People Over Plastics: Senate Committee Poised to Vote on Major Packaging Reduction Legislation

New Jersey Environmental and Environmental Justice Advocates gathered alongside medical professionals to discuss the urgency and necessity of solutions to the plastic waste crisis. Speakers included experts from Environment New Jersey, Just Zero, Clean Water Action, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance as well as NJ Pulmonologist Dr. Walter Wynkoop and Rutgers University Pharmacology and Toxicology Professor Dr. Phoebe Stapleton. 

On the eve of the last NJ Senate Energy and Environment Committee, advocates called on legislators to pass Senate Bill S. 3398, Packing Product Stewardship Act sponsored by Sen. Bob Smith. In particular, advocates called on the legislature to include strong provisions to reduce  toxics in packaging, eliminate any exemptions to the law, ensure chemical recycling was not included as an alternative to true recycling, and to provide for strong accountability and transparency requirements. With nearly 40% of plastic used for packaging, the need for this bill is incredibly apparent. View the press conference and read the full press release below.

Read the full press release

S.3398_PressReleaseDownload

NJEJA Statement on Fourth Power Plant In Newark

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2024

Press Contact

Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org 

 

NJEJA Calls Upon PVSC To Reject Power Plant Proposal: New Jersey Residents Should Have Clean Air Regardless of Zip Code

 

Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, opposes Governor Murphy’s decision to approve a fourth power plant in the City of Newark and calls upon the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners to reject the proposal. 

The approval of the plan, which will burn natural gas, only extends New Jersey’s reliance on fossil fuels and directly contradicts the state’s clean energy goals. Furthermore, the impact of a fourth plant in the Ironbound community, and Newark as a whole, will have detrimental effects on local air pollution. Any additional power plants, even those that have outlined steps to decrease their emissions, risks increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and co-pollutants emissions which increases local air pollution. The power plant represents not only an environmental injustice, but a threat to public health.  

We stand in solidarity with our community members, elected officials, and community-based organizations who have opposed this project. We demand clean air for all New Jersey residents, and call on the Murphy administration and the Commissioners to ensure that clean air is available to all, not just certain zip codes. 

 

“For months, if not years, the residents of Newark have opposed the construction of an additional power plant in their city due to valid health concerns. The state should listen to them and not build this plant.”

Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq.
Chair of the Board, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
Director of the Center for the Urban Environment at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University

 

“We understand that our adversary here is environmental racism and capital, which continue to put profit over people. Better solutions to fossil-burning power plants exist and we need the PVSC Commissioners to prioritize clean energy for the health and well-being of the East Ward community.”

Melissa Miles
Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance 

 

“The decision to move forward with this project, despite vocal opposition from community members, public officials, and community-based organizations, demonstrates that community members have not been treated as equal stakeholders in this process. Communities must be centered in this decision making process and residents have been clear: Newark does not need or want another power plant.”

Brooke Helmick 
Director of Policy, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

 

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The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.

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NJEJA Applauds Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project Approval: Clean Renewable Energy Development Benefits Everyone

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2024

Press Contacts

Melissa Miles, Executive Director | melissa@njeja.org 

Brooke Helmick, Director of Policy | brooke@njeja.org

 

NJEJA Applauds Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project Approval: Clean Renewable Energy Development Benefits Everyone

 

Newark, New Jersey – The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, a statewide organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating environmental injustices in communities of color and low-income communities, applauds the recent decision to approve the Atlantic Shores offshore wind energy project. 

 

The approval will lead to the development of the nation’s ninth commercial-scale offshore wind project and generate up to 2,800 megawatts of clean electricity, and is expected to power nearly one million homes. The program can support the state of New Jersey in reaching its clean energy goals. Such clean energy programs not only support the movement to divest from fossil fuels but also support the work of mitigating local air pollution and providing cleaner air for all communities, particularly those disproportionately burdened by energy production. 

 

As this program rolls out, we encourage state and federal officials to prioritize the principles of a Just Transition and continue meaningful engagement with local communities — particularly communities Of Color and low-income communities, who will be directly impacted by this infrastructure and development. We offer our continued support and expertise in ensuring that environmental justice communities are centered and prioritized in the future of clean energy development. 


Learn more about the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and our work in equipping our communities with the tools needed for a career in offshore wind.

 

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For questions regarding this statement, please contact Brooke Helmick, NJEJA Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org. 

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.

