For Immediate Release
Contact: Megan Steele, megan.steele@sierraclub.org
This week, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is celebrating Air Quality Awareness Week. New Jersey still has some of the worst air quality in the nation, with the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2021 report failing eight counties in New Jersey for ground-level ozone levels.
“Everyone in our state has the right to breathe clean air. Unfortunately, right now our state has major air pollution problems which particularly affect low-income and environmental justice communities. While our air isn't nearly as clear as it needs to be, we clearly have a lot of work ahead of us in our state,” said Rich Isaac, Chair of the Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter.
Multiple studies have been released showing that minority and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by air pollution, contamination from Superfund Sites, as well as climate impacts like flooding. In New Jersey, multiple polluting facilities are moving forward in overburdened communities, including a power plant proposed by the state-owned Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) in Newark. The Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter believes that the DEP should put a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects in these communities until the state implements the recently signed Environmental Justice Law.
The NJ Turnpike Authority is also moving forward with $16 billion in unnecessary highway widenings for the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway that will increase greenhouse gas emissions exponentially while bulldozing through overburdened communities like East Orange and Linden.
"When will the air quality standards in New Jersey become a priority. Facilities like PVSC in Newark and Georgia Pacific Gypsum Plant in Camden and other toxic sites need to seriously think about how they are continuing to be the major contributors to poor air quality in environmental justice communities in the state. According to a recent reportthere continues to be higher levels of PM2.5, black coal and other toxins in the air. They need to be more conscious about the outcomes of public health,” said Renée Pollard, Environmental and Social Justice Chair of the Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter. “When we know better, we can do better and since we all know the impact these facilities have on environmental justice communities, we want them to do better."
Fossil fuel combustion from cars, power plants, and other sites emits fine particulate matter (PM), black carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO), all of which adversely impact the health of the community, especially our children, the elderly, and the poor.
There are currently over a dozen fossil fuel projects moving forward in the state. These include the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Compressor Expansion project, the Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline, the PennEast pipeline, the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project, and the Gibbstown liquified natural gas (LNG) facility.
"Allowing natural gas pipeline expansions throughout the State will contribute substantial volumes of hazardous air pollutants. Fugitive emissions, blow downs. and burning of natural gas to power compressor stations release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and sulfur dioxides, which negatively impacts respiratory and cardiovascular health,” said Greg Gorman, Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter. “None of this is necessary as clean energy displaces natural gas electric generation plants and building/industrial heat processes are de-carbonized."