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Future of Empire State Landscapes and Waters “All Fracked Up”

My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold
My angel is a centerfold
Angel is a centerfold  ~~~ J Geils Band

[Update below]

Growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley, there was no doubt in my young mind that I was living in the center of the universe.

As I’ve aged and seen much of the country, that perspective has only grown.

But now I weep in despair over the future of the State I still love.

The things I most treasured about my home state of NY are rapidly vanishing – or already gone.

So lets take a step back and examine my youthful foundational myths and illusions, to explore how present developments are betraying them.

One’s home is always special, not only in absolute terms, but in relative terms too.

So, to start off with the relative perspective, I have to say that NY’s neighboring states were pathetic.

I still recall that Pennsylvania had pinkish red pavement and highways with potholes so huge they gave our crappy 62 Plymouth Valiant flat tires. The best the state could offer was musty Pocono cabins, with mosquito’s, mice, and red mud I had to wash off the tires, fenders and half way up the doors of the car.

Connecticut was a featureless suburb you had to drive through to get to cool places, like Boston and the coast of Maine.

And Jersey was a terrifying industrial nightmare. After running the gauntlet of oil refineries, chemical plants, and reeking landfills, you arrived among baby oil coated, tatooed hordes, packed like sardines onto filthy beaches wedged between a polluted ocean and stinky bathrooms and funky boardwalks. And that was the BEST Jersey had to offer.

But even the best of the Jersey shore  experience couldn’t come close to Bob Moses’ spectacular Jones Beach, which was where our family went when we wanted salt water.

Montauk lighthouse

But mostly, on weekend outings we went to sparkling freshwater, like Welch Lake in Harriman State Park or Bear Mountain. There you could swim, hike in the woods, and picnic with a modicum of privacy and tranquility, amidst the grandeur of nature, not assaulted by tar balls and pinball arcades.

New York had the majestic Adirondack Mountains, the mysterious Catskills, the grand Hudson River, and the lovely Finger Lakes region.

rainbow over Catskills

We had real red blooded indians, who would crack your head open and take your scalp (and your wife and daughter too). These indians were not like the pussies up in Massachusetts, who shared corn with the Pilgrims, or the docile farmers who smoked peace pipes with the likes of rich lazy landowners in Philly.

We had frontiersmen, like Natty Bumpo who would hunt, trap, and portage canoes between frozen Adirondack lakes to Canadien St. Lawrence waters to feed the fur trade.  These were real hard core manly men, not urban elites in Boston and Philadelphia, who invented stuff, read books, and sat around writing documents.

Sunset over Storm King Mountain and an icy Hudson River. The 1965 victorious battle against a Con Edison pump storage project was part of the founding of the modern environmental movement.

Our literary legends were the terrifying Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow; the adventurous brave explorer Natty Bumpo; and the laid back Rip Van Winkle.

Non local heroes like Tom Sawyer just couldn’t compete either – Tom rafted the narrow muddy waters of the Mississippi, surrounded by tame, flat farmlands, catching sluggish catfish.

But I navigated the 3 mile wide wild Hudson in a 12 foot wooden craft in the shadows on the steep, rocky Palisades and the forests and forts around Bear Mountain, trolling for the spectacular wild striped bass!  Get back Tom Sawyer!

Our Guilded Age capitalists were far superior to the feudal slave owning wicked southern plantation owners; the greedy California gold rushers and slimy Texas oil men; the midwestern railroad robber barrons who ripped off farmers; and the land raping western mining and timber monopolists.

Our capitalists were sophisticated public spirited intellectual industrialists and philanthropists! They created not only private wealth, but other equally important things – public assets – like parks, libraries, museums, and schools.

Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, NY. Built 1838 for railroad tycoon Jay Gould

Our universities were founded in the egalitarian public spirit of the Morrill land Grant program, created by Congress, and dedicated to progress in science and technology.

Just compare egalitarian Cornell (motto:”I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study,”) with elite Yale (founded in the 1640’s by clergymen) or Princeton (chartered in 1746 by British King George  and led by reverends), both institutions founded in a religious tradition, dedicated to and long serving private interests.

Once called “the first American university” by educational historian Frederick Rudolph, Cornell University represents a distinctive mix of eminent scholarship and democratic ideals. Adding practical subjects to the classics and admitting qualified students regardless of nationality, race, social circumstance, gender, or religion was quite a departure when Cornell was founded in 1865.

Sibley Hall, Cornell – regional planners and architects were housed under the dome when I was there (1983-1985).

