WolfeNotes.com

Jim O’neill at the Bergen Record wrote a good story today on water pollution problems from combined sewer overflows, see:  Staggering cost of repairs allows sewage to foul N.J. waterways

I encourage you to read the whole thing, but, because I’ve been writing about DEP’s failure to address severe infrastructure deficit problems for some time,  I want to make a few quick points on it:

1. NY/NJ Baykeeper deserves huge credit for all their great work on CSO’s and for  taking action by suing DEP.

2. The Record story left out a significant reason for the Christie DEP’s lame response:

To spur local governments to tackle the issue, the Christie administration plans to make partial loan forgiveness available. “We are looking to incentivize right conduct rather than mandate it,” Siekerka said.

CSO’s are a longstanding problem that has been ignored for a long time by DEP under Republican and Democratic governors.

But Governor Christie has made the historic failed DEP response far worse and basically barred the door to any real solution.

The Christie DEP has simply surrendered its enforcement stick. They have only carrots in the toolbox.

And Gov. Christie established a policy prohibiting unfunded state mandates on local government under Christie’s Executive Order #4

There is no reason why DEP enforcement could not be used to force towns to take low/no interest loans from the NJ Environmental Infrastructure Trust to begin to remedy these infrastructure problems. The impact on ratepayers would not be significant.

Only Christie policy is stopping that from happening.

And EPA Region 2 could pull the enforcement trigger as well under their Clean Water Act authority, so EPA Region 2 Administrator Enck got a pass in the story as well as Christie policy.

3. As is typical with environmental news stories, the issue of costs is emphasized.

But, those costs fail to consider the huge costs of inaction and the costs are not provided in a meaningful context of the benefits achieved or the real impact of those who would pay the costs.

Would you be wiling to pay $1 a day for clean water? (that’s less than a cup of coffee these days).

This is extremely biased reporting and it is the norm in journalism.

4.  The story closes with a quote by Senator Smith, Chair of the Environment Committee.

Smith likes to say “elections have consequences.”

He’s right – and lack of legislative oversight of Gov. Christie ideology and DEP’s performance has consequences too.

When will the NJ media write substantive investigative accountability stories?

[Update 2: 2/4/13 –Looks like the media finally gets it: Christie urged to separate himself from Sandy relief fund:

“This is exactly where the wealthy special interests will then go throw money in order to buy favor with the politician who is associated with the non-profit,” Holman said.

He said the charity also can be used to promote the governor’s image — Christie is displayed prominently on the group’s Facebook page hugging a victim of the storm — in an election year.

Update 1:  Gov. Christie opposes a Coastal Commission or any legislative role. Gov. doubles down on the Rebuild Czar and moves quickly to shut down any debate, even before the bill is introduced – see Asbury Park Press: Chrisite opposes panel to oversee shore rebuilding – end update]

Yesterday, I was disgusted by reading a story where Gov. Christie crudely exploited Sandy for his own personal and partisan gain:

Gov. Christie: “I will be in Belmar” next Memorial Day to open new post-Sandy boardwalk

Aside from the Belmar Boardwalk, I’m sure Gov. Christie will be breaking out  his Sandy Fleece in the cool fall days before next November’s election too.

I’m also sure the governor’s political team is planning all sorts of ribbon cutting campaign events, as those billions in federal taxpayer Sandy bailout dollars flow to NJ.  The Gov. will use them as a twofer: to shamelessly self promote and to cover up his performance and policy record, which made Sandy worse.

We got just a small taste of that  yesterday in a Star Ledger report:

FEMA approves $19 million in grants for sludge shipment, park cleanup

Two sewage treatment plants and several state parks affected by Hurricane Sandy are the beneficiaries of $19 million in emergency storm grants, Gov. Christie announced today.

Notice how the story is all good news – no reporting at all of the fact that those grants did not come with strings attached to require these sewage plants to conduct a vulnerability assessment and to retrofit facilities to avoid the next storm. 

No reporting that those plants and DEP screwed up. Current DEP regulations make vulnerability assessment voluntary and DEP dos not enforce some emergency planning and preparedness requirements that are in permits – that’s why these plants were not prepared and got hit harder than if they were.

But, enough of those complicated and DEP regulations and back to the politics. In addition to the Gov.’s  rank political exploitation of the Belmar Boardwalk, there is the simply astonishing hypocrisy of Gov. Christie demanding federal taxpayer dollars to restore beaches that his Administration is reducing public access to (see: Environmental groups sue NJ DEP over new beach rules that could limit access).

