The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday announced it will issue a very limited approval to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission for the construction and emergency use only of a backup power station on its 140-acre site that borders the Newark Bay.
The potential permit from the DEP marks the completion of an environmental justice review, but the approval is just one step of a permitting process that is expected to last an additional six months.
The approval would only allow the PVSC to operate the facility in the event of a storm that disrupts PVSC’s power service. And it would come with numerous other environmental conditions, which — when implemented — would create a net overall reduction in the emission of air pollutants from the PVSC facility as a whole, DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said.
More than that, building the backup power facility would (hopefully) prevent further situations where power outages have resulted in raw sewage flowing into the Newark Bay and back into homes and businesses the plants serve.
Because of the size of PVSC (it is the sixth-largest sewage treatment system among more than 16,000 nationally), power outages at PVSC can have great impact. The power outages caused by Superstorm Sandy resulted in approximately 840 million gallons of raw sewage going directly into the Passaic River and Newark Bay.
LaTourette said the limited approval — with all of its conditions — is an example of how the state’s recently enacted and strict environmental justice rules (arguably the toughest in the country) can create healthier communities.
LaTourette, however, knows that — like all environmental issues — there will be plenty of voices saying the decision “goes too far” or “not far enough.”
“I don’t expect anyone to praise this outcome,” he said. “The DEP is not in the business of seeking praise or avoiding criticism, but, rather, to achieve a result that best protects public health and the environment. And that is what this does.”
The proposal for this potential backup generating plant has faced much scrutiny and criticism since it was introduced in January 2020.
LaTourette defended the actions of the DEP as the right thing to do, while crediting Gov. Phil Murphy for signing the law that enabled the DEP to do them.
“What these transformative environmental laws have done is enable the regulatory authority of the DEP to extend beyond one piece of pollution control equipment at a time, which is the way environmental justice or environmental law has always worked — and is part of the reason that disproportionate impacts are experienced by overburdened communities,” he said.
Prior to the law, the DEP would only have been able to act on the proposed backup power plant. Now, it can review the entirety of the situation, requiring other environmental measures to be enacted.
That’s a difference maker, LaTourette said.
“Notwithstanding the addition of backup power, the mandatory environmental justice conditions in this decision will result in a net overall reduction of air pollutant emissions, even though this backup power station may operate in the event of a storm,” he said. “We believe that this is the kind of result that our environmental justice law was intended to achieve.
“It’s one that not only avoids casting more pollution upon an overburdened community, but also improves upon the existing conditions by reducing pollution that our neighbors are already experiencing.”
LaTourette said it is his understanding that the PVSC will continue ahead with the project, accepting the adjustments and modifications the DEP has suggested.
The process involves more than that, however. The proposed backup facility will be subject to public hearings and comments in a process that likely will not be complete until the first quarter of 2025.
Among the requirements mandated by the DEP in the limited approval:
- PVSC must install better air pollution controls on preexisting equipment in addition to the controls that would be placed upon the backup power station;
- PVSC would be required to remove or upgrade other preexisting equipment at its facility, such as older building boilers and generators;
- PVSC would be required to install the maximum feasible but no less than 5 megawatts of on-site solar, and the maximum feasible but no less than 5 megawatts of on-site battery storage;
- PVSC would be required to immediately study the feasibility of transitioning the emergency backup power station to green hydrogen or another renewable fuel source (it would start by using natural gas) and to propose a transition schedule to the DEP.
In addition, the PVSC would not be allowed to utilize the power station as a regular power source for its routine operations or to reduce its energy, demand or costs, LaTourette said.
LaTourette said PVSC would be strictly prohibited from utilizing the power station to generate and sell energy back to the grid.
“This is not to be a revenue-generating (facility),” he said.
LaTourette said he understands how passionate environmental and community groups are on this issue — especially those who live in the area.
“The folks of the Ironbound community and the city of Newark more broadly, have lived with decades, generations, of a disproportionate amount of pollution, that we all together create,” he said. “They bear that.
“So, just the thought of another industrial source is troubling to the community.”
History dictates that, LaTourette said.
“You’ll hear from the residents of Ironbound and some of the advocates that, ‘If you build it, it will pollute.’ That government has let them down with respect to environmental protections for generations. And, so, why should they believe us now?” he said.
“That’s life experience and that trauma is real.
“I don’t think that this decision will win that moment. That lived experience of our neighbors is real and we should honor it.”
LaTourette, however, said that does not mean simply rejecting all proposals.
“The purpose of our environmental justice law is not to just outright denying your projects, but rather to improve upon the baseline conditions that a community experiences and to reduce environmental and public health stressors upon that community,” he said. “That is what this decision does.
“And recognizing that the construction of this facility may be an affront to some, the scientific fact is that air pollution from this facility as a whole will be reduced. I think that that is the work we have committed to do. And we should be proud of it.”