Even the Red Coat Torries were better in NY – brave guys like Major Andre and Benedict Arnold, not those effete white whigged elites who hung with the Hessians in Trenton.

But perhaps most significant for our tale today is NY’s rich tradition in progressive government and land conservation.

NY is the home of the likes of Horace Greeley, a leader of a free press who used it to oppose slavery.

Many others created a rich progressive tradition of strong government, from Teddy Roosevelt, to Gifford Pinchot (who was the first Dean of the School of Forestry at Cornell before he later became the first Chief of the US Forest Service), to FDR, to Nelson Rockefeller. Old School!

In 1825, with the opening of the 363 mile long Erie Canal, NY created the model for government public works and transportation infrastructure investments to promote economic development.

Bear Mountain bride was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built in the 1920’s

In 1885, NY established the nation’s first and largest park in the continental US, Adirondack park., followed in 1904 by Catskill Park.

wild Adirondack stream – headwaters of the Hudson

The intellectual roots of the Adirondack Park go back to the founding of modern ecological science, forestry and landscape planning, by George Perkins Marsh’s 1864 work “Man and Nature“.

Those scientific developments came in the wake of the Hudson River School of landscape art – again, NY was at the forefront of science, art, culture and economic development.

Kaaterskills Falls – scene of Hudson River School’s most famous painting “Kindred Spirits”, by Asher Brown Durand.

Government in NY always worked effectively and for the people.

Most importantly, a land conservation ethic was a noble tradition and key responsibility of government.

But where has the rich progressive government and land and water conservation tradition I was spoon fed as a boy gone?

Where is that groundbreaking conservation cum powerful environmental movement?

winter on Lake Minnewaska. Proposed development spawned a movement that made it a State Park.

Why has NY rolled over for the gas industry?

Thousands of gas fracking well will industrialize some of NY’s premier and still largelyl rural landscapes and wild regions, including  large portions of the Catskills, Southern  Tier, and Finger Lakes.

western gas well – coming to NY soon.

Heres’ what those western landscapes look like without the gas industry:

no gas wells on this landscape – which do you prefer?

Fracking will pollute NY’s most precious natural resources, its pristine waters and forests.

What the frack is wrong with NY?

Capitol, Albany NY – Has the gas industry taken over the people’s house?

[Update: 4/27/20 – As a native NY’er and Bernie supporter, I’m really disgusted by this – smells like the work of those carpetbaggers Hillary and Bill Clinton, with a little friendly support from Obama and the quiescence of Lame Corporate Joe Biden:

• New York Board of Elections Removes Bernie Sanders From Primary Ballot ~~~ end update]

Senate Majority Leader Buono Calls Legislation “Assault on Decades of Environmental Protections”  

So Why Are Her Colleagues Rolling Over To Enact Governor Christie’s Agenda?

DEP studies have found over 500 unregulated chemicals polluting NJ drinking water – but instead of requiring treatment to remove them now, Gov. Christie’s DEP wants to wait decades until federal EPA develops national standards.

Democratic legislators jumped on board the Christie Administration’s “Red Tape” environmental rollback wagon yesterday, as 3 more horrible bills were released by legislative committees.

Christie and his corporate backers are shamefully using the economic recession as a pretext to attack and rollback environmental and public health protections, under the guise of slogans:  “common sense regulatory principles” and “streamlining red tape”.

(DEP permits need to be “streamlined” to create jobs? Thousands of projects with DEP approved permits are stalled, which was the logic of the Permit Extension Act – but facts and logic dont matter).

Perhaps worse, corporate Democratic leaders seem intent on outspinning the Governor, cynically calling the rollback  bills part of a “back to work” package.

But in fact, no credible economist – none - links the recession to environmental protections. No one argues that rollbacks will create jobs.

Just the opposite is true:

• the recession and unemployment were caused by the bursting of an unregulated Wall Street greed driven speculative bubble;
• environmental compliance costs are grossly exagerated by industry;
• protections have huge public health benefits; and
• environmental protections create jobs and don’t force relocations of industry.

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) thirteenth annual Report to Congress on the benefits and costs of federal regulations:

“The estimated annual benefits of major Federal regulations reviewed by OMB from October 1, 1999, to September 30, 2009, for which agencies estimated and monetized both benefits and costs, are in the aggregate between $128 billion and $616 billion, while the estimated annual costs are in the aggregate between $43 billion and $55 billion.”

