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DEP issued permits for NJ Natural Gas the same day Pinelands Commission OK’d SJG

Accelerating climate catastrophe ignored – again

We got a heads up on this last week from Agnes Marsala, head of People Over Pipelines, so we were not surprised by Dave Levinsky’s Burlington County Times report today:

New Jersey Natural Gas’ proposed gas pipeline through northern Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean counties has cleared another regulatory hurdle. … The permits were awarded Feb. 24…

The permits were received the same day the [Pinelands] commission approved construction of another pipeline through part of the Pinelands in Cape May County. That decision was blasted by environmental groups, who fear it might set a precedent for approving other pipelines like New Jersey Natural Gas’ Southern Reliability Link. …

“(Gov. Chris) Christie’s one-two attack on the environment delivered Friday, Feb. 24th, marks a desperate, end-game attempt to ram as much unnecessary, permanent fossil fuel infrastructure as possible through the Garden State before his term expires,” said Agnes Marsala, president of the group.

We told you that would happen:

NJ Natural Gas Pipeline Next In Line for the Christie – Wittenberg Rubber Stamp

The record setting Christie DEP press office – who has issued more press releases by far than any other – didn’t issue a press release. Not even a Friday afternoon dump.

Not only did DEP try to keep this quiet and under the radar, instead, when they knew the press was working on a pipeline story, they cynically put out a self serving diversionary smokescreen to create the appearance of protecting the Pinelands (see this). (this is a longstanding and shameless abuse, especially for climate related issues).

Like the South Jersey Gas pipeline, this NJNG pipeline also has a particularly corrupt regulatory history at BPU (see this and this), the Pinelands Commission, and the DEP. Lets look at DEP.

The Christie DEP not only bent the rules to approve this pipeline, remarkably, they actually changed the rules to make it easier for pipelines!

The DEP rolled back protections under the Flood Hazard Act (stream encroachment permits) to issue and essentially deregulate and privatize stream encroachment permits under what is called a “Permit by Rule” (see this for details:

• Christie DEP Set To Issue Controversial Compressor Station and Pinelands Pipeline Permits
• Christie DEP Finds That Pipelines Crossing Streams Have “No Impact” On Them

Keep in mind that the rollback of those stream encroachment rules weakened other critical protections for streams (see: The Case for a Legislative Veto) that apply statewide (and not only to pipelines).

The rollbacks made it cheaper for energy corporations to comply with rules, increased allowable disturbance and destruction of environmentally sensitive lands, reduced or eliminated mitigation requirements, made it easier for DEP to approve pipelines, and much harder for the public to challenge them.

Environmental groups mounted a strong opposition to the DEP rollbacks and Legislators promised to veto them. But that veto was abandoned.

So, folks need to criticize not only the Christie DEP, but Democratic legislators who failed to honor their pledge to veto those rules (see:

• Senator Sweeney Sells Out NJ’s “Exceptional Value” Streams and Rivers – Cuts Deal With Christie DEP To Avoid Veto

The regulatory game is rigged and the corruption is bi-partisan.

Hopefully, the courts will uphold the lawsuits that are certain to be filed by environmental groups.

As citizens, our only recourse at this point is protest, direct action, and civil disobedience.

Promised turbine manufacturing jobs blowin’ in the wind

“Bipartisan” NJ Democrats got played by Gov. Christie on wind

Lessons for negotiations with Trump?

At a time when the Trump administration is under harsh criticism for relationships with Russia and is advocating an “America First” economic policy that seeks to erect barriers to imports as a means to expand US manufacturing jobs – including reviving US coal and steel manufacturing – NJ Democrats are celebrating importation of Russian steel.

Repeat: NJ Democrats are celebrating importation of Russian steel. Given the current context, that’s incredible on “optics” and poor policy as well. (the Port currently employs only “40 to 50 people”).

Maybe that kind of thinking helps explain why NJ manufacturing jobs are in free fall? And why trade unions are being manipulated and lied to by those same South Jersey Democrats who promise jobs as cover for ramming pipelines down our throats? (see:

• Pipe Dreams – The False Promise of Local Pipeline Jobs

But am I the only one to note the irony and hypocrisy in all the hoopla surrounding the hyped Paulsboro Port story? (which just so happens to ignore the Russia controversy, US jobs and the Port’s wind history):

• First import of Russian steel arrives at new Paulsboro port

On Wednesday, Doric Warrior made its final leg of a long journey to Paulsboro from Russia. The ship, 230 meters long, carried the first shipment of steel to the Paulsboro Marine Terminal. Crews worked tirelessly to unload some of the steel before Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, the men who envisioned and backed the port since day one, would welcome guests to mark the occasion. …

“This port is generational,” said Sweeney. “This port will sustain families for years to come.”

