Murphy gives OK to controversial North Jersey power plant for sewage facility

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration will move forward with a controversial power plant that environmentalists and community groups have long opposed, a senior administration official said Thursday.

The $180 million natural gas power plant to provide backup power at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission in Newark was put on hold by Murphy more than two years ago after opponents raised concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and the public health impacts to the surrounding community.

But after an environmental justice review that concentrated on the impact the plant could have on surrounding minority communities, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette told reporters Wednesday morning that his agency would issue the permits needed to build and operate the plant.

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The decision was met with criticism by the Ironbound Community Corp., a community group that has fought against the power plant for years.

"I think it's disgusting that Gov. Murphy didn't have the guts to stand up to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission," said Maria Lopez-Nuñez, deputy director of Advocacy and Organizing at the community group. "If this were a rich, white community with political pull, there's no way he would've made this decision."

LaTourette said the environmental justice review would reduce overall pollution from the sewage treatment facility, one of the nation's largest and the biggest consumer of electricity in New Jersey. It requires the facility to put better pollution controls on boilers that treat sewage sludge, and to replace older equipment. The treatment facility will also be required to install more solar panels and batteries.

"Here there is no disproportionate impact" on minority communities, LaTourette said during a press briefing. "We have avoided that outcome, which is the purpose" of the environmental justice law.

Lopez-Nuñez called LaTourette's explanation absurd.

"I'm proud of the environmental justice law, but implementation is everything and we're off to a rough start," she said. "This makes me lose faith in the DEP that they would do the right thing."

The idea of a backup power plant was devised during Gov. Chris Christie's administration in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which knocked power out from the treatment facility for days, causing 840 million gallons of raw sewage to pour into Newark Bay and surrounding waterways in 2012. But opponents said the power plant would pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and exacerbate the intensity and frequency of storms like Sandy.

Environmentalists thought Murphy would block the plant

Environmental and community groups thought Murphy would stop the plant given his public stances on combatting climate change and signing a highly-publicized environmental justice law to scrutinize pollution-generating facilities proposed in overburdened communities such as the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, where the power plant is slated to be built.

The area around the plant is filled with factories, a large incinerator and multiple other power plants. It is also home to Port Newark, and is surrounded by highways.

The power plant would only be used as a backup when a storm disrupts power to the sewage treatment plant. The sewerage commission would be able to test the facility once a month. Barring a power outage, commission officials have said the power plant would be offline 97% of the year.

State officials have long looked favorably on the power plant because the federal government is paying 90% of the cost using post-Sandy resiliency funds. Even when Murphy stopped the commission from voting on the project in January 2022, the commission had already awarded a $51 million contract to buy three turbines that had already been built and were ready to be shipped to the facility.

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Murphy gives OK to controversial North Jersey power plant for sewage facility