Revealing the true policy intent hidden by the “common sense” slogan, Christie’s own Executive Order #2 explicitly calls for “immediate regulatory relief”.

But somehow the media (and some environmental groups) still seem incapable of reporting these facts which contradict and expose the Governor’s spin.

The bills released yesterday were based on Lt. Governor Guadagnos’ business dominated Red Tape Review Group Report. That Report attacked DEP and targeted 12 specific DEP regulations for rollback (see Appendix H).

The Red Tape Report also called for major changes to the way regulations are developed in order to promote business interests. Changes would allow industry to derail, weaken and delay regulations, and increase political control over the content of regulations.

Again, the Christie Administration’s objective to rollback environmental regulation is clear. The objectives of the Red Tape Report are:

“employing a cost/benefit analysis on rules, justifying exceeding federal standards and refraining from doing so unless a New Jersey-specific policy goal is being pursued, …. working to lessen burdens and compliance costs to businesses.” ( page 33)

The controversial Red Tape bills re-emerged yesterday in obscure hearings before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, and just days before Christmas after languishing for more than 8 months.

When the original package of bills were heard in the Assembly back in March, we wrote:

Less than 48 hours after the first “public” (by invite only) meeting of the “Red Tape Review Group” (for press coverage of that meeting, see NJ red-tape review board gets an earful, led by the new Regulatory Czar established by Governor Christie’s Executive Orders #1 (imposing a moratorium on certain regualtions) and EO#2 ( establishing “common sense” regulatory policies including cost benefit analysis and rollback to federal minimums) and EO #3 ( creating the Red Tape Review Group) today an Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee rammed through a dangerous bill to gut enforcement of a broad array of DEP public health and environmental protections.

When the second round of bills was heard in Assemblyman Burzichelli’s Committee, later in March,we warned about the sinister influence of  “murderers row”:

Murderers Row: (L-R) Hal Bozarth (Chemistry Council); Lobbyist (Farm Bureau); Michael Engenton (Chamber of Commerce); & Dave Brogan (NJ Business and Industry Assc.). Jim Benton NJ Petroleum Council (rear) looks on from the shadows.

Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) has been a leader in resisting the Christie rollbacks and defending environmental and public health protections.

So let’s consider how the Red Tape debate emerged.

During testimony at public hearings back in March , the Red Tape initiative came under harsh criticism. Later in April, when Senator Buono refused to support the report, we wrote:

…while Senator Buono sat on the so called “bi-partisan” Red Tape Review Group, she recently strongly distanced herself from the Report’s recommendations.

According to the April 19 Star Ledger:

“The [Red Tape] report, released shortly before 11 a.m., says the group had “arrived at a series of unanimous recommendations” but omits Buono’s name from the cover sheet.

Asked about the omission, Buono said she raised concerns after receiving the language of proposed legislation last week but was told the group wanted to present a united report. as “just unanimity at any cost, even if it means being dishonest” she said. “Bipartisanship is very different than strong-arming consensus.”

Senator Buono, Senate Majority leader (R) and Lt. Gov Guadagno at Red Tape hearing in Montclair

Fast forwarding to events in Trenton yesterday, it was obvious that the deal was in – industry lobbyists and Christie Administration officials didn’t even have to testify. The Democrats did their work for them.

So here’s what the latest round of bills would do:

S 2013 – would extend the current 5 year sunset rule expiration period to 7 years.

A bad idea. Would any business in a rapidly changing science and technology environment lock itself into a 7 year cycle for innovation? The 5 year expiration is the only thing that forces state agencies to review and improve their rules.

S 2014 – undermines the integrity of current rulemaking process and invites abuse by special interests.

Current law prohibits State agencies from making what are called “substantive changes” between the proposal of a rule for public comment, and the later final adoption of that rule. This prohibition was established by NJ courts, and it is intended to protect due process rights and assure that the public is given a clear notice and a chance to comment on regulations. It also provides incentives to DEP scientists to carefully draft rules, allows DEP scientists to control the substance of rules, and shields them from political pressures.

In contrast, the bill would change 30 years of practice and would allow DEP to engage in “bait and switch”. It would create even more political pressure DEP scientists to conduct wholesale negotiations on the substance of rules.

This would make rulemaking more like the corrupt legislative sausage mill, and a lot less like a science and law based system with integrity operating in the public interest.