Burzichelli noted that the 700 workers employed to prepare the grounds, construct the port and unload the steel racked up roughly $25 million in payroll.

But aside from the huge contradiction between Trump and NJ Dems, does anyone recall the promise of wind jobs for that port?

South Jersey Biz (February 2012)

The port will be designed to handle various cargos. For example, wind turbines—a proposed tenant—could arrive at the port for assembly and ship back out fully constructed.

In 2010, Gov. Chris Christie went to the site of the port to sign the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, a bill that provides market-based credits for offshore wind production. The bill—which was co-sponsored by Burzichelli—helped create an offshore renewable energy certificate (OREC) program that requires a certain percentage of electricity sold in the state to be wind energy manufactured offshore. The legislation also made it clear that Paulsboro would be the preferred hub for turbine assembly.

“Offshore wind would obviously be a great fit for Paulsboro,” Castignola says. “That would be a true perfect fit and almost fill up all of [the port], and put to bed in terms of space what we’ll be able to do there. It would be a great opportunity if that occurred.”

NJ Biz: (April 2013)

“The New Jersey Energy Link will help move New Jersey on a path towards greater grid reliability and lower power costs,” said Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli. “This feasibility study shows what the South Jersey Port Corporation has been working so hard on for years, to make the Paulsboro Marine Terminal a driving force for creating jobs and becoming a manufacturing hub for the offshore wind industry for the state.”

Or of the political commitments by Senator Sweeney and Assemblyman Burzichelli:(3rd Legislative District website)

• Senator Sweeney and Assemblyman Burzichelli worked in 2010 to pass the “Offshore Wind Economic Development Act,” which established an offshore wind renewable energy certificate program, and authorized the Economic Development Agency (EDA) to provide tax credits for qualified wind energy facilities in wind energy zones. This legislation is critical to the Port of Paulsboro project, and will be instrumental in bringing jobs into New Jersey.

The Democrats blamed Gov. Christie for the failure to realize wind, see:

• DEMOCRATS BLAME CHRISTIE’S NATIONAL AMBITIONS FOR STANDSTILL IN OFFSHORE WIND

“I honestly believe that it’s being held up by national politics,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), standing outside the fence of the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, a site offshore wind proponents hope will become a hub for green manufacturing jobs associated with the sector.

Of course, Gov. Christie is to blame – but I also blame  Sweeney and the “bipartisan Democrats” for being totally naive – or complicit – in negotiating with the Gov. and for failure to pay attention to the details of the wind legislation they signed off on.

The off shore wind gambit was obviously a Christie cynical bait and switch – just like the false promises he made to the NJ Environmental Federation to secure their 2009 endorsement.

From day one, providing the Christie BPU with virtually standardless unfettered discretion to determine “net economic benefits” (the cost test) and veto wind was so obviously fatally flawed.

Which takes us to the current situation national Democrats face in negotiating an infrastructure program with the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress.

Will national democrats get suckered like their NJ counter-parts?

Immediately after the election, we predicted they would:

The first issue to cement this coalition and illustrate this strategy is likely to be infrastructure, where timid corporate Democrats will be promised union infrastructure jobs in exchange for huge corporate tax cuts.

Of course, the Trump infrastructure deal will include privatization (“public-private partnerships”) and unrelated items like deregulation, attacks on unions, Wall Street financing giveaways, and environmental rollbacks too. (Obama already set the stage for all that with his Executive Orders to “streamline” NEPA and environmental reviews of infrastructure projects. Congressional Democrats – including corporate Wall Street Dems like Cory Booker – have already introduced “public private partnership” infrastructure bills, just like NJ State Democrats supported Gov. Christie’s privatization of water infrastructure and anti-democratic elimination of prior local voter approval requirements).

But Trump has been severely weakened since then by a series of scandals.

Still, we are not optimistic.

Some Democrats are desperate for restoring relationships with the traditional labor base – those “forgotten working class” voters – and will fall for any line of bullshit that promises “jobs”.

Some Dems are Trump collaborators (e.g. those facing 2018 elections that voted for his Cabinet nominees), some share Trump’s policy views on corporate subsidies, privatization, Wall Street finance, and/or “public – private partnerships”, and some are just plain cowards.

Time will tell.

But there are remarkable parallels between Trump and Christie – the environmental policy and politics are virtually an echo – and it would be reckless and stupid for the national Democrats not to learn from that experience.

Senator Sweeney (L), Wolfe (R) – Earth Day 2005 – revised!