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NJEJA and Partners Submit Comments on EPA’s Power Plant Rule

On May 28, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and EJ partners submitted crucial comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the second part to their Power Plant Rules. These comments reflect a unified effort from numerous EJ organizations across the country to call on the EPA to substantially address the cumulative impacts of air pollution and the disproportionate burden of both greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas co-pollutants on environmental justice communities. Click here to read our full comments.

Read Our Statement Below, and hear what EJ advocates had to say about the unique opportunity in this comment period:

EJ-Comments-on-EPAs-Existing-Gas-Rule-STATEMENT-May-2024-1Download

Press Release: EJ Community Members Say: EPA Rules Must Incorporate Cumulative Impacts Analysis and Discontinue Reliance on CCS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2024

Press Contacts

NJ Environmental Justice Alliance: Melissa Miles | melissa@njeja.org 

Center for the Urban Environment of the Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research: Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq. | nsheats@kean.edu

Tishman Environment and Design Center: Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista | baptista@newschool.edu  

Ironbound Community Corp.: Maria Lopez-Nunez | mlopeznunez@ironboundcc.org 

 

EJ Community Members Say:

EPA Rules Must Incorporate Cumulative Impacts Analysis and Discontinue Reliance on CCS

 

Washington D.C. – On April 25, the EPA announced a suite of four standards on toxic air pollution, water pollution, land contamination, and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants. Key among these is the final rule for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants. 

 

We recognize the important steps the EPA has taken in removing hydrogen co-firing from consideration as a BSER (Best System of Emissions Reduction) and understand the importance in a delayed ruling on reducing GHG emissions from existing natural gas plants in order to consider the best approach and to address environmental justice concerns. 

In order to best address the risks of climate change and local air pollution as well as protect frontline Environmental Justice communities, the EPA should incorporate a cumulative impacts and MER (mandatory emissions reduction) approach. 

We would also call upon the EPA to continue to strengthen its rules and ensure that future rules do not include hydrogen co-firing or CCS/CCUS as a BSER. We urge the EPA to discontinue its reliance on and promotion of CCS as a technological solution to climate change mitigation. CCS is an unproven and high-risk approach to reducing GHG emissions, and fails to address co-pollutant emissions from power plants in a meaningful and holistic way. 

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“The EPA Power Plant Rule update resulted from decades of organizing and advocacy and years of partnerships between the EPA and Environmental Justice communities. The EPA is modeling some of the best practices around the engagement of impacted communities, and these updated rules are a win for us all. At the same time, we acknowledge the parts of the rules flagged by communities as non-starters, namely the use of carbon capture, utilization and storage in EJ communities. The implicit inclusion of this dangerous technology was a loss for us all. However, we maintain hope that the next update will incorporate cumulative impacts and a mandatory emissions reduction approach to regulating existing power plants.”

Melissa Miles, 

Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

 

“I congratulate EPA on the decision to remove hydrogen co-firing from the power plant rule. However, cumulative impacts and mandatory emissions reductions policies should be incorporated into the rule to protect environmental justice communities in general, and especially as a safeguard for the potential harms of carbon capture technology, which unfortunately remains in the rule. These protective policies should also be incorporated into the existing gas plants portion of the rule.”

Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., 

Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University 

President of the Board and member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

 

“We want to urge the USEPA to prioritize the health and well-being of environmental justice communities in the implementation of these rules. We look forward to seeing mandatory emissions reductions and approaches to reducing cumulative impacts embedded in the regulations now being developed for existing natural gas plants.”

Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista, 

Co-Director Tishman Environment & Design Center

NJEJA Board Member 

 

“EPA has to show progress on cumulative impacts and mandatory emissions reductions if we are to believe that this administration is not just all talk regarding the welfare of the most vulnerable communities. These concepts must be embedded into existing and future regulation to safeguard our communities from bad local actors.”

 

Maria Lopez-Nunez,

Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy Ironbound Community Corporation

 

For questions regarding this statement, please contact Brooke Helmick, NJEJA Director of Policy at brooke@njeja.org. 

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.

The Center for the Urban Environment (CUE) strives to protect communities Of Color and low-income communities from disproportionately high amounts of pollution by addressing environmental justice (EJ) issues on the local, state and national levels. 

The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School is a collaborative community of practice that leverages research, policy, and design in accordance with the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. Our Center brings together research and action to tackle the root causes of climate and environmental injustice and commit to changing higher education practices within and beyond The New School. 