Here’s how it would work in 3 simple steps: 1) DEP proposes a strong science based rule; 2) political appointees at DEP allow industry lobbyists to rewrite it; and 3) DEP then adopts the industry rewrite as a final rule. By the time environmental groups and the public later figure it out, the policy decision is a fait accompli.

S 6 – (identical to S 1914 and A 2853) – This bill flat out violates federal law and would make radical changes to current environmental laws:

• creates a private compliance certification process, a gross conflict of interest;
• creates a new cost benefit test, with no safeguards, thereby subverting public health and environmetal protection standards in all laws;
• consolidates unaccountable power in a “permit czar” in the Lt. Governor’s Office
• creates waivers of strict compliance based on vague “hardship”
• codifies Governor Christie’s sham new undefined “common sense” regulatory policy (per Executive Order #2?)

We urge you to contact your legislators to oppose these bills.

Senate Secretary confers with Sergeant at Arms

As we all know (or you wouldn’t be reading this), there has been a revolution in media.

As we all also know, there is a severe shortgage of substantive coverage of State House action – particularly on complex environmental issues – by the corporate media.

Press area – The crush of interepid reporters competing for scarce space of course forced ejection of uncredentialed bloggers.

The Bergen Record, Asbury Park Press and Philadelphia Inquirer don’t send their environmental reporters to Trenton. And the State House political reporters are spread far too thin and not well suited to covering environmental issues before the legislature. Environmental groups are too busy lobbying to report back to the public and their own members.

As a result, NJ citizens and environmental interests suffer. Unaccountable legislators are given a pass as they ignore strong public support for environmental protection and carry the water of special interests. And they do so with impunity. Legislators say and do things in Trenton that they would never defend back home to constituents. Democracy fails.

In fact, one of my primary objectives in creating this site was to fill voids in Trenton coverage by corporate media, who have abandoned complex public policy issues (thank goodness for NJ Spotlight – “where issues matter“).

I also try to remedy other well documented flaws in corporate media coverage, from the bias, to shallow sound bite deadline driven “he said/she said” coverage, to “fair and balanced” pseudo “objective” styles that allow corporate lobbyists to make sham claims, like the world is flat, global warming is a fraud, and that DEP and environmental regulations are killing the economy.

I am an expert on the issues I write on (more knowledgeable than any Trenton journalist), I work hard at it, and my photos are respectful and of reasonably high quality.

But none of that apparently matters to those cynics with political power in Trenton.

The media policy of the Democrat controlled NJ Senate is desperately holding on to a bygone media age where they controlled the game.

They don’t seem to understand that the world of journalism has changed, or maybe they think that they can ignore it and it will all go away.

The Senate Secretary and his control freak Sergeants at Arms simply refuse to accept the fact that bloggers and sites like WolfeNotes.com deserve the same priviledges and respect as members of the corporate media.

For 3 years now, I have been covering and photographing – without incident – legislative hearings in Trenton. I operate in those hearings in a discrete way and with the express approval of the Committee Chairmen.

After concerns were raised last year by one Sergeant at Arms about my taking photographs from areas restricted to credentialed corporate journalists, I secured former Senate President Dick Codey’s personal approval to do so.

This obviously pissed off someone.

So I was ejected this morning from the press area.

Having discussed this issue with them previously, I immediately walked down to the Senate Majority Office and got Senate President Sweeney’s staffer to over-ride the Sergeant at Arms’ ejection. Well, that really set them off!

As a result, my access privileges apparently have changed for the worse and I’m barred from media areas.

This means I won’t be able to shoot frontal photos of lobbyists testifying.

Ironically the reversal of former Senate President Codey’s open policy was dictated by a former professional journalist, who clearly has a working understanding of the need for access to photograph legislators and those testifying on bills before committees.

Today, despite the approval of Commitee Chairman Paul Sarlo and staff to Senate President Sweeney, recently appointed Secretary of the Senate Kent M. Hicks (also known as former NJN reporter Kent St. John) ejected yours truly from the press corps section of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee hearing.

Mr. St. John/Hicks’ move follows last week’s restriction on photography in the Senate Environment Committee, despite the approval of Chairman Bob Smith.

This is really a debate about the definition of journalism, as unaccountable Sergeants at Arms want control and those with traditional corporate media credentials and access resist competition and democratization of their “profession”, especially by dirty hippie bloggers.

This is also about a bunch of old men with a little power and nothing to do.

I have nothing but contempt for turf protective petty bureaucatic authoritarians like Kent St. John (or Kent Hicks) and his empire of decrepit tin badge Seargents at Arms crew.