Former Chairman, Commissioner Lohbauer provides brilliant statement in opposition

Commission Votes For Fossil On A Record-breaking 76 degree February Day

Signal of climate chaos

NJ Natural Gas Pipeline Next In Line for the Christie – Wittenberg Rubber Stamp

[Update below]

There was a huge turnout today of strong and loud opponents for the Pinelands Commission’s final meeting on the proposed South Jersey Gas Co. pipeline.

The line outside formed early – hours before the 9:30 am start – and the 1,600 seat ballroom was 3/4 full – over 95% opposed (the union guys stayed home – they knew the deal was in).

I was one of the over 100 people turned away and/or forced to stand for hours in the cold rain in the previous fiasco at Browns Mills, so I made sure I arrived early (it was still dark when I got there and I was the first on line and to sign up to speak – absolutely to no avail!).

Commissioner Barr, a political hack with no Pinelands experience who was installed as a puppet by strong armed tactics by Gov. Christie and Senate President Sweeney, had the balls to announced in the press that he would vote to approve, 3 days BEFORE the hearing.

So much for deliberation with his fellow Commissioners and public input prior to making a decision! Note that his support has nothing to do with his legal obligation under the CMP and that his claims about property taxes are factually false. You really can’t make this stuff up:

He [Barr] warned of a “cascading effect” caused by the plant’s possible shutdown, including higher local property taxes, the loss of jobs and Upper Township residents leaving the area.

“They will move because their property taxes will go through the roof,” he said.

Keeping the plant open would create more jobs for the region, Barr said. The facility currently does not run every day of the year, but its conversion to natural gas would allow it to operate constantly, requiring more workers to keep it humming, he stressed.

It was tragically fitting that the temperatures outside were soaring to a record-breaking 76 degree February day, as the Commission blindly and corruptly voted to approve a massive $500 million regional pipeline and gas power plant infrastructure project, fueled by Marcellus shale fracked gas.

I am providing this quote, because it was included in the initial AP national wire story, but was mysteriously deleted from every single one but this one: (Down the Memory Hole! I am the Invisible Man!)

“What you just did was despicable,” environmentalist Bill Wolfe told the commission. “I’m gonna use George Bush and say people who voted for this pipeline are evildoers.” – see NBC TV/AP story: Hotly Contested Pinelands Pipeline Project Passes Despite Noisy Protest

[Note: Fox News and NJTV included my Bush “evil-doer” quote – but without my preface that I typically avoided both Manichaean and religious terms. The national AP story replace my “evil-doer” quote with this, from a holy man – the point more powerfully and credibly made!:

As a priest, I will pray for you when you stand before the throne of God and you are asked to give an accounting of your stewardship of this special ecological area,” said Rev. David Stump, a Catholic priest from Jersey City. “May God have mercy on your souls.” ~~~ end note]

The turnout was fantastic, but, while there was a time for the Woody Guthrie singing, the tactics failed to reflect the actual procedural actions by the Commissioners.

The protesters failed to understand the process, at times drowning out the superb opposition statement by Commissioner Lohbauer, and yet at other times failing to  understand the implications of the defeat of Lohbauer’s motion to table and get more aggressive and try to shut the meeting down and prevent the vote of approval.

Once the Lohbauer motion to table was defeated, it was abundantly obvious that the deal was done and the final vote was a mere formality, yet the crowd plowed on in a singsong denial, oblivious. (in a subtle and slimy legal move, the Deputy Attorney General interjected to advise Lohbauer that his motion could not include tabling the prior Resolution to approve and referral to the Office of Administrative Law for an adjudicatory hearing. Lohbauer then amended his motion to delete the OAL hearing. This is complex, but legally relevant, because several Commissioners noted factual conflicts in the record and flaws in ED Wittenberg’s recommendation to approve.)

At one point, as I was attempting to educate the crowd as to what was going on, I was accosted by a young man I can only describe as a Food and Water Watch cult member.

He was ignorant of what was going on in the meeting and he mistakenly thought I was an agent provocateur. I had to ask the State Police to make him get out of my space, before I had to defend my space physically.

One interesting and disturbing note: the new National Park System representative on the Commission asked some relevant questions – including about this untold Pinelands history – but he abstained in the vote. His predecessor voted NO in 2014. But the NPS representative now serves in the Trump administration and the President is personally championing pipelines (KXL and DAPL).

There are solid grounds for litigation and Commissioner Lohbauer’s statement greatly supported that litigation.

There is also the direct action option.

The meeting received extensive media coverage, which I thought this line from the Press of Atlantic City story was the most revealing:

None of the commissioners who voted for the pipeline spoke about why they were voting the way they were, although Galletta said he had enough information to vote today, after years of hearing from all sides.