The Ironbound Community Cooperation upholds and builds upon the principles of “Justice and Equality for All.” We strive to practice and build equity, work towards a Just Transition, and organize community on the basis of the Jemez Principles. We envision a safe, healthy, just, and nurturing Ironbound; a welcoming and fully inclusive community that supports equal and accessible opportunity and the quest for a better life. For us, revitalization means uplifting both people and place. Therefore, we aim to lead the transformation of Ironbound into a neighborhood where anyone might choose to live and current residents can remain in their homes and their community without fear of being displaced.

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Press Release: Protect EJ Communities While Mitigating Climate Change

NJEJA logo ICC logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2024

Press Contacts

NJ Environmental Justice Alliance: Brooke Helmick | brooke@njeja.org

Center for the Urban Environment: Nicky Sheats, PhD, Esq. | nsheats@kean.edu 

Ironbound Community Corp.: Maria Lopez-Nunez | mlopeznunez@ironboundcc.org 

 

Environmental Justice Communities Say: 

Protect EJ Communities While Mitigating Climate Change 

 

Trenton – On March 14, the Senate Energy and Environment Committee both strengthened and voted in favor (3-2) of a Clean Energy Standard (S237/A1480). The EJ community has been actively involved in calling for a nation-leading definition of clean energy and climate change mitigation policy that reduces locally harmful GHG co-pollutants in overburdened Environmental Justice communities, and does not allow for potential loopholes or false solutions. 

 

We celebrate the passage of this strong definition, and the fact that this bill makes New Jersey a leader in ensuring states prioritize the procurement of clean energy. However, we also recognize that this bill has a long way to go before it can be enacted into law. This moment cannot be the end of the conversation, and we will continue to call for new language and provisions that actively protect EJ communities while creating new jobs and a cleaner environment. 

 

We call upon legislators to continue fine-tuning this bill by ensuring that the legislation: 

  • Reduces toxic air pollution in EJ communities by removing “net emissions” calculations;
  • Creates a strong standard for “de minimis” levels of pollution that are as close to zero as possible; and 
  • Prevents polluting facilities such as incinerators from receiving ratepayer subsidies when they violate air permits. 

 

“This moment represents a turning point for the state and the country. Including co-pollutants in the definition makes New Jersey a leader in protecting frontline communities. There is more work to be done to make sure that the bill is as protective of EJ communities as possible, but we take this moment to celebrate and honor the many advocates who have worked tirelessly to protect public health, call for climate change mitigation, and ensure that EJ communities are not left behind in the energy transition.” 

Melissa Miles

Executive Director 

New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance 

 

“It’s so refreshing to see a holistic and necessary approach to defining clean energy. If we do not include co-pollutants, we stand to repeat the mistakes of the past where we sacrifice local communities for the so-called “greater good.” Today is an important step in leading the country towards a future that deals with both public health and climate change.” 

Maria Lopez-Nuñez

Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy

Ironbound Community Corportation

 

“Incorporating GHG co-pollutant reductions into a clean energy standard is the type of action the environmental justice community has been strongly recommending for many years. It will help protect communities near energy infrastructure from locally harmful co-pollutant emissions while at the same time fighting climate change.”

Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq.

Director, Center for the Urban Environment

John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University

Member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

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The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is an alliance of New Jersey-based organizations and individuals working together to identify, prevent, and reduce and/or eliminate environmental injustices that exist in communities of color and low-income communities. NJEJA will support community efforts to remediate and rebuild impacted neighborhoods, using the community’s vision of improvement, through education, advocacy, the review and promulgation of public policies, training, and through organizing and technical assistance.

 ICC upholds and builds upon the principles of “Justice and Equality for All.” We strive to practice and build equity, work towards a Just Transition, and organize community on the basis of the Jemez Principles. We envision a safe, healthy, just, and nurturing Ironbound; a welcoming and fully inclusive community that supports equal and accessible opportunity and the quest for a better life. For us, revitalization means uplifting both people and place. Therefore, we aim to lead the transformation of Ironbound into a neighborhood where anyone might choose to live and current residents can remain in their homes and their community without fear of being displaced.

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Press Release: EPA’s Proposed New Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Will Fail to Protect EJ Communities

Press Release: EPA’s Proposed New Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants Will Fail to Protect EJ Communities

WASHINGTON (August 8, 2023) –The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, the Center for the Urban Environment of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA), and the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy, along with 18 environmental justice and 9 allied organizations are submitting public comments today on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed carbon pollution standards for coal and new natural gas fired power plants. 