Senate President Sweeney should be embarrassed. And while I wasted time writing all this, I didn’t tell you about the bad bills released today! More to follow on that. And hopefully, I’ll do a better job than my absolutely flumoxed and incoherent testimony today!

Sergeants at Arms attend to their important duties!

EPA Stands Down as Army Corps Speaks for “The Administration”

[Update: 12/15/10 – NY Gov. Paterson Executive Order – looks like fracking starts July 1, 2011 in the Empire State.]

Work with me here as I connect the dots in important recent developments on fracking.

Last week, we testified and wrote in support of NJ Legislation (A 3314) to block NJ officials on the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) from approving  fracking (see: NJ Legislators Look To Block Fracking to Protect Delaware River).

Back in September, we blasted Gov. Christie for supporting fracking.

Based on last week’s highly misleading DEP press release, we now criticized NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin for going even further and undermining the DRBC’s regional regulatory powers, which are under attack from the gas industry. Martin effectively joined State officials in Pennsylvania and New York in attacking DRBC regulations.

In light of an ongoing US EPA national study on the impacts of fracking, we suggested amendments to the NJ bill to impose a moratorium until the EPA study was completed and protective regulations were promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act. We attended the EPA public hearing on that EPA national study held last September in Binghamton NY, see:   On the Threshold of a Fracking Nightmare.

Subsequently, in an unrelated post, we wrote about the Obama EPA’s retreat across a broad front of environmental regulations, in deference to a corporate agenda and the right wing anti-environmental Republican control of the House (see:  Obama CEO Summit Explains EPA Regulatory Retreat).

One of the more egregious examples we offered was Obama’s support of off shore oil drilling, just weeks before the BP Gulf oil blowout, with no objection by US EPA.

Well, now we can connect the dots between retreat and fracking. And we add another regulatory issue to the Obama retreat – fracking.

In addition to attacks by the gas industry and State officials, it is now clear that the DRBC also is under attack from the Obama Administration.

The New York Times reports today that Obama backs the frack and wants DRBC to back down. Not surprisingly, just as we predicted, EPA is invisible and the Administration’s position is controlled by the US Army Corps of Engineers:

Obama Admin Wants Study but Backs Northeast Shale Drilling

Published: December 14, 2010

The Obama administration supports a full study of the effects of gas drilling in the watershed that provides drinking water for Philadelphia and New York City, but it doesn’t want to wait until it’s finished for drilling to begin.

Gen. Peter “Duke” DeLuca of the Army Corps of Engineers outlined the position in a letter (pdf) written to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and released today.

The letter offers the first indication of the administration’s position on gas drilling in the Northeast since the day after the Nov. 2 midterm election when President Obama highlighted gas drilling as a potential area of common ground with Republicans (Greenwire, Nov. 4).

DeLuca, the Army Corps’ North Atlantic division engineer, is the federal representative on the Delaware River Basin Commission, which is developing regulations for gas drilling in eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

“The administration’s position is to continue fully supporting the need for a cumulative impact study,” DeLuca wrote. “Simultaneously, all these agencies support the DRBC’s decision to develop and release draft natural gas regulations.” …

DeLuca said there was a “DRBC Federal Agency Summit” in October, at which he led a discussion about the importance of an impact study and asked agencies to suggest sources of money to conduct it.

So, once again, just like the initial insane position in support of off shore oil drilling, Obama is controlled by the gas and oil industry.

Where is Lisa Jackson and EPA?

Once again, EPA is cut out of policy decisions, or incapable of mounting an effective argument.

Anti-fracking activists have virtually no support at any level of government or political party. Even the DRBC is folding to gas industry pressure and the DRBC policy ultimately is controlled by hostile state and federal officials (with the exception of Delaware).

Activists must abandon any false hope that Lisa Jackson or Democrats are supporting the environment and ramp up protest and direct action. Institutions have failed us.