On top of the crude political exploitation, demagoguery, and the  hypocrisy, there also is the fact of the Gov.’s actual policy record, which directly contributed to the Sandy problems (for investigative news on the Christie record,see:

• Critics: Christie Deep-Sixed Climate Change Prep
• Jersey Shore Development Failures Exposed By Hurricane Sandy
• Weinstein was not alone 
• Leadership Matters – How DEP Buried Report on Coastal Storm Risks

But, of course all this ignored by NJ’s hometown cheerleading press corps, who broke new depths of depravity today  in the Star Ledger’s page one story, a disgusting display of lap dog journalism:

Christie looks ahead to big victory in 2013, reflects on how Sandy changed him

While I’ve written in detail – perhaps to much detail for the average intrepid journalist to follow – because the media seem incapable or unwilling to investigate the Governor’s actual policy and performance related to Sandy, let me just simply lay out  just one specific example of Sandy SNAFU: 1 – 2 – 3:

1. DEP recently completed a pilot study with shore towns.

In March 2011, DEP released the results:

“Coastal Community Vulnerability Assessment Protocol (CCVAP) is a GIS-based methodology to assist land use planners, hazard mitigation planners, emergency managers, and other local decision-makers in the identification of their community’s vulnerability through virtual mapping. By applying the methods defined in CCVAP to the pilot communities, areas were identified where built infrastructure, sensitive natural resources, and special needs populations overlapped areas of potential inundation. This vulnerability mapping supports community efforts to make the connection between the potential consequences of sea level rise and inundation to their vulnerability – ultimately to guide the community for resilience planning.”

2. The implementation of the CCVA would require close coordination and assistance to local governments from DEP.

3. So, meet your DEP Director of Local Government Assistance, a woman – like the boss that hired her, Commissioner Bob Martin –  with no academic or professional training or government experience, whose only qualification is partisan hack, and who told a local environmental Commissioner that sycamore trees at Bull’s Island are an invasive species:

full story, with links to documents:

So, when will the NJ media write those kind of investigative accountability stories?

Legislation to Create Regional Planning Commission to be Introduced

[Update below]

Well, some good news. Before Sandy even struck, and from the outset of the rebuild debate, we have called for the creation of a Coastal Commission as the most effective governing institution to move forward with regional planning for the future of the shore.

[Note: read the history: 1987 Public Hearings before Senate Special Committee to Study Coastal and Ocean Pollution – Senate Bill 1577 – establishes a NJ Coastal Commission.]

We were pleased to learn that the moderate planning group NJ Future also supports a Commission, but shocked and deeply disappointed when our colleagues in the environmental community did not, preferring a meaninglessly vague set of [aspirational] “principles”.

So we were pleased to read today’s Star Ledger report that Assemblyman Barnes (D-Middlesex) will introduce legislation to create a Coastal Commission:

“I think a sense of urgency is taking over,” said Assemblyman Peter Barnes (D-Middlesex), who plans to introduce a bill establishing such an agency. “Towns are planning to rebuild in what I believe to be a haphazard fashion,” he said. Barnes last week said such an effort is needed in the face of billions of dollars in damage to ailing towns that he says are handcuffed by a concept of home rule that has outlived its usefulness. But his proposal is bound to stir controversy.

As expected, the Christie Administration panned the proposal. Of course, the Gov. would prefer to control what he sees as a multi-billion dollar real estate game completely and unilaterally via his Rebuild Czar, with no restrictive legislative authorization, no oversight, no public participation process, and no transparency.

The Christie Rebuild Czar has more resources and power than the entire NJ Legislature.

Assuming that a considerable portion of the federal bailout package will be issued in the form of block grants, the Czar could have more discretionary spending than the entire state budget!

Those federal resources and state regulatory power would leverage additional billions of dollars in private sector financing, and determine the land use of the shore region.

Those are huge powers – far too much power for 1 individual with no public accountability or legislative controls. The SL reports:

The Christie administration is not convinced the commission, which would cover 130 miles of coastline from Old Bridge to Cape May, is necessary. Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Chris Christie, said it was “too soon to speculate on the need or relative benefit of such a regulatory shift.” “These sorts of issues will be examined and thought through as part of the rebuilding effort,” Roberts said.

I have no idea what Mr. Kevin Roberts is talking about – just how will those issues be “examined”?

They can’t be because there is no planning process, no public hearings, and no legislative process.

