NJ Activists Want 7 Controversial Fossil Fuel Projects Shut Down

NEWARK, NJ — Power plants in Newark and Kearny. Road widening on the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. Expansions on a major gas pipeline that threads through Branchburg, Old Bridge and West Deptford. These are some of the proposed projects that a coalition of New Jersey environmental activists are hoping to shut down, as final permit decisions loom on the horizon.

On Tuesday, members of the Empower NJ coalition kicked off a five-day “Walk for Climate Justice” in Newark. Marchers will walk to Woodbridge for an evening rally on Wednesday, and end with a rally in Red Bank on Saturday.

Their goal? To put the spotlight on seven fossil fuel projects that they say are bad news for New Jersey.

“If approved by the Murphy administration, these would be massive polluters, increasing New Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to a whopping 38 percent,” the coalition charged in a joint statement.

The proposed projects include:

• Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) pipeline – “Williams Transco gas pipeline with a capacity of 829,000Mcf/day. Project includes compressor station expansions in Branchburg and Old Bridge and a new compressor station in West Deptford.”
• Gibbstown Liquid Natural Gas Port and LNG bomb trucks and trains – “New project to compress and transport LNG via train/trucks for export through Gibbstown export terminal.”
• NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway expansion projects – “New Jersey Turnpike Authority plans to widen 60 miles of the Turnpike and 64 miles along the Parkway for a total of 370 lane miles.”
• Tennessee Gas Pipeline compressors – “TGP expansion of existing Wantage compressor and new compressor in West Milford adding capacity for an additional 115,000Mcf/day.”
• Keasbey Energy Center (aka CPV2) – “Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) 630MW gas power plant in the overburdened environmental justice community of Keasbey (section of Woodbridge). This will be the third major fossil fuel power plant sited in Woodbridge.”
• New Jersey Transit Microgrid (NJTRANSITGRID) power plant – “New 140 MW gas power plant in Kearny to operate trains during loss of commercial power.”
• Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) gas power plant – “New 84MW capacity PVSC gas plant in Newark to power operations when commercial power is lost.”

Four of the seven projects are facing final permit decisions in the next few months, activists said, pointing out that several other large fossil fuel projects have already gotten the green light in New Jersey between 2018 and 2021.

See their full list here.

Gov. Murphy made the environment a major part of his platform during both of his gubernatorial campaigns.

In 2020, Murphy signed one of the strongest environmental justice laws in the nation, which makes it harder for the owners of major sources of air pollution to build a new facility, expand an old one, or renew an existing permit in areas that are considered “overburdened.” Read More: NJ Law Gives Urban Areas A Powerful Tool To Fight Polluters

To qualify, a neighborhood needs to have 35 percent low-income households, 40 percent minority households or 40 percent of households with limited English language proficiency. According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, about 348 municipalities have overburdened communities within their borders, and the law impacts 4.6 million people in New Jersey. Read More: New DEP Rule Would Protect Already Polluted NJ Communities

The new round of fossil fuel proposals will put the state’s new law to the test – and failure is not an option, advocates insist.

During Monday’s kickoff event in Newark, activists rallied outside NJ Transit’s headquarters to protest the agency’s power plant proposal in Kearny. Here’s the problem, they said:

“In the fall of 2020, after 18 months of growing public outcry, Gov. Murphy directed NJ Transit to shelve their plans to build a fossil fuel power plant as part of the NJ TransitGrid resilience program, and to redevelop the project using as close to 100% clean renewable energy as possible. NJ Transit spent 2021 redesigning the framework for the project, and issued this information in its December request for proposals. But advocates and renewable energy experts have identified critical problems with this new framework, which would again allow for a gas plant at the center of this project, which would run 24/7. In addition to providing backup power, NJ Transit is proposing to sell power from this project to Amtrak.”

NJ Transit isn’t the only large public agency looking to beef up its infrastructure with a power plant, advocates say.

In addition to NJ Transit’s proposal for Kearny, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC), is proposing to build a new natural gas power plant at its existing wastewater treatment facility at 600 Wilson Avenue in Newark. The long-running proposal is part of a resiliency blueprint that sprang up in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

During the 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 plant which would provide backup power to their wastewater treatment plant if the grid goes down.

If approved, it would be the fourth gas-burning power plant in a community that already struggles with harmful levels of toxic air pollution from decades of environmental racism, advocates said.

• See related article: NJ Activists Fight 2 Proposed Plants: 'Stop Dumping On Newark'
• See related article: Essex County Trash Incinerator Unfairly Burdens Poor, Critics Say

The PVSC has maintained that the plant will use state-of-the-art emission controls and will have a “negligible impact to the community.” But while advocates say they understand the need to build resilience in the face of the climate crisis, the agency should do so with a solution that “prioritizes as much renewable energy as possible and doesn’t involve a new, dirty energy power plant.”

After Murphy put out a call to the PVSC to go back to the drawing board and take another look at the proposal in January, activists cheered the move. But they continue to keep the pressure up as the project approaches the finish line.

• See related article: Vote On Newark Power Plant Nixed After Gov. Murphy Intervenes

“The answer to fighting climate change is to support clean, renewable energy – not fossil fuels,” said Terrance Bankston, an organizer with Clean Water Action and former Newark City Council candidate.

“Newark cannot afford another polluting, gas-burning power plant like the one the PVSC is proposing,” agreed Cynthia Mellon, co-chair of the City of Newark Environmental Commission.

“Our communities can no longer be sacrifice zones,” said Chris Rodriguez, an urban farmer with the Ironbound Community Corporation.

“For too long, we’ve had to deal with the toxic burden of harmful air pollution,” Rodriguez said. “Newark residents deserve clean air.”

“You would think that Gov. Murphy would rush to prevent another fossil fuel project in an environmental justice community,” said Paula Rogovin of the Don't Gas the Meadowlands Coalition.

“It's time for [the governor] to walk the talk for climate justice, keep his promise, and reject the PVSC and NJ Transit gas plants – now,” Rogovin said.

According to activists, New Jersey’s largest city would also be impacted by the proposed NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway expansion projects, which would simultaneously cause more air pollution in “already overburdened” communities in Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken.

In the Mile Square City, several Hoboken council members – including those who sometimes clash with each other politically – have joined forces with environmentalists to oppose the $4.7 billion Turnpike extension proposal.

The Murphy administration has argued that the project is needed to replace roadways between Exit 14A and 14C, from Newark to Jersey City, because of decades of damage. Opponents say that while repairs are necessary, the present plan for the widening will cause pollution, congestion and other issues in urban neighborhoods in Hudson County.

• See related article: Hoboken Officials Publicly Oppose $4.7B Turnpike Extension Widening

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page.