NEWGREENMEDIA.TV

Bloomfield life: $30K PSE&G grant rescues Bloomfield Tech lab

2010-03-09T15:00:00Z

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. (center) joined with the Essex County Vocational Technical School District March 2 to receive a $30,000 contribution from PSE&G to support the Green Energy Academy at Essex County Bloomfield Tech.

Photo credit: Glen Freison

Ricardo Perez enjoys learning about wind turbines. Maybe Perez, a freshman at Essex County Vocational Technical High School in Bloomfield, will be inclined to design them one day. With the hands-on training he’s receiving now, he just might do so. This past Tuesday, Bloomfield Tech received a $30,000 PSE&G grant to support the Green Energy Academy within the Blue Ribbon School. Established in 2008, the academy prepares students for careers in the new and burgeoning field of green jobs.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

Passaic Valley Today: ‘Green’ lights help cut down energy costs

2010-03-09T11:00:00Z

Cobra head fixture
Photo credit calvin.edu

Brighter street lights are reducing the municipality’s tax bills. "Besides being great for the environment, it saves taxpayers money," said Mayor Pat Lepore. A PSE&G spokeswoman said the installations are complete in neighboring Totowa and Little Falls and that Woodland Park’s installations, which started on Feb. 8, are on track to continue through the week, pending weather delays. "We’ve gotten positive responses from the towns we’re working in and were looking forward to keeping the project going," said Nicole Swan, a spokeswoman for Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G). She added that JBL Electric Inc., the company PSE&G contracted for towns in North Jersey has been working consistently. Swan also said the utility’s contractors have been installing between 1,300 and 1,500 lights per week statewide.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

Courier Post Online: S.J. supports green nation

2010-03-08T15:00:00Z

PNC Bank is leading the state in green building. It has 22 LEED-design branches, with the newest in Monroe. PNC's buildings are made with recycled materials and use low-flow toilets, natural lighting and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.
Photo credit: Courier Post

New Jersey's reputation as a green state did not begin as a mere bumper sticker slogan. It began April 2008, as the state was sliding into a crippling period of $4-a-gallon gasoline. Then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine endorsed a master plan mandating conservation, a reduction in greenhouse emissions and a commitment to produce more energy locally to increase reliability and reduce costs. Unlike prior energy plans dating back to the oil shocks of the 1970s, this plan has teeth, measured benchmarks and strategies to upgrade the state's power portfolio, educate and entice the public and invest in emerging technology to jump-start change.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

The Record: Pompton Lakes residents begin suing DuPont over pollution

2010-03-08T11:00:00Z

Pompton Lakes
Photo credit: Daily Record

In 2008, the state Department of Environmental Protection determined that the solvents were in some cases vaporizing up through the soil into basements in the neighborhood. DuPont has agreed to install venting systems on every home in the neighborhood to remove the vapors. It is also developing a plan to clean up the contaminated groundwater. The plan is scheduled to be submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency in June.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

NJ.com: National parks group opposes $750M power line project in northern N.J.

2010-03-07T15:00:00Z

Photo credit: Star Ledger

The National Parks Conservation Foundation is opposing a major Pennsylvania-New Jersey power line project that would cut through three federal parks, the group has announced. The proposed Susquehanna-Roseland project would have negative impacts on the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River, and Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the group said in a statement released last week.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

NorthJersey.com: N.J.’s new law promises faster remediation, at a price

2010-03-07T11:00:00Z

Photo credit: The Record

New Jersey companies involved in environmental cleanups are grappling with major changes affecting their businesses stemming from a new state law that makes consultants responsible for signing off on toxic site mitigation. Remediation consultants and developers, as well as property owners, are struggling to understand how they will be affected by the legislation, which took effect in November, that accelerates cleanups by privatizing the work.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

Bloomfield Life: Earthquakes and the Purgen Coal Plant

2010-03-06T15:00:00Z

Photo credit: state.nj.us/dep

Earthquakes in New Jersey? Yes! According to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection there have been 164 recorded earthquakes since 1783, usually minor, that have had their epicenter in our state with a rating of 0.4 to 5.3. Two most recent ones occurred Feb. 5 and 7, centered in Far Hills in Somerset County. Although they were minor, residents reported hearing explosions that were actually rocks breaking close to the surface. There was no damage done. (In comparison, the tragic earthquake in Haiti was 7.0 in magnitude.)

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

Sierra Club: Carbon Capture & Storage - Does it Work?