The Christie Rebuild Czar meets behind closed doors and policy deliberation is confined to the Christie Cabinet.

That is completely unacceptable.

A Coastal Commission is consistent with NJ’s leadership tradition of regional planning since the 1960’s: the Hackensack Meadowlands, Pinelands, and Highlands.

Ideally, a Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction could extend not only along the Atlantic coast, but around to the Delaware Bayshore region, NJ’s last remaining primarily rural landscape.

Apparently, Senator Sweeney is not convinced or supportive at this time:

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said that “everyone is in agreement that our long-term recovery from Sandy needs to be done in a smart, coordinated fashion” and that she “will review his proposal carefully, as we do with all bills.” Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said at a recent meeting with editors and reporters of The Star-Ledger that his chamber would “look at” the idea.

Sweeney needs to hear from the public.

Politically, Barnes is from Middlesex County, the same legislative District as Senator Buono, who is running for Gov.. So, I assume this could be a trial balloon.

Buono might get behind this initiative, and make it part of the Gubernatorial campaign. That would be very interesting, but I don’t know if the rebuild planning could wait that long.

[Update: 1/6/13 –  Well it sure didn’t take long. Gov. Christie opposes a Coastal Commission or any legislative role. Gov. doubles down on the Rebuild Czar and moves quickly to shut down any debate, even before the Barnes bil is introduced.  see Asbury Park Press: Chrisite opposes panel to oversee shore rebuilding – end update]

Train Derailment Exposes Gaps in Regulation of Chemical Safety

When local emergency responders arrived at the scene of a South Jersey train derailment and observed clouds of toxic gas spewing from railcars, they were unable to measure the concentration of the highly toxic and flammable vinyl chloride gas because their air monitoring devices lacked batteries!

How’s that for local emergency response preparation?

Does anyone even know that federal and state environmental laws mandate local emergency response plans? Or facility risk management plans? Or off site consequence analysis (mapping kill zones)? Or that railroad regulations do not?

Do you feel safer now?

Portions of the Paulsboro community were evacuated, while other exposed residents were asked to “shelter in place”.

Think that can only happen in a “working class” town in “industrial” portions of South Jersey?

The accident occurred in Paulsboro NJ, in Senate President Sweeney’s district. He was quoted in the local newspaper, blasting the US Coast Guard’s “Unified Command” that managed the response:

A three-day evacuation of 100 households later turned to a seven-day displacement of 204 households.

Then, Tuesday’s canceled public meeting for residents was the last straw for state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-3, of West Deptford), who gave the joint command center for Paulsboro’s train derailment an “F” for its communications out of the command post.

“If they grade themselves internally, they have to give themselves an ‘F’,” Sweeney said. “It’s not the press saying it. It’s not me saying it. It’s everyone saying the same thing.”

Certain aspects of the story have gotten huge south jersey/Philadelphia media coverage, but, despite similar chemical risks in north jersey/NY metro area, it has largely been ignored by north jersey media.

And, as is all too typical, there has been virtually no coverage of the policy and regulatory issues the accident highlighted, nor any coverage at all of the complaint we filed with the Inspectors General of the US Coast Guard and US EPA.

So, I thought I’d pass on this national story that ran inside the Beltway – the publication is a subscription service called Inside EPA. The audience for that trade journal is beltway policymakers.

So I find it disgraceful the the NJ press corps ignored this story in their own backyard, but it is running and having an impact nationally.

Originally published in the December 24, 2012 issue of Superfund Report.

$100 Million NJ Transit Fiasco The Tip of An Iceberg of Incompetence on Climate Change Vulnerability, Preparation, and Adaptation Planning

“I know there are some folks at Rutgers who are looking at whether climate caused all this, but I certainly haven’t been briefed in the last year, year-and-a-half on this,” [NJ Gov.] Christie told WNYC’s Bob Hennelly last month.

… As Sandy was bearing down on the region , WNYC’s Bob Hennelly asked Christie if the Governor was discussing the increasing severity of storms with climate change scientists.

“No, that’s over my head.,” Christie replied. (WNYC, 12/7/12)

Despite over a decade of specific and increasingly dire warnings by scientists and DEP’s own experts about NJ’s vulnerabilities, Governor Christie was unaware of the threats and the Christie Administration took no action and had no plan in place to address exactly the predicted impacts of Superstorm Sandy (for links to documents making those specific warnings, see: The Deafness Before the Storm).

