Newark Group, Others Sue EPA Over Trash Incinerator Standards

NEWARK, NJ — What do you do when a federal agency that’s supposed to be safeguarding people from dangerous air pollution isn’t doing its job? Sue it, a partnership of environmental groups decided.

The Newark-based Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) is one of several advocacy groups that recently filed a pair of lawsuits in federal court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The suits, which were joined by California-based East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and the national Sierra Club, seek to force the EPA to update their pollution standards for trash incinerators across the nation.

That includes the Covanta trash incinerator in Newark, which combusts 2,800 tons per day of municipal garbage and generates about 65 megawatts of electricity, making it New Jersey's largest "energy-from-waste" facility. The incinerator – which has been a frequent target of complaint from groups including the ICC – burns garbage from New York City and all 22 municipalities in Essex County.

• Read More: The Color Purple: Newark Residents Fed Up With Incinerator Smoke
• Read More: Essex County Trash Incinerator Unfairly Burdens Poor, Critics Say

According to a statement from Earthjustice, which is serving as counsel on the lawsuits, community activists and residents have long been “sounding the alarm” about New Jersey’s four existing incinerators, which are located in Newark, Camden, Rahway and Westville.

The companies that operate the incinerators claim they all comply with current federal environmental standards, the Associated Press reported.

• Read More: Covanta Releases Emissions Data For Newark Trash Incinerator

But that doesn’t allay the fears of local residents, advocates say.

“Due to the extreme danger they pose to nearby communities, the EPA is legally obligated to review and revise standards for incinerators every five years under the Clean Air Act, but the EPA has repeatedly failed to update these standards, exposing communities to unnecessary risks and far dirtier air,” an Earthjustice spokesperson stated.

In the last 30 years, the EPA has only revised its standards twice (instead of six times as it might have), and the agency hasn’t updated these standards in more than 15 years, the group stated.

The lawsuits ask the court to determine that the EPA’s failure to revise these incinerator standards violates the Clean Air Act, and issue an order compelling the EPA to develop proposed revisions within 18 months.

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