Local Opposition Again Tables $180M Newark, N.J., Gas Plant

Robust native opposition has once more tabled closing approval by New Jersey’s Passaic Valley Sewerage Fee to construct a $180-million gas-fired energy plant in Newark, N.J., as an emergency backup, regardless of already securing sign-offs from Gov. Phil Murphy (D) final yr and the state Dept of Environmental Safety final month. 

Opponents, together with many residents of Newark, which the state has deemed a pollution-burdened neighborhood, claimed at a mid-March fee assembly the plant would emit an excessive amount of methane, sulfur and different pollution. 

The power was proposed a number of years in the past to stop a repeat of complete wastewater therapy energy loss that occurred in 2012, when flooding from Superstorm Sandy inundated the location and untreated sewage flowed into Newark streets and the Passaic River. 

DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, in a 16-page decision for the backup energy plant, mentioned that regardless of grid resilience enhancements it has made, native energy agency PSE&G mentioned it couldn’t assure service throughout excessive climate circumstances, accidents and tools failure or injury, in response to the choice.

The fee mentioned it can discover “vital adjustments in applied sciences,” however didn’t say when a brand new vote will happen. The backup plant was set to situated in Newark’s Ironbound part, and can be the fourth fossil-fuel plant in that space, if constructed, opponents say.