In that same article, deplorably corrupt Senator Van Drew talks some smack:

So I’ll just leave it at that for now, with some pics –

And bring on the Mom’s Brigade! Senator Van Drew is terribly afraid!:

[Update: Asbury Park Press editorial: “Pinelands Pipeline: “See You In Court” absolutely kills it:

Fittingly, given the sham of the process, Friday’s vote preceded rather than followed the public comment period. Hundreds of people, the majority of whom adamantly opposed the project, came to the meeting knowing full well that the fix was in. Many stayed for at least two hours after the vote, when they were finally given the opportunity to take their turn at the microphone. Most expressed their disgust with the commissioners who sold them out.

that’s me standing in rear, white shirt. Source: Press of Atlantic City

South Jersey Gas seeking a 4 lane highway to serve as a private driveway

If Pinelands Commissioners somehow can’t figure this out – or can’t see through Wittenberg’s smokescreen – it is a sure bet that a judge will.

Expert reports submitted to the Pinelands Commission found that the South Jersey Gas Co.’s (SJG) proposed Pinelands pipeline – a contractually dedicated pipeline that would exclusively serve the BL England power plant -would have huge excess capacity, more than 5 times the capacity necessary to serve the BL England plant.

That would be like constructing a 4 lane highway to serve as a private driveway.

Huge Excess Capacity In High Pressure Pipeline Exceeds BL England Need by a Factor of 5

The Report: “South Jersey Gas Pipeline Review: Analysis of Likely Actual Use of Proposed South Jersey Pipeline by BL England Plant and Assessment of Excess Capacity Available to Serve Customers Primarily Outside of Pinelands” (January 2017) was prepared by energy consultant Skipping Stone, LLC, for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA).

The SJG proposed 24 inch diameter pipeline is a high pressure pipeline. It is designed for 700 psig.

The higher the pressure in the pipeline, the more capacity to transmit gas. The relationship is non-linear, i.e. a 700 psig pipeline carries more that twice a 350 psig pipeline.

SJG has claimed it will currently operate the pipeline at a far lower pressure, just 437 psig. They made no commitments about the future.

The PPA consultant Report concluded (it’s complex, but strongly recommend you read the whole thing):

Fossil infrastructure is highly vulnerable to direct actions

pipeline infrastructure “somewhere” in the Pinelands National Reserve

I can get up there and tell you that there are places in the Pinelands where we have many, many, many, many, many, many, miles of natural gas pipeline that has been put in – and we can go out and look at what the effects were of those. ~~~ Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg advising the Pinelands Commission, back in July 2013 (listen to recording @ time 11:26)

…

And that — that brings me to the second mode of civil disobedience. There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you’ve got to make it stop! And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it — that unless you’re free the machine will be prevented from working at all!! ~~~ Mario Savio (watch on YouTube – read his full statement)

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the public learned what had long been kept secret and ignored by industry and government officials: damage assessments found that the electric utility infrastructure was highly vulnerable to flooding, sea level rise, and storm surge. Dozens of electrical substations were located in flood prone areas and knocked out. As a result of this failure to address known vulnerabilities, hundreds of thousands of people lost power for almost a week, or more.

[Update: 2/14/17 – here’s another warning on infrastructure vulnerability that was ignored:

Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored… ~~~ end update]

Similarly, in the wake of direct action by brave climate activists, another huge energy infrastructure vulnerability has become apparent: (read the whole story):

Climate Activist Escapes Conviction in Action That Shut Down 5 Pipelines

Climate activist Ken Ward eluded conviction on multiple criminal charges for shutting off an emergency valve for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil sands pipeline last October after a county court in Washington declared a mistrial.

Following three days of trial in Washington’s Skagit County Superior Court, the jury deliberated Ward’s fate for about five hours before failing to unanimously agree to convict him of sabotage, burglary and two counts of felony. Skagit County deputy prosecutor Sloan Johnson is expected to announce his decision about whether to retry Ward in the coming weeks.

Ward’s trial, which began on Monday, was the first for the five activists that were charged for helping to shut off emergency valves of five oil sands pipelines across four states on Oct. 11. Ward and his colleagues, who call themselves “ValveTurners,” filmed their coordinated acts of civil disobedience, which resulted in the temporary shutdown of segments of five pipelines: the Trans Mountain, Enbridge’s Line 4 and 67, TransCanada’s Keystone and Spectra Energy’s Express Pipeline.

The remote locations and huge number of these pipeline infrastructures and the ease of shutting them down makes them highly vulnerable.

South Jersey Gas Co. has a very different view on vulnerability:

Direct action? Doesn’t that mean people chaining themselves to trees and so on?Well, maybe. “People I have talked to are very willing to get involved in a direct-action campaign of putting themselves in the way of the construction crews,” he said. “I think it’s time to think about taking different tactics if the ones we’re using aren’t working.” ~~~ NJ Spotlight 2/8/17

We’ll leave it at that.