Continued inaction means our internal organs will be the main filter for the thickening brew of chemicals in our water

[Update: 12/15/10 – Ed Rodgers of NJN reports (watch it  – starts at 18 minutes) on a National Toxicology Report on another unregulated chemical known as “SAN Trimer” found in Toms River water supply. There is some association between these chemicals and a children’s brain cancer and leukemia cluster. NJ Dept. of Health found:

One issue that residents voiced was concern over the quality of drinking water from the community water supply. In response, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection launched an extensive analysis of the community water supply, beginning with schools in the Toms River area in March 1996. The Drinking Water Quality Analyses March 1996 – June 1999; United Water Toms River Public Health Consultation summarized three years of chemical and radiological analyses of the community drinking water supply. A previously unknown chemical contaminant related to the Reich Farm site styrene-acrylonitrile trimer — was identified in the Parkway well field (one of the supply’s eight well fields), resulting in the closure of two wells and an expanded water treatment system. Also, the testing program led to the development of a new sampling and analysis method to measure radiological activity in water. Long-term toxicologic testing of the new chemical contaminant is in progress, under the direction of the USEPA. [end update]

In another in a series of breakdowns in drinking water protections, DEP rejected NJ PEER’s petition to force DEP to adopt protections for over 500 chemicals DEP has found in scores of public water supply systems across NJ.

PEER petitioned DEP to require public disclosure, and to develop monitoring and treatment requirements for these chemicals.

DEP has failed to act on a policy for unregulated chemicals in drinking water that was recommended by DEP scientists 6 years ago.  Pilot treatment plants at public water supply systems in Fair Lawn (Bergen County) and Pennsauken (Camden County) are years behind schedule and may never even happpen.

DEP rejected the PEER petition, in part, based on a claim that US EPA was developing a new national policy. That excuse sounded much like the lie we documented that Commissioner Martin used to kill DEP’s proposed perchlorate drinking water standard and failed to move forward with regulations for radioactive contaminants.

DEP’s head in the sand approach illustrates major flaws in Governor Christie’s “federal consistency” policy in Executive Order #2, which discourages more stringent NJ State level standard in lieu of federal requirements, and the sham political strategy to block DEP rules as “red tape” that harms NJ’s economy. Both policies seriously weaken public health and environmental protections.

For the PEER petition and DEP’s denial and related documents, see below.

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For Immediate Release: December 14, 2010
Contact: Bill Wolfe (609) 397-4861; Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337

JERSEY NIXES FILTRATION PLAN FOR DRINKING WATER – State Wants EPA to Act on Rising Chemical Contamination of Water Supplies

Trenton – The State of New Jersey has rejected a rulemaking petition to require systematic monitoring and filtering of drinking water. As a result, state residents will continue to ingest hundreds of unregulated chemicals daily as New Jersey steps back from its leadership role on the issue.

The petition filed in early September by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) was based upon a plan developed by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) back in 2004 that was never implemented. That plan and the PEER petition called for monitoring water supplies for the growing presence of unregulated chemicals from pharmaceuticals, consumer products and industry and using treatment systems, such as granular activated carbon filtration, to remove most chemicals.

DEP Commissioner Bob Martin rejected the PEER petition on November 22, 2010 in an “action notice” slated for publication next week in the New Jersey Register. In his notice, Martin conceded that state testing has detected “approximately 600” chemical compounds in water systems but argued that action was premature because DEP, among other reasons

• Lacks information on the toxicity levels for the vast majority (78%) of chemicals detected;
• Is just now getting around to building pilot filtration systems at two water treatment plants paid for back in 2004 although Martin did not say when these systems will be operational; and
• Wants to wait for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a national “Drinking Water Strategy” although there is no timetable for a viable plan or any regulatory action.

“Commissioner Martin is still not ready to move forward on the plan his own department developed six years ago,” stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former DEP analyst, noting that Martin even rejected coordinated chemical monitoring and public disclosure of results. “Continued inaction means our internal organs will be the main filter for the thickening brew of chemicals in our water.”

At the same time, there are no state standards for many of the most dangerous chemicals in drinking water, such as formaldehyde, because DEP has sat on recommended standards from its Drinking Water Quality Institute (DWQI), an impasse extended by the anti-regulatory agenda of the Christie administration. Moreover, the DWQI itself appears to be in limbo, as DEP is deferring to its newly created Science Advisory Board (SAB) that features strong corporate representation for guidance on unregulated contaminants.

“Chemical companies now control the decision-making about New Jersey’s drinking water standards,” added Wolfe, noting that companies like DuPont (which has employees and consultants in key SAB slots) have a huge financial stake in keeping their chemicals from being regulated. “As things stand, we are all guinea pigs in an uncontrolled lifelong corporate chemical experiment.”

###

Read the PEER petition

See the basis for the petition

Compare the DEP rejection

Look at spreading pharmaceuticals in drinking water

View corporate presence on DEP Science Advisory Board

New Jersey PEER is a state chapter of a national alliance of state and federal agency resource professionals working to ensure environmental ethics and government accountability