SUMMER 2015 | NEW JERSEY the clean water action newsletter

new jerseycurrents

198 Brighton Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740 | Phone 732.963.9714 | www.CleanWaterAction.org/nj

By David Pringle, Campaign DirectorNew Jersey courts have repeatedly found Exxon and its Linden and Bayonne refineries liable for 100 years of pollution and destruction of 1500 acres of forest, wetland, tideland, meadow, groundwater and waterways.

The company is on the hook for basic clean-up costs and natural resource damages (NRD, additional costs for restoration and the public’s lost use of land, water and other natural resources). However, Exxon has dragged its feet on the clean-up and is still contesting the assessed NRD.

Just before a judge was to rule on how much Exxon would be forced to pay in NRD, the Christie Administration proposed a settlement. Although the state’s own scientific experts documented $8.9 billion in NRD at the two refinery sites, the settlement proposes only $225 million — less than 3 cents on the dollar.

Gov. Christie’s proposed giveaway to Exxon would also:

• Relieve Exxon from responsibility for damages at 16 other New Jersey Exxon industrial sites and 800 Exxon gas stations.

• Give Exxon a tax write off by finding no wrongdoing, re-defining confirmed pollution as “alleged.”

• Permit Exxon to sue innocent government parties and prohibits the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection from opposing such action.

• Require New Jersey to pay its own lawyers’ fees.

• Allow the Christie Administration to raid restoration settlement funds to plug general budget holes.

TAKE ACTION! This dirty settlement is not a done deal. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin must consider public comments before submitting the settlement to the judge. Both Martin and the judge can reject the settlement. Clean Water Action generated over 2,000 member comments, which are now part of the public record for the commissioner and judge to consider in making their final decision.

You can still weigh in. State lawmakers must ensure any settlement funds go to restoration not the General Fund. Learn more and contact them here, www.cleanwateraction.org/action/exxon

Don’t Let Exxon Off the Hook!

North Jersey’s Pilgrim Oil PipelinePilgrim, a venture capital group, proposes to build two 178-mile parallel pipelines between Albany, New York and Linden and Woodbridge, New Jersey. This particu-larly dangerous project would transport Bakken shale oil, which is more volatile than typical crude. Besides exacer-bating climate change and fostering fracking, the Pilgrim project would threaten the drinking water for millions.

Clean Water Action and diverse grassroots allies have so far won 27 resolutions by local, county, and state legislators. More at www.stoppilgrimpipeline.com

Pinelands Gas PipelineIn a landmark victory last January, opposition from Clean Water Action, other environmental groups and concerned citizens persuaded commissioners to reject a proposed 22-mile high-pressure gas pipeline through the Pinelands Preserve, a designated World Biosphere, lush with indigenous plant and wildlife species.

Since then, dirty politics (dirty even by New Jersey standards) has come back to haunt the preserve. Governor Christie and Democratic Senators Jeffrey Van Drew and Stephen Sweeney have systematically removed commissioners who voted in opposition. Their latest appointment is treasurer of the South Jersey Democratic organization, Robert Barr. Clean Water Action keeps a strong presence at commission meetings and is ready to mount strong opposition to South Jersey Gas’ new permit application.

Oyster Creek Plant Threatens Barnegat BayEquipment failure led to a fifth unplanned recent shutdown at the Jersey Shore’s Oyster Creek nuclear plant. Federal regulators issued a “yellow” finding and increased oversight. Clean Water Action is calling for immediate closure of the country’s oldest nuke and a full decommissioning of the reactor.

The decommissioning would employ the plant’s workforce for up to a dozen years, and include moving more 750 metric tons of highly radioactive waste from an overhead cooling pool into more secure dry cask storage. www.cleanwateraction.org/oystercreek

LNG at the Jersey Shore?Some people just don’t know the meaning of the word, “NO!” Once again, Liberty Natural Gas has resurrected its plan for a deep water port near the entrance to the NY-NJ harbor that would bring combustible Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) tankers — just miles from the best and busiest beaches. LNG presents myriad security risks, shipping hazards and environmental harms. Governor Christie vetoed the project in 2011, but he has yet to commit to vetoing it again. www.cleanwateraction.org/action/keep-jersey-shore-lng-free

Stopping Bad Energy Projects in the Garden StateBy Janet Tauro, New Jersey Board Chair

Protect the Pine Barrens. Clean Water Action and an environmental coalition representing hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents took a Bus for Progress tour to key Senators’ offices urging them to stand up for the Pinelands and good government by denying the nomination of Barr to the Pinelands Commission. #PinesNOTPipes #Vote4Integrity

A crazy quilt of oil and gas pipeline projects now threatens New Jersey, the nation’s most densely populated state — a state with a long history of contamination and pollution. Add to that a dilapidated nuclear plant and the treasured Pinelands under siege, and Clean Water Action has its hands full.

