Court Upholds Newark Gas Plant Permit; More Sulfuric Acid OK

NEWARK, NJ — A New Jersey appellate court has upheld the state Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to grant a revised air permit to the operators of a 655-megawatt natural gas plant in the Ironbound section of Newark.

The court’s Dec. 1 decision regarding the Newark Energy Center was made despite longstanding objections from the Ironbound Community Corp. and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, who argued that the plant’s operators should have been required to file public emergency-response and notification plans prior to obtaining a new permit in 2015, NJ Spotlight reported.

Under the previous permit, the Newark Energy Center (NEC) was allowed to use contaminated water (gray water) obtained from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission in its cooling tower. The permit also allowed the NEC to use sulfuric acid to lower the gray water's pH level, but limited NEC's sulfuric acid emissions to 10.57 tons per year.

Read the full court decision here.

The changed permit involved “significant modification,” including an increased use of sulfuric acid and other chemicals in reused water in the plant’s cooling tower. According to the DEP ruling, the extra chemicals weren’t expected to increase the plant’s emissions, NJ Spotlight stated. (Read the full report here)

The Newark Energy Center was approved in 2011 and was originally built as a joint venture between Hess Corporation and Energy Investors Fund. The plant utilizes two General Electric 7FA.05 combustion turbines, two HRSGs, and one GE D11 steam turbine.

The center went into operation in 2015. It generates power for more than 700,000 homes in and around the city of Newark.

• See related article: Newark Energy Center Vote Postponed; $23 Million in Limbo

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