Power Plant In Polluted Newark Neighborhood Is ‘Slap In Face’: Mayor

NEWARK, NJ — A controversial plan to build a power plant in a heavily polluted Newark neighborhood is now only a permit away from the finish line.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has given the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) permission to start construction on a natural gas power plant at its wastewater treatment facility at 600 Wilson Avenue, NJ Advance Media reported Wednesday.

The matter is now under a 45-day review from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a spokesperson for the sewerage commission told Patch, declining further comment.

If the federal air permit is granted, the NJDEP can issue a final decision and the project can move ahead. But if it does, it will be a “slap in the face” to the people who live in the area, advocates say.

Critics of the proposal include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who issued a statement blasting the latest news:

“In a city struggling to dig out from under decades of environmental injustices, the state’s greenlighting of Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s construction of Newark’s fourth gas-fueled power plant comes as an assault that we are prepared to fight in court. Already fouled by New Jersey’s largest garbage incinerator, choked daily by diesel fumes from thousands of container trucks, littered with more than its share of smokestacks and toxic refuse, Newark considers this decision a slap in the face to every resident. We deserve better. Standing solid for the people of Newark, I wholly reject this decision and demand that PVSC’s storm-related backup power source needs be met with clean, renewable energy and grid-hardening technologies that will not threaten our health and exacerbate the climate crisis. To repeat what I have said in letters to Gov. Phil Murphy, statements to the media and public comments: Newark will not abide by any discriminatory energy project that inflicts further harm upon our residents and the workers who come here to invigorate the state’s economy.”

“There are viable alternatives to a gas-powered plant,” Baraka concluded. “There is a compassionate alternative to oppression. And there are easier and less disruptive alternatives to litigation.”

POWER PLANT PROPOSAL

The proposal is part of a resiliency blueprint 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. Read More: Superstorm Sandy Caused Flood Of Excrement In New Jersey 10 Years Ago

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.

The PVSC has maintained that the plant will use state-of-the-art emission controls and will have a “negligible impact to the community,” only being used as a backup when a storm cuts out power. Spokespeople have said the agency continues to explore clean energy alternatives for the facility, and is planning to integrate solar and batteries as part of the project. The agency said it is also working with Siemens – the manufacturer of the turbines that would be used to operate the facility – to transition the fuel used in the turbines from natural gas to a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen and then to 100% hydrogen. Read More: Sewerage Commission Defends Newark Power Plant Proposal, Cites Sandy

But while advocates say they understand the need to build resilience in the face of the climate crisis, they insist that the PVSC should do so with a solution that “prioritizes as much renewable energy as possible and doesn’t involve a new “dirty energy power plant,” especially in a neighborhood that’s been long-plagued with environmental hazards – including several other power plants.

An estimated one in four children in Newark has asthma, advocates say.

• See Related: The Color Purple: Newark Residents Fed Up With Incinerator Smoke
• See Related: Newark Activists Count Truck Traffic, Worry About Air Pollution
• See Related: Waste Processing Plant Off The Table In Newark; Aries Nixes Plan

A major rallying point for activists has been New Jersey’s landmark environmental justice law, which they allege that the plant would violate. Read More: NJ Activists Hope For 'Turning Point' With Environmental Justice Law

Under the law, an "overburdened community" must have at least 35 percent of households that are low-income, 40 percent of residents who are minorities or belong to a state-recognized tribal community, or 40 percent of households that have limited English proficiency.

The NJDEP designates the Ironbound section of Newark as an overburdened area because it has a high percentage of low-income and minority residents.

However, the NJDEP recently announced that the state will allow the plan to move forward, with Commissioner Shawn LaTourette saying the facility will be taking measures to reduce its environmental footprint, including better pollution controls on boilers that treat sewage sludge, replacing older equipment, and installing more solar panels and batteries. He added that there will be “no disproportionate impact” on minority communities. See Related: Controversial Power Plant In Newark Can Move Ahead, Official Says

Several New Jersey state lawmakers who represent the area have criticized the NJDEP's announcement, including Sens. Teresa Ruiz and Renee Burgess, and Assembly members Eliana Pintor Marin, Shanique Speight, Cleopatra Tucker and Garnet Hall.

"The NJDEP's approval of the PVSC power plant in the Ironbound neighborhood is an indefensible and hypocritical decision that blatantly violates New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law," Ruiz recently said.

"The people most affected by this act will bear the health and psychological brunt, particularly the children who reside in these neighborhoods, unlike the decision-makers who remain comfortably detached from the consequences of their shocking and reprehensible actions," the senator added.

The Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), which has been a vocal opponent of the proposal, has also blasted the NJDEP's decision.

"The PVSC argues that an additional fossil fuel power plant in Newark is necessary to prevent power outages and subsequent street flooding," the nonprofit recently stated. "Despite severe storms like Henry and Ida, which brought record-breaking rainfall to our neighborhood, PVSC has not suffered any power outages since Superstorm Sandy. Their assessment of alternatives, such as solar and battery storage, was conducted over a decade ago and did not account for the significant advancements in solar and battery technologies since then."

"It is morally irresponsible for PVSC to proceed with this fossil project amidst climate change, heat waves, and advancements in clean energy," charged Maria Lopez-Nunez, deputy director of organizing and advocacy at the ICC.

"Adding another power plant to our already burdened neighborhood is a racist decision that disregards community health and environmental justice," she said.

• See Related: Power Plant Proposal In Newark Faces Last-Minute Plea: ‘Vote No’
• See Related: Opposition To Power Plant Growing In Newark; City Council Takes Vote
• See Related: Put The Brakes On Power Plant In Newark, 20 NJ Lawmakers Say

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