2010-03-06T11:00:00Z

Photo credit: Sierra club

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (rescheduled from Feb. 10th)
Speaker: Dr. Daniela Shebitz, Professor of Ecology at Kean University
Topic: Carbon Capture & Storage - Does it Work?

Continuing its focus on energy issues, Dr. Daniela Shebitz, Professor of Ecology at Kean University will cover the concept of Carbon Sequestration, Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), discuss it’s impact on combating climate change and relate it to the broader theme of wetlands preservation. Following her presentation, there will be a general discussion of the proposed massive coal-fired power plant which will pilot the use of CCS technology in Linden, New Jersey.

Click here for other Sierra Club events

Share |

The Star-Ledger: PSEG to apply for permit to build another nuclear power plant in N.J.

2010-03-05T15:00:00Z

PSE&G's Hope Creek nuclear plant located in Lower Alloways Creek in this 1995 file photo.
Photo credit: Star Ledger

PSEG Power and PSEG Nuclear, two subsidiaries of the Public Service Enterprise Group, are planning on filing for an early site permit with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May for the possible construction of a fourth nuclear power plant in Salem County, New Jersey, in the vicinity of its Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek plants, the company said today.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

The New York Times: Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.

2010-03-05T11:00:00Z

The mouth of Avondale Creek in Alabama, into which a pipe maker dumped oil, lead and zinc.
A court ruling made the waterway exempt from the Clean Water Act.
Photo credit: NY Times

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators. As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

NJ Conservation Foundation: Keep It Green Land Rally March 20th

2010-03-04T11:00:00Z

Photo credit: njconservation.org

The 14th New Jersey Land Conservation Rally takes place on Saturday, March 20th. Join the land conservation community at the Conference Center at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ for this one day conference that attracts 350 leaders of conservation throughout New Jersey. The Rally consists of 30 workshops, 14 roundtables, a keynote speaker and a wine-tasting. Workshop topics include habitat management, conservation finance, land acquisition tools, community gardening, trails, planning, and more. Roundtables are less formal group discussions and include easement enforcement role-playing, mapping, farmland preservation, marketing, organizing volunteer work days and more. The keynote speaker is Dr. Alfred Runte, advisor and commentator on Ken Burns’ documentary film "National Parks: America’s Best Idea." On March 19th, the Duke Farms Foundation in Hillsborough, Somerset County will host a field trip and tour of their 2,700+ acre property. The fee for the field trip is $30. Please note that March 5 is the last day to register for a discounted fee!

Click here to register

Share |

The Record: Bid to lease trash station rejected

2010-03-04T11:00:00Z

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission says a Newark firm's $2.5 million bid to lease the
North Arlington garbage transfer station failed to meet the agency's conditions.
Photo credit: Star Ledger

An effort to find a company to run a shuttered garbage transfer station in the borough has failed again, the second time in five months.Serve All, a Newark company, offered to pay $2.5 million for five years to lease the station from the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, which owns the facility, according to Brian Aberback, commission spokesman.It was the only company to submit a proposal for the site by the Wednesday deadline.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share|

NorthJersey.com: Pompton Lakes residents protest meeting site for updates on DuPont cleanup

2010-03-03T15:00:00Z

Mary DeMarco of Pompton Lakes was one of approximately a dozen
people outside the back entrance of 223 Wanaque Ave. protesting DuPont.
Photo credit: NorthJersey.com

About a dozen Pompton Lakes residents held signs and chanted in protest outside DuPont’s new information center Monday, upset that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has not opened its own neutral site to provide information on DuPont’s contamination and cleanup efforts in the borough. Protestors said they did not want to have to visit EPA officials to discuss the cleanup at a storefront run by DuPont, the company responsible for the pollution. The EPA has said it will have someone at the DuPont information center once a week. DuPont plans to keep it manned five days a week.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

NJ.com: N.J. Legislature revives controversial bill delaying water quality rules

2010-03-03T11:00:00Z

Parsippany sewage treatment plant
Photo credit: Star Ledger

The Legislature has revived a bill vetoed by former Gov. Jon Corzine to delay an anti-sprawl, water quality management rule that gives state environmental officials more control over extending sewer and septic service. The controversial legislation was reintroduced in the Senate today, after the Assembly’s Housing and Local Government Committee approved its version.The measure would prevent the already delayed water management regulation, adopted in 2008 by the Department of Environmental Protection, from taking effect until April 2011. That rule would allow the DEP to restrict the extension of septic systems and sewer lines, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas, wetlands and rare species habitats.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