Environmental justice (EJ) communities are on the frontlines of the adverse impacts of climate change and are disproportionately exposed to a wide range of polluting industries, including fossil fuel infrastructure like coal plants, natural gas plants, and pipelines. The use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) mechanisms and hydrogen co-firing in the power sector will further harm EJ communities that are already overburdened. The only real solution to climate change is the rapid and complete transition of the power sector away from all types of fossil fuels to energy efficiency and  renewable energy in the form of wind and solar power. We call attention to critical EJ concerns related to the proposed rule that would hinder a reliable, just, and truly clean power section transition. 

The EPA will finalize the standards in the coming months.

The following is a comment from Dr. Ana Baptista, The Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School

“Addressing climate change and decades of toxic exposure experienced by environmental justice communities means moving away from a dependence on fossil fuels and investing instead in renewable energy sources and infrastructure in communities. Supporting carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and hydrogen co-firing in the power sector through massive amounts of public funding and policies like EPA’s proposed rule will perpetuate the fossil fuel industry, to the continued detriment of EJ communities. These same overburdened communities have time and again been sacrifice zones to unjust policies and infrastructure that place them on the frontlines of fossil fuel polluting structures. Environmental justice should be a priority for the EPA’s power sector rule rather than an afterthought . We urge the EPA to take seriously the environmental justice implications of this rule and consider cumulative impacts in decision-making processes related to the rule.”

 

The following is a comment from Dr. Nicky Sheats, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University

“Too many low-income communities and Communities of Color around the country are exposed to the harms of all types of polluting infrastructure and have disproportionately borne these cumulative burdens for too long. It’s time to right these wrongs. EPA’s proposed rule all but recognizes that CCS and hydrogen co-firing will add to toxic air pollution in communities living near power plants, and this is unacceptable when such communities already live with an unfair share of cumulative impacts from pollution. The EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards must adopt a more affirmative approach toward environmental justice to address cumulative impacts. ” 

The following is a comment from Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

“A rapid, clean energy transition is indispensable to ensure that current and future generations have healthy and safe communities to live, work, play, learn, and worship in. We need policies that mandate emissions reductions in EJ communities and ensure the closure of fossil fuel powered plants first and foremost in EJ communities. The EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards are an opportunity for the EPA to create equitable policies that truly center communities on the frontlines and bring us to a clean energy transition and just future for all.” 

 

The following is a comment from Bill Gallegos, Center for Earth Energy & Democracy

“We know that overwhelmingly the burden of pollution from fossil fuel powered power plants is borne by low income communities, communities of color and indigenous communities. We also know that the impacts of rising intensive heat cycles, extreme temperatures and the resulting power outages are experienced most acutely by environmental justice communities.  We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. We must meet the challenge of climate change like never before – in ways that center environmental justice communities. We urge the EPA to uphold its commitment to environmental justice and create policies that reduce carbon pollution from the power sector in ways that create benefits for environmental justice communities.”

 

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Press Release: New Jersey Releases Rules for Landmark Environmental Justice Law

For Immediate Release: Monday, June 6, 2022


For more information regarding this statement, please contact: 

JV Valladolid, jvalladolid@ironboundcc.org   cell:  862-588-4715

 

Statement from Ironbound Community Corporation, 

New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Clean Water Action,

 and South Ward Environmental Alliance


New Jersey Releases Landmark Environmental Justice Rules


     Environmental Justice (EJ) communities throughout New Jersey are on the brink of change as the landmark Environmental Justice Bill S232 comes closer to being realized.  Today’s release of long awaited rules that accompany this landmark EJ Law is a critically  important milestone. 


The law and now proposed rules tackle the decades-long pattern of dumping polluting facilities in communities Of Color and low-income communities. Under these new rules, polluting facilities will be required to undergo a robust environmental justice review before being permitted in overburdened, i.e., environmental justice communities. These precedent-setting rules will arm New Jersey regulators with the right to deny further harmful pollution in these neighborhoods. Environmental justice communities will finally have a chance to have what many people take for granted – clean air and a safer environment in which to thrive. 


The just released rules would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of New Jersey environmental justice advocates and organizations, as well as State Senator Singleton, State Senator Ruiz, Assemblyman McKeon, Governor Murphy, NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJEP) Commissioner LaTourette and staff that led to the passage of the law (S232) in the first place.


