Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette Accused Of Misleading Residents at “Listening Session”

DEP Commissioner LaTourette Has Some Explaining To Do

His Credibility Is Shot

In response to the recent post exposing just how closely current DEP Commissioner LaTourette worked on the proposed Gibbstown NJ LNG export project known as “Fortress Energy”, local residents tweeted expressions of shock and feelings of betrayal:

The Twitter dialogue began with this tweet, in response to my post: (the tweeter was not aware that I broke that story, in this original 2/9/21 post, and basically forced NJ Spotlight to report the story several days later):

found this (provided a link to a WHYY/NJ Spotlight story) – this was all news to me

A reply said:

News to me, too. Notice how he [LaTourette] was quick to point out at last week’s meeting that he represented plaintiffs who were injured by the chemical train derailment in Paulsboro ten yrs ago, but no mention of the legal work he did for the LNG developer?

Which prompted this reply from another reader:

Omg this is horrific even by Jersey standards. Interestingly at last week’s DEP listening session he told me how he defended plaintiffs in Paulsboro after the Mantua Creek train derailment. But he didn’t mention this. And no answers or stance on this issue

The discussion wrapped up with this observation:

Why am I not surprised? He implied at the community meeting last week that he knew little about the status of the permitting process for the LNG facility, which simply did not make sense for such a notorious project. Let’s hope he gets lots more questions at the next meeting.

Yes, let’s hope he gets lots more questions at the next meeting.

Better yet, perhaps he should just resign, because his credibility is shot.

[End Note: There is tremendous irony in LaTourette’s claims on Paulsboro train derailment.

I was on the ground very shortly after that toxic train derailment and I ventured into the “Hot zone” when the evacuation was still in effect (scroll down and see these photos I took at the time). I’ve written probably 20 posts on that disaster since then.

I assume that’s how LaTourette made friends with Senator Sweeney. Legally, it was the equivalent of ambulance chasing.

[Update – an informed reader who apparently knows more than I just blasted me for suggesting that LaTourette’s was a Sweeney man:

He is Murphy’s boy not Sweeney’s – gibbons is north jersey polluter firm not tied to Norcross- you let Murphy off the hook from LaTourette by doing that – Murphy invested in fossil fuel exxon dupont etc.

Let Gov. Murphy off the hook? Say what? In a prior post, I said that Gov. Murphy “knew a good corporate man when he saw him”.

After NJ Spotlight’s last story on the pending Biden rail permit decision, I suspected that a Sweeney deal may be about to be nixed. Who knows if LNG wasn’t a deal with Sweeney/Norcross on something else. Easy to scuttle now after Sweeney is gone.~~~ end update]

(I’ve not revealed names, but all this can be seen on my Twitter feed)