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Help Save Barnegat Bay from the Destructive Impact of Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant Make Your Voice Heard at Public Hearings on February 24 (Lacey Township) and March 3 (Trenton) Every day, Oyster Creek Nuclear power plant strains the marine life from hundreds of millions of gallons of Barnegat Bay′s waters. The plant uses outdated technology to cool the nuclear generators which rely on "once through" use of Barnegat Bay. The Clean Water Act now requires power plants to avoid the use of bay and ocean waters, and avoid the impacts to fish, crabs, sea turtles and other marine and estuarine life. Because of its age, the Oyster Creek plant has avoided compliance with requirements of the Clean Water Act that would make plant use or upgrade to a closed cooling system - one which did not utilize the waters of Barnegat Bay. The New Jersey DEP has issued a draft permit that would require Oyster Creek′s parent company, Exelon, to bring the cooling systems up to modern standards and install cooling towers in place of the once through system. The company opposes this requirement. Two public hearings are being held on the issue. Those who care for Barnegat Bay and its natural life need to speak out and support the NJDEP′s proposed solution to protect the Bay. Hearings: LACEY TOWNSHIP: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 from 1pm to 4pm and 7pm to 9pm at the Lacey Township Municipal Building in Lacey Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. TRENTON: March 3, 2010 at the NJ DEP Public Hearing Room, 1st Floor, 401 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey fro 1pm to 4pm. Copies of the proposed permit can be found at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dwq/pdf/draft_permit100107.pdf The Littoral Society has been extensively involved in the effort to require the plant to stop its destruction of Barnegat Bay. To Learn More read our testimony and comments submitted by the Society on this important coastal issue: Testimony - 12.14.09 Fact Sheet - 12.10.09 Comments - 03.23.07 Comments - 11.21.05 Testimony - 12.03.04
They’re Back!!! Developers Renew their Attack on Clean Water and the Coast - How You Can Help Every day, the equivalent of 31 football fields of open space is developed in the Garden State. Unbelievably, this is just not enough for developers. Now, this powerful special interest lobby wants to open up the most valuable of our currently protected open spaces to new development. Their renewed assault on important environmental protection standards comes less than 1 month after former Governor Jon S. Corzine vetoed the same legislation. Working with their allies in the New Jersey Legislature, they have reintroduced the very same proposed legislation as was defeated by Governor Corzine. Their short-term gain will be everyone else′s long-term loss. Development of these lands would threaten the quality of drinking water supplies across the state, as well as the coastal habitat and wildlife so important to members of the American Littoral Society. Development in these areas will degrade the waters of our rivers, streams, bays, and ocean that sustain marine life and are enjoyed by people for fishing, boating, swimming, diving, and surfing. Over a year ago the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection passed new standards to protect the state′s streams, bays and water supplies from new development. Called the Water Quality Management Planning Rules, these new standards prohibit new sewer lines - and the growth they enable - into over 300,000 acres of the state′s most significant lands buffering our water supplies, streams and bays. One of the first actions of the new legislature this year was to introduce Assembly Bill 2070 (sponsored by Jerry Green, Democrat-Plainfield) and Senate Bill 1337 (sponsored by Paul Sarlo, Democrat-Bergen) giving developers the right to ignore these new standards and build on these valuable lands. Please join us in telling your Senator and Assembly persons to keep our water supplies safe from development by enforcing the current Water Quality Management Planning Rules and opposing A2070 and S1337. New Jersey′s most valuable open spaces need more protection, not less. Rutgers University research shows that in the last 13 years, more than half the open space we lost in New Jersey was valuable forests, wildlife habitat and areas that buffer our water resources -- places that must be preserved to keep our environment in New Jersey healthy. That′s why asking our state legislators to oppose this bill is so important. Please phone, fax, mail or e-mail them today. Download a Sample Letter Get your legislator′s contact info Together, we can take a significant step toward protecting our most valuable open spaces from development. As always, we are grateful for your support. Sincerely, Tim Dillingham
Executive Director
The Delaware Water Gap–
Jersey’s Outdoor Playground –needs your help! PSE&G is proposing to expand their right of way through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and across the Appalachian Trail. They propose to add a 500Kv line to the existing 230Kv line and double the height of the existing towers to 175 feet. To build the towers they will also need to carve new construction access roads and staging areas through the park, and MOVE THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL!
Who does PSE&G think they are?
The National Park Service will be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement to research all of the potential environmental, historical, and recreational impacts of the project. The NPS needs to hear how people and the land will be impacted. Do you love the Water Gap? Here is your chance to speak up and become a champion for the things you care about the most.
Please come to a meeting or submit written comments.
Thanks for your support.
Ways to Comment
Come to a meeting and show the NPS the face of people who care about the Water Gap.
When: February 16, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Fernwood Hotel, U.S. Route 209 North, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
When: February 17, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Camp Jefferson, 81 Weldon Road, Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey
When: February 18, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, 199 Smith Road, Parsippany, New Jersey
Can"t make it to a meeting? Click here to email your comments to the National Park Service. http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=220&projectId=25147&documentID=31664
Talking Points - The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area was created to give people open space, protect water quality in the Delaware River, and provide recreation space. This is a National Park, not PSE&G’s corporate playground.
- The New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail is one of the most historic and scenic. For more than 100 years people have hiked this portion of the trail. Construction will impact the trail directly and will ruin the views from one of the best portions of the trail.
- The Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line is only one of many transmission lines being proposed around the country to move coal power to the best paying markets. The National Park Service should consider the cumulative impact of these lines – iincluding air quality, climate change.
- Federal lands on the East Coast are rare. Congressional legislation was required to create the National Recreation Area, we should respect the few federally protected lands we have.
- PSE&Gs right of way was created when the country was just being electrified, transmission lines are no longer cutting edge technology. Investing in renewable energy distributed around New Jersey would be a safer and cleaner alternative.
- The impacts of constructing the line go beyond the Right of Way, the creation of new roads will affect a huge area in the Highlands Region.
- The population of New Jersey has boomed, there aren’t that many places left for natural recreation and to see wildlife.
- PSE&G cannot just purchase land somewhere else to make up for what they are ruining in the Water Gap. There is no way to mitigate.
- The impacts of building this line include more water and air pollution. Mercury from the Midwestern states enters the air and settles in the surface water in the Highlands.
- The views seen from the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail are priceless. PSE&G should not be allowed to ruin the view shed for private gain. This will impact the view shed in the Highlands as well as the Upper Delaware River, which has been designated a wild and scenic river.
The Process
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a study that is required for projects by federal agencies that will significantly affect the quality of the environment. It requires federal agencies to examine the alternatives that would limit environmental impact.
There are three steps for an EIS:
- First the agency, in this case the National Parks Service, does scoping. They take public comment on what issues they should look into.
- Second, they write a draft of the EIS. After the draft is written it becomes open to public comment.
- Third, they publish their EIS with a determination of an approved alternative, which could be the project as proposed by PSE&G, an alternative proposal, or a "no build" alternative.
REPORT ALL SITINGS OF INVASIVE CHINESE MITTEN CRABS The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and east coast state environmental agencies have issued alerts for the Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis), a highly invasive species from China that has recently been spotted in teh Chesapeake in Maryland, in the Delaware Bay, and in the Hudson River. The crab is so invasive that it is listed under the Federal Lacey Act which makes it illegal to possess, import, export, transport, sell, received, acquire or purchase this species in the United States. To learn how to identify this crab and what to do if you find one, download the SERC Fact Sheet. Please pass it on to others who are active in, on, near east coast waters. Download Fact Sheet
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