Public Participation Key in NJ Incinerator Pollution Fight

Really, the headline from the New Jersey Spotlight says it all: For Smog Control at Incinerator, Public Pressure Played Key Role.” At issue was the kind of air pollution controls to require on the largest garbage incinerator in the state, run by Essex County itself. And see if this doesn’t sound vaguely familiar. In 2009, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a new air permit renewal for the incinerator but failed to give proper public notice. The state failed to even notify the groups that were already suing over the incinerator’s violations of its former permit. Feeling a little hurt, the groups filed a petition with EPA to revoke the state’s new permit and have a complete re-do of the whole thing, using evidence of permit violations of Particulate Matter and Sulfur Dioxide by the facility as leverage to force an agreement. When a public hearing was finally called on the proposed permit, hundreds of residents attended and demanded that air pollution from the incinerator be reduced. So the state relented and demanded the incinerator install controls that will be at least 50% better at collecting PM pollution and use modern diesel engines to reduce Sulfur Dioxide emissions. William Schulte, an attorney for the Eastern Environmental Law Center,
which represented the community organizations, was quoted in the article as saying that “Without the
public, DEP could never had made that deal.” Public participation doesn’t always guarantee victory for a grassroots group, but you can’t win without it. That’s how Downwinders won our historic settlement with Holcim Cement in 2006. That’s how we forced the cement plants and Chaparral Steel Mill to add controls.  That’s why Governor Perry and his friends want to limit your ability to even know about permit changes in Texas – to the extent that Ash Grove can re-build its entire cement plant under a “permit amendment” that requires no public notice. Ditto with the permit the state gave TXI last June that gives the company permission to turn its cement kiln into a giant garbage burner. No public notice required. No public hearing required. No public participation wanted. That is one thing we should all be working to change in Texas. Meanwhile, here’s to another win by people power.