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By Kim GaddyClean Water Fund was selected as one of seventeen community-based nonprofits from among 230 nonprofit applicants nationally for the Kresge Foundation’s Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative. In collaboration with the Ironbound Community Corporation and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Clean Water Fund and Clean Water Action are working to deepen local leadership in regional climate resiliency.

Clean Water Fund is leading grassroots efforts in Newark’s South Ward, as well as larger policy collaborations. The focus is on creating a neighborhood driven, multi-dimensional approach to improving urban climate change resiliency and mitigation while advancing green jobs, local food production, and a more vibrant, sustainable economy for its largely low income residents. Together with the City of Newark, community leaders and neighborhood residents the project will develop strategies to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas pollution, adapt to the adverse impacts and changes already underway, and foster social inclusion and cohesion.

As a frontline community, Newark has seen climate change impacts first-hand, including the devastating Hurricane Sandy. The time is right for local leadership on the issue. “The risk to our residents’ public health and safety make this a critical opportunity for Newark to seize and for our communities to lead the way towards greater climate-resiliency,” says Newark Councilwoman Mildred Crump, Municipal Council President.

“Together, we want to make sure that the voices from our community are not simply heard, but that our thoughts, ideals and efforts, are evidenced in a comprehensible ‘grassroots-originated’ resiliency and improvement plan,” adds Clean Water Fund’s Terrance Bankston. “This plan will ultimately serve as the blueprint to enhance and better protect the landscapes of our South Ward neighborhoods and businesses.”

Clean Water Fund has also been working on New Jersey Future’s Urban Mayors Committee requesting Mayors to adopt a Proclamation that will encourage cities to make additional investments in 21st-century water infrastructure. www.cleanwateraction.org/newarkstrong

Climate Resiliency for New Jersey’s Urban Communities

ReThink DisposableBy Jenny Vickers

Single-use disposables, such as plastic bags and bottles, Styrofoam cups, and throwaway packaging, litter our beaches and oceans world-wide, harm sea life, pile up in landfills, contribute vast amounts of methane, and fill incinerators with dioxin-producing plastics. The throwaway lifestyle adds up to an epidemic of resource consumption, waste and pollution.

Clean Water Action is launching ReThink Disposable in New Jersey, modeled after the successful California Clean Water Action program. It aims to eliminate single-use disposable products and packaging wherever possible, in favor of more durable and re-usable products. The initiative includes a new partnership with the Asbury Park Boardwalk to help oceanfront businesses, vendors and a new food truck park save money and reduce waste by going green. Learn more or get involved, 732-963-9714, njcwa@cleanwaterorg,www.cleanwateraction.org/feature/rethink-disposable

STOP WASTE BEFORE IT STARTS

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Kresge Foundation’s Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative grant recipients Clean Water Fund, Ironbound Community Corporation, and NJ Environmental Justice Alliance join City of Newark Mayor Baraka and Council President Mildred Crump at a press conference to announce a new partnership to work on climate resiliency #NewarkStrong #NewarkRAP

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new jerseycurrents

SUMMER 2015

Six Flags wants to install solar arrays to power the amusement park. But the plans call for clearcutting 90 acres of environmentally sensitive Pinelands forest, the equivalent of 120 football fields. Clean Water Action and allies have filed suit to stop the project. Clean Water Action supports the idea of solar at Great Adventure, but believes more appropriate locations are available, including the site’s 100-acre parking lot, rooftops and other nearby structures.

“Great Adventure’s position that it must destroy the forest to combat climate change is illogical and uninformed,” said Janet Tauro, Clean Water Action’s New Jersey Board Chair. “You don’t kill the earth to save the earth. If a Jackson resident takes down a tree in their own backyard, they have to jump through many hoops due to a very

stringent local tree removal ordinance; but when Great Adventure plans to clear cut 18,000 trees, the application flies through like greased lightning.”

The lawsuit, filed by Clean Water Action New Jersey board member Michele Donato, Esq., focuses

on violations of comprehensive planning and environmental provisions of New Jersey’s Municipal

Land Use Law, and Jackson ordinances. Co-plaintiffs include Crosswicks Creek-Doctors Creek Watershed Association, Environment New Jersey, NJ Conservation Foundation,

Save Barnegat Bay, and NJ Sierra Club. Similar active recreation sites in the region, including Philadelphia Eagles Arena and Rutgers University basketball stadium have demonstrated how solar development need not involve clearcutting.

Six Flags Solar GreenWashBy David Pringle

TAKE ACTION! Tell Six Flags Park President John Fitzgerald you love solar, but not if it means clearcutting90 acres of forest! Call him at 732-928-2000, hit 4 and enter “Fitzgerald”— leave a voicemail and tell him to utilize the parking lot instead.To learn more and view the complaint, visit: www.cleanwateraction.org/feature/six-flags-solar-farm