Worse, during a year of record heat, when the rest of the country was experiencing extreme weather in the form of drought, wildfires, floods, and tornadoes related to climate change, Governor Christie – by his own words – had not “been briefed in the last year, year-and-a-half on this”.

Whaaaat? Not been briefed? Are you kidding me?

So, NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein was not alone in his lack of preparation, absence of planning, and poor judgement in placing over $100 million of rolling stock in a flood hazard location, damaging 62 locomotives and 261 rail cars.

No, the fault lies not solely with Weinstein, but with the Governor himself and his DEP Commissioner, the State agency with direct responsibility for climate change science, mapping and regulating flood hazards, and adaptation planning.

How could Martin not have even briefed the Governor? Did he think Christie wasn’t even going to get a question about the most pressing issue facing the entire planet?

NJ is a coastal state with well recognized extremely high vulnerability, which prompted the Corzine Administration, back in 2006, to hold a Climate Change Summit and launch a coastal vulnerability assessment, adaptation, and resilience research and planning process.

 In an April 12, 2006 memo, Corzine DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson and Banking and Insurance Commissioner Goldman warned Governor Corzine that:

“Global climate change is predicted to have a pronounced impact on New Jersey. Changes are already occurring. Rising ambient temperatures are expected to effect the health of our citizens. …Sea level rise is expected to accelerate and threaten New Jersey’s coastline. Higher sea levels will increase the severity of storm-related flooding is coastal and bay areas. In addition to significant property losses, sea level rise will adversely affect coastal ecosystems and may threaten fresh water supplies through salt water intrusion. With climate change, storm frequency and intensity is predicted to increase.”…

These are but a few of the results we can anticipate from climate change and we can also expect the changes to have serious consequences for New Jersey’s economy. In March, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners voted unanimously to establish as task force on climate change to examine the issues bearing on the insurance industry’s long term solvency. Late last year, New York State’s largest provider of homeowners insurance, Allstate, announced that it would no longer sell new homeowners insurance in NY City, Long Island and Westchester County. According to a company spokesperson, Allstate is studying whether to stop writing new policies in other parts of the country, particularly for properties in vulnerable shorefront areas.

The Corzine initiative was managed jointly by two key Offices that reported directly to the DEP Commissioner: The Office of Climate Change and the Office of Coastal Planning.

Both no longer exist – Climate Change was abolished by Martin and Coastal Planning was severed from the Commissioner’s Office, buried in the bureaucracy, and its Director transferred to the DEP equivalent of Siberia. DEP staff got the message about the Commissioner’s priorities.

While this may seem to be in the bureaucratic weeds, the implications and result of this was severe, as NJT Weinstein now realizes. As I noted to WNYC reporter Nancy Solomon, was predictable:

That turned out to be a losing gamble, and one, critics say, that reflects a pattern in Christie’s term in office.

In his first year, Christie closed the Office of Climate Change and Energy which had been created and given top-level priority under Jon Corzine.

It was run by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Its mission was to ready the state  to handle more severe storms, heat and rising sea levels.

“So none of this work is getting done,” said Bill Wolfe, a 30-year-veteran of DEP and now a harsh critic.

“And if you want to get something done, the DEP has all the tools to get something done and they’ve chosen not to use those tools for political reasons, reflecting the Governor’s priorities and Governor’s policy,” Wolfe said. “And they just don’t want to own up to that.”

And on top of all this – i.e. multiple and specific warnings ignored and lack of even a briefing on the issue –  NJ had first hand experience just last year with the devastating impacts of Hurricane Irene, including the collapse of drinking water pipelines that knocked out drinking water for almost 1 million Monmouth County residents for a week last July.

So yesterday, at a State House press conference,  the Governor was pressed on Weinstein’s performance, and predictably – on national television [I watched it on C-SPAN] – Gov. Christie had his own “Heck of a Job Brownie!” moment.

While the Gov. did note that, in hindsight, mistakes were made, he defended Weinstein and said this: from the Star Ledger story):

Sometime people make wrong decisions – its not a hanging offense.

Not so funny, the Closing Circle I wrote about yesterday was not a noose.

Again, I was sickened by the Governor’s shameful rhetoric and I assume that the rest of the Country was as well.

Let’s hope the Gov. – who lives by the rhetorical sword – dies by it.

[End note – of course it should be obvious that Christie is going on offense in attacking Congress – blaming them for the suffering of victims – in part to cover his own negligence and incompetence. That’s just what demagogues do.]