This rule reflects two years of continued hard work, expertise and community knowledge of EJ advocates who worked alongside the NJDEP staff to develop a strong set of rules that reflect the ambition, significance and promise of the landmark EJ law. We are eager to see these rules adopted as written as soon as possible and finally put to use in the communities that have been sacrificed for far too long. 


New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Ironbound Community Corp. Environmental Justice, South Ward Environmental Alliance, and Clean Water Action will be making sure that communities understand and are engaged with the public hearings regarding the proposed regulations. Too often when a historic bill such as S232 is passed, people stop paying attention after the bill is signed. It is imperative that our communities stay engaged. Until the final rule adoption occurs later this year, we  urge the NJDEP to act in the spirit of the law and as we continue to fight our current battles for environmental justice in New Jersey, including: a fourth fracked gas power plant proposed by Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, threat of a sludge facility proposed, and waste facility expansions in Camden. 


The draft rules require the NJDEP to evaluate the environmental and public health impacts of various polluting facilities on overburdened communities when reviewing specific types of permit applications. It lays out a process for assessing the burden that new facilities may pose to communities that are already overburdened and directs the state to deny those permits that contribute to the existing stressors in those census blocks. It requires additional reviews of existing facilities in overburdened communities that undergo a renewal or expansion process and can apply more stringent conditions to those existing facilities. It also offers a robust set of public participation processes for local input. 



“This is an important first step to ensuring that communities Of Color and communities with low-income in New Jersey have a chance to attain the clean environment  that other communities in the state enjoy.”

– Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq, NJEJA Trustee


“The South Ward community of Newark just wants to breathe clean air and enjoy their quality of life free from additional toxic facilities impacting the health of the neighborhood.”

– Kim Gaddy, Environmental Justice Director, Clean Water Action


“We are excited about reaching this pivotal moment in the trajectory of the EJ law. Environmental Justice communities will be paying specific attention to what warrants a compelling public interest, what does it mean to avoid harming the community and provisions around community engagement.  We need to ensure that no industry green washes their way through EJ law.”

– Maria Lopez-Nunez, Ironbound Community Corp.


“These rules represent the hard work and diligence of EJ activists that have worked tirelessly alongside NJDEP to produce the strongest environmental justice law in the nation. Finally, there is a light at the end of this journey towards environmental justice for all.” 

– Ana Baptista, Ph.D., The New School University, NJEJA & ICC Trustee


“One of the most critical details of the Environmental Justice Law is the robust public process required of permitting facilities. For far too long some of the worst actors have lied or bought their way into the good graces of a few key people and claimed that their ‘back room’ deals were community engagement. Even now some communities expect polluting industries to operate in obscurity and without their input. That all ends with the implementation of the EJ Law.”

– Melissa Miles, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA)


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Passing of Colandus ‘Kelly’ Francis

Dear community,

We hope all is well with you all. We have some sad news.

Longtime community advocate Colandus “Kelly” Francis, former Camden NAACP President, community leader, education & housing advocate, passed away this past Saturday. 

Kelly was one of the first leaders in New Jersey that supported the work of NJEJA in Camden. 

Kelly was a progressive political leader in Camden, often at odds with the political bosses in Camden and the surrounding communities. 

In the early years, Kelly helped to shape the Environmental Justice movement in New Jersey and was a staunch supporter of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. He opened the door for NJEJA to meet and work with community leaders. Kelly provided insight into the environmental degradation that had devastated his beloved community. 

Kelly was a civil servant; he delivered the mail to the community. He knew every nook and cranny in Camden. As a mail carrier, he developed relationships with many of the citizens in Camden and the surrounding communities as well. 

His kind of activism will be missed.

“They don’t build them that way anymore”

 

In love and care, 

NJEJA

Colandus “Kelly” Francis (2015). Photo Credit: Mel Evans, AP.

Press Release: Coalition for Healthy Ports call for action on scrapyard fire at Eastern Metal Recycling Terminal at Port Newark

Coalition for Healthy Ports

Ironbound Community Corporation      

New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance    

Clean Water Action    

South Ward Environmental Alliance

Immediate Release: Tuesday January 25, 2022

Contact:  Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action and South Ward resident  973-914-2449

                 Maria Lopez-Nunez, Ironbound Community Corporation    201-978-6660    

                 Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance  347-553-3338

TODAY, Newark – The Coalition for Healthy Ports (CHP)* issued a call for action regarding the scrap yard fire at Eastern Metal Recycling Terminal at Port Newark, the second large fire at this site since September 2021.

