NJ Activists Fight 2 Proposed Plants: ‘Stop Dumping On Newark’

NEWARK, NJ — Newark residents and environmental activists are still trying to put the kibosh on a pair of proposed projects they claim will add yet more pollution to the Ironbound section of the city.

On Wednesday, community members joined with several New Jersey advocacy groups to hold a rally against two, separate proposals: Aries Clean Energy’s plan to build a waste treatment plant on Doremus Avenue, and the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s (PVSC) plan to build a natural gas power plant at its existing wastewater treatment facility in Newark.

Meeting on Rome Street, protesters marched to the PVSC wastewater facility at 600 Wilson Avenue, where they rallied with speeches (see video below).

In a joint statement, the Ironbound Community Corporation, Food & Water Watch, NJ Environmental Justice Alliance and 40 other co-sponsoring organizations explained why they’re opposed to the projects.

ARIES WASTE TREATMENT PLANT

“The first project is a massive sludge facility proposed by Aries Corporation that involves the transport of 430 tons of human waste via hundreds of truck tankers daily,” activists said.

If it gets approval from city and state officials, the facility at 400 Doremus Avenue will process wastewater-treated "biosolids" a day from New Jersey and New York, including human feces. The poop-laden payloads will be heated at 1,500 degrees, turned into a substance known as "biochar" and sold as a concrete thickener to nearby construction companies.

An Aries Energy spokesperson previously said the company is hoping to strike a deal with the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which would give it access to an ongoing source of “potential biosolids feedstock.”

And that’s part of the problem, advocates say.

“The facility would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and would introduce more sludge trucks, noxious odors and the potential for toxic exposures in an area that already has too much pollution,” activists claimed.

According to advocates, the plant would emit more than 285,000 pounds per year of air pollutants including particulate matter, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.

However, Aries Energy says there won't be any odors, and that any emissions from the facility would be well below state and federal standards. The company has also claimed the term “sludge” is inaccurate and misleading.

Besides helping New Jersey to literally clean up its own poop, the Newark biochar plant would also give a boost to the local economy, Aries Energy claims. During construction, the plant would generate anywhere from 100 to 150 union jobs. And when it's up and running, the facility would create up to 25 "high-paying" jobs, where the total salary and benefit package approaches $75,000.

• See related article: The Big Poop Debate: Proposed Waste Plant Causes Outcry In Newark

PVSC POWER PLANT

The second project that activists are trying to stop is a proposal from the PVSC to build a new gas power plant in the Ironbound section of Newark.

The long-running proposal is part of a resiliency plan that sprang up in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. During the now-infamous storm, the PVSC wastewater facility in Newark was flooded, spilling billions of gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage into the Passaic River.

Since then, the PVSC has rolled out a sweeping series of renovations to avoid future calamities. Part of that plan includes building a 34-megawatt power plant, which would provide backup power to their wastewater treatment plant if the grid goes down.

A PVSC spokesperson previously told Patch that the facility would be powered by "the same natural gas that people all across Newark and New Jersey in general use to heat their homes and from which they also obtain electrical power."

"The plant will use state-of-the-art emission controls with negligible impact to the community," he said.

However, some residents and environmental activists allege that, as currently planned, the plant would be bad news for the people who live nearby.

“While residents and advocates support the goal of building resilient wastewater treatment systems, we simply cannot achieve real resiliency by building new fossil fuel infrastructure,” activists said Wednesday.

“The emissions from a new fracked gas power plant would further exacerbate the climate crisis and lock us into even more extreme weather events in the future,” advocates continued. “And it would increase the pollution burden in the Ironbound community, which already suffers from decades of environmental racism.”

• See related article: Sewage Agency Taking Another Look At Newark Plant Proposal

‘POLLUTION OVERBURDENED’ IN THE IRONBOUND

Despite assurances from Aries and the PVSC, local residents are still worried about the potential pollution that might come from the two projects.

“The Ironbound community in Newark is one of the most pollution overburdened communities in the country,” activists said Wednesday. “Thankfully, after decades of inspired grassroots organizing and advocacy, our representatives took a critical step by enacting S232, landmark environmental justice legislation designed to protect communities like the Ironbound.”

• See related article: NJ Law Gives Urban Areas A Powerful Tool To Fight Polluters

But the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has yet to implement the environmental justice law, and final rules to make it operational aren’t expected until sometime in 2022. And in the meantime, companies are trying to “sneak in” their permit applications before the new rules go into effect, activists claim.

Now, advocates are asking Gov. Murphy to step in and fulfil his promises to pursue environmental justice in New Jersey.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Sign up for Patch email newsletters. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page.