NorthJersey.com: City hopes incentive program pays off

2010-03-02T15:00:00Z

A DPW employee from a participating town collecting commingled items for RecycleBank.
Photo credit: Daily Record

Put a 32-gallon recycling bin and a 10-inch stack of newspapers on the curb, and you could eventually earn $4 off at CVS when you spend $20 or more. Do that twice, and you could get a free cup of coffee or an ice cream cone at McDonald's. One city has become the first in North Jersey to sign up with a recycling incentive program offered by a New York company, RecycleBank, that has partnered with towns in 20 states, providing residents points that can be redeemed online for retail goods or discounts.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share|

DailyRecord.com: Morristown has first "sustainability coordinator"

2010-03-02T11:00:00Z

Paul Miller, the newly appointed Office of Sustainability coordinator, said he will be working to make Morristown more energy efficient by initiating more projects such as the solar array that produces more than 40 percent of the energy needed to run the town's sewer treatment plant.
Photo courtesy of Paul Miller

Mayor Tim Dougherty has created a new job at town hall to oversee Morristown's effort to downsize its carbon footprint and become a better place to live. Dougherty appointed Paul Miller, who led the Morristown Partnership's Step Ahead campaign, as the town's first-ever Office of Sustainability coordinator. The salary for the position — which has not yet been determined — will not be funded by taxpayer dollars, he said, but will be covered by foundation grants and corporate support.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share|

The Star-Ledger: Eco-funerals are increasing in popularity in New Jersey

2010-03-01T18:00:00Z

Paul E. Magalhaes looks over the grave site where his father Paul Magalhaes was buried on Jan 11 at Mayrest Cemetery in Mahwah. The elder is the first and presently only person buried in this eco-friendly section of the cemetery, which is still under construction.

Photo credit: Star Ledger

In a world that is increasingly renewable, recyclable and energy-efficient, many Americans already spend much of their lives in an eco-friendly environment. Now they can spend eternity there, too.That’s what Paul Magalhaes Sr. wanted, so last October, when the 78-year-old North Bergen man was considering personal burial plans, he settled on a new "eco option" at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah. After his death last month, Magalhaes was interred in Maryrest — the first person to be "ecologically buried" in one of the country’s first Catholic cemeteries with an environmentally sensitive section. "My father always loved nature," said Paul Magalhaes Jr. "He was the kind of guy, if there was an ant crawling, he’d say, ‘Don’t step on it, it has a purpose.’" People in the funeral industry say more Christians are embracing the idea of burial in cemeteries striving to contain their own carbon footprint.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share |

Neighbor News: Gauging the environmental impact of PSE&G’s plan

2010-03-01T15:00:00Z

Photo credit: Thetimes-Tribune.com

Although the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) unanimously voted to approve Public Service Gas & Electric’s controversial Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line, a locally planned public hearing on the project will still go forward. The $750,000 Susquehanna-Roseland project proposes to add a 500-kilovolt line from Pennsylvania across 44 miles and 15 municipalities – including Rockaway Township, Parsippany and Montville - into northwestern New Jersey along a standing 230-kilovolt corridor. The existing line is set on poles that are about 80 to 90 feet in height; however, the new lines would need to be doubly as high, with some towers reaching up to 195 feet into the air.

Click here to continue reading this story.

Share|

The Record: Local Environment Closter delays land purchase

2010-03-01T11:00:00Z

Photo credit: njdep.gov

The purchase of a 5.25-acre property between Ruckman Road and Homans Avenue has been delayed while the borough investigates the extent of contaminants discovered on portions on the tract. The borough has been planning to acquire the property to preserve wetlands and help prevent downtown flooding. Specifically, the wooded area serves as a catch basin for runoff from the downtown, the Closter Plaza shopping center and surrounding neighborhoods, said Mayor Sophie Heymann.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share|

Wyckoff Suburban News: Tree replacement becomes matter of policy in Wyckoff

2010-02-28T18:00:00Z

Photo credit: wyckoff.patch.com

Dead or dying trees planted in the township’s right of way will be replaced under the terms of a new policy approved by the Township Committee. The policy, which received unanimous endorsement at the committee’s Feb. 9 (David Connolly was absent), would require of any trees removed by the township be replaced with a new one.

Click here to continue reading this story

Share|