 Current policies, regulations and emergency response procedures leave communities and workers vulnerable to unknown chemical exposures and other harms of this facility and others like it during routine operations, only made worse during crisis management.

Community notification procedures and air monitoring systems are inadequate, leaving residents clueless as to what to do to protect themselves and their families. The only information residents are getting is from news reports. Agencies will have limited information to assess the situation, pollution impacts, and/or consider remedies to put in place in the future. 

It is also alarmingly unclear who has jurisdiction for permits, operations, emergency response and enforcement at Port Newark – Port Authority of NY&NJ (PANYNJ), NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for port, on-site and emergency responders just to name a few. The PANYNJ fire team deemed themselves ill equipped so the City of Newark Fire Department was called in to respond. Additionally, NJDEP’s oversight is currently limited, but we anticipate that the long awaited environment justice rules will include scrap yards – facilities that have long eluded regulatory controls and tools for community accountability.

The Coalition for Healthy Ports calls on the Governor and other responsible agencies to: 

  • take immediate action to protect residents and workers, properly and regularly inform them of developments related to the fire 
  • install emergency and permanent air/water monitors to assess pollution and health impacts
  • evaluate reasons for current fire and take immediate steps to prevent future fires
  • exercise enforcement powers where they may currently exist 
  • formally propose and adopt cumulative impact regulations as soon as possible, including scrap yards and other previously un/underregulated facilities of concern
  • resolve chronic jurisdictional issues and enforcement powers at the port 
  • hold a community meeting to both inform and receive public input on their concerns and demands for action

Below are quotes from impacted community leaders and Coalition for Healthy Ports members:

“ We often have to worry not just about fires but what is burning in those fires. No one should go to bed with nausea or headaches from the smells outside but our residents know the feeling all too well. This fire joins a long list of situations that remind us how close we are to potential catastrophe in our communities because of the concentration of toxic reactive chemicals. We need more than lip service, we need real protection. It is exhausting to keep asking for protection from our state but there are decades of historic injustice that must be addressed.” – Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corporation

“Longshoreman and Newark residents deserve to be protected from fires at Port Newark.  Our health must be a priority of Gov. Murphy and the PANYNJ. As a South Ward resident living in a Port community, we demand mandatory air monitoring and environmental enforcement at the Port today.” – Kim Gaddy, Executive Director, South Ward Environmental Alliance and New Jersey Environmental Justice Director, Clean Water Action

“Leadership at the Port of Newark has consistently denied their responsibility for air pollution beyond their fence line. This is a clear incidence of serious impacts as far away as New York City. We need fence line air monitoring and community accountability from the Port and its tenants.” – Melissa Miles, Executive Director,  New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

“This fire is a reminder of the threats that port related waste facilities pose to community and worker health. In times of emergency, we must have clear lines of communication and a coordinated response to protect people. We call on state and local agencies together with the PANYNJ to ensure effective monitoring and enforcement to prevent future fires.” – Ana Baptista, P.h.D. Co-Director, Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School University and Coalition for Healthy Ports Member

“The frequency of chemical fires occurring in New Jersey is on the rise – sounding the alarm for immediate action. The state must step up enforcement of existing laws and adopt long awaited cumulative impact protections including strict oversight of polluting facilities and scrap yards in already grossly overburdened communities and port region. Anything less than this is an environmental and public health injustice to residents and workers.” – Amy  Goldsmith, NJ State Director, Clean Water Action and Steering Committee Member, Coalition for Healthy Ports

“The New Jersey Governor’s Office, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and all relevant governmental agencies need to work together to address this alarming fire and to prevent this type of incident from happening again in the future.” – Nicky Sheats, Esq., Ph.D., Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance Member

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* Coalition for Healthy Ports (CHP) is a bi-state alliance founded in 2007 by environmental and environmental justice activists, truck drivers, faith leaders, labor unions, and community advocates fighting for zero emissions, clean air, good jobs, healthy communities, environmental and economic justice at the Ports of New York and New Jersey and throughout the logistics industry. Particular emphasis is given to port-adjacent communities that are disproportionately overburdened by port pollution and operations. www.coalitionforhealthyports.org

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