the state through difficult financial times Inquirer Star-Ledger Debate Excerpts

Former Irvington mayor admits corruption Former Irvington Mayor Michael Steele will serve at least five years in prison for accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks while working as the school business administrator Star-Ledger NJNR
> Opinion: The political culture must change Bob Villare

Sweeney says he has the votes to unseat Codey Key senators from all regions said to endorse him PolitickerNJ
> Codey accuses Norcross of underhanded campaign As he wages the fight of his life to hold on to his Senate presidency, Dick Codey sees work of his arch enemy everywhere Star-Ledger

Ex-Bergen Democratic counsel Oury pleads guilty Dennis Oury pleads guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and failing to file a tax return for 2006; plea comes two days before trial The Record

Poll: Property taxes top Jerseyans’ concerns Half the residents say they’d like to move out of state NJ Newsroom

Pennsylvania Environment

Enviros fight gas leasing in PA forests
A buried treasure of natural gas under Pennsylvania's state forests and hills has a lot of people hoping for a big payoff: rural landowners, big energy companies and, now, the state's politicians Inquirer Towanda Daily Review Editorial: Fools Gold

Pennsylvania farm pollution - from bad to worse? A PA environmental group is warning that pollution from large-scale livestock farms in that state is worsening, and it's calling for stricter government regulations and enforcement to help restore the Chesapeake Bay Baltimore Sun blog

Environmental compliance and safety promised by natural gas driller Nearly 200 people listened Monday night to remarks from a principal of Rice Energy LP, a company that plans to drill for natural gas beneath Farragut in the Marcellus Shale layer, and most of the queries were about how waste water is managed Sun-Gazette

Editorial: Sales-tax insanity The legislature might not be scrounging to pay for schools and roads if the statewide 6 percent sales tax were applied more fairly and were updated to reflect changes in the economy Inquirer

Opinion: Budget targets environment The state budget agreement being finalized by Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders would have a devastating impact on Pennsylvania's environment Inquirer

Pennsylvania Politics

State budget deal appears jeopardized The tenuous bipartisan budget deal that Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders announced two weeks ago appeared to be in jeopardy last night Inquirer
> Behind the budgetary chaos Inquirer

11th-hour gas pains cloud state budget deal Battle lines are drawn in the House over whether Pennsylvania should expand natural gas drilling in state-owned forests, raising $60 million a year, or join more than three-dozen other states and impose a ''severance tax'' on the extraction of natural resources Morning Call

New York/ Nation/ World

Mob infiltration seen in New York City Agency The latest indictment to hit the New York City Buildings Department taps into the usual themes of bribery, corruption and compromised inspections. But it also introduces a new criminal element into the agency: the mob New York Times

Study warns of mercury near site Elevated levels of toxic mercury and other heavy metals are in neighborhoods around the Lafarge cement plant in Ravena Albany Times Union

Experts advise re-licensing for Indian Point Independent experts advising federal regulators on nuclear safety say Indian Point should be granted a 20-year extension LoHud. News

US bans sea bass fishing in its waters The federal government is banning black sea bass angling, beginning Monday, for 180 days because the year's catch is already over the 2009 quota AC Press

Invasive species threaten New York's natural order As a threat, invasives have been judged second only to habitat loss when it comes to a region's biodiversity LoHud Journal

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