Home > Uncategorized > Pigs in Linden, NJ

Pigs in Linden, NJ

Buckeye Pipeline, Linden NJ

Buckeye Pipeline, Linden NJ

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time.
~~~~
George Orwell

This is a metaphorical and yet literal story about pigs – we’ll let the reader discern metaphor from fact – noun from verb.

Pigs were the “state of the art” in garbage disposal in 1930. Few people understand that back then, many U. S. cities still saved their garbage for pig slopping – despite the well-known relationship between trichinosis and garbage-fed pigs. When driving past Secaucus, New Jersey, the recipient of New York City’s garbage, one had to roll up one’s car windows to avoid the ghastly smell of the pig farms as late as the 1940s.

I recently traveled to Tremley Point in Linden NJ to take some photographs to support the work of the coalition opposing the proposed $5 billion “PurGen” coal plant.

ISP (former GAF) toxic site, adjacent to Dupont toxic site of proposed PurGen coal plant, Linden NJtoic

ISP (former GAF) toxic site, adjacent to Dupont toxic site of proposed PurGen coal plant, Linden NJ. What is in those piles?

Exxon Bayway Refinery, Linden, NJ

Exxon Bayway Refinery, Linden, NJ

Needless to say, shortly after I got off Route 1 on the way out to Tremley Point,  despite the nice new ramps on the Turnpike at Exit 12, I realized that I was in the belly of some form of beast.

Linden Landfill

Linden Landfill

I got out of my car, to take some shots of the neighborhood.

Park surrounded by oil tank farm and refinery

Park surrounded by oil tank farm and refinery - is that an untarped toxic soil pile?

Good thing I ddn't bring my dog. Do the oil companies cleanup their mess like a "pooper scooper" law?

Good thing I didn't bring my dog. Do the oil companies cleanup their mess like a "pooper scooper" law?

Having a smoke on the porch or in the backyard could get you killed.

Having a smoke on the porch or in the backyard could get you killed.

National oil and gas pipelines end in Linden

National oil and gas pipelines end in Linden

Of course, seeing that I was in a federal Homeland Security Zone, the local police swooped in to question me. This time, I was greeted by a professional and friendly cop. After I explained my mission, he explained the critical infrastructure we were virtually standing on. It turns out – after I asked about all the smoke coming from behind the Public Works yard where they park the garbage trucks (across from the park and swingset) – the policeman explained that Linden is the terminus of national oil and gas pipelines. He went on to mention the practice of “blowing out the pig“.

It sounded polluting and unsafe – and I wondered why they didn’t blow out the pig back in Texas or Ohio or wherever the oil and gas lines come here from.

According to the Wikipedia entry on “pigging:

“… cleaning pigs push contaminants from the pipeline such as wax, foreign objects, hydrates, etc, which must be removed from the pipeline. There are inherent risks in opening the barrel to atmosphere and care must be taken to ensure that the barrel is depressured prior to opening. If the barrel is not completely depressured, the pig can be ejected from the barrel and operators have been severely injured when standing in front of an open pig door. When the product is sour, the barrel should be evacuated to a flare system where the sour gas is burnt. Operators should be wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus when working on sour systems.

So, in addition to all the industrial pollution sources that make Linden an environmental justice community, we now learn that there are pigs in Linden.

And I thought that NJ had ended the gross, unhealthy and embarrassing practice of using pigs to manage waste:

“According to state estimates, New Jersey pigs consume 1,500 tons of garbage a week – about the same as a small trash-to-steam plant. Much of it comes from Philadelphia, which has contracted with about 20 pig farmers, who collect an estimated 30,000 tons of garbage a year.”

(see: Pigging Out, Philadelphia Inquirer)

just another pipeline in Linden

just another pipeline in Linden

Ship of State - Linden, NJ along Arthur Kill

Ship of State - Linden, NJ along Arthur Kill

Categories: Uncategorized Tags:
  1. Joe Hoffman
    November 3rd, 2009 at 15:15 | #1

    “Well any fool knows
    A dog needs a home.
    A shelter
    From pigs on the wing”
    Roger Waters (1975)

    “New Jersey’s got it!”
    Tourism promotional song, 1990s

    And now the serious questions:

    1) What will we all do when the pig crap hits the fan?

    2) Who approved all this and why didn’t citizens have any say?

    3) When will we all FINALLY wake up?

    Thanks, Mr. Wolfe.

  1. December 17th, 2009 at 13:55 | #1
  2. February 19th, 2010 at 11:43 | #2
  3. April 27th, 2015 at 16:54 | #3
  4. May 11th, 2015 at 16:15 | #4
  5. May 15th, 2015 at 14:46 | #5
  6. May 16th, 2015 at 19:12 | #6
  7. May 17th, 2015 at 03:34 | #7
  8. May 21st, 2015 at 12:41 | #8
  9. May 21st, 2015 at 13:00 | #9
  10. May 21st, 2015 at 13:18 | #10
  11. May 21st, 2015 at 13:35 | #11
  12. May 21st, 2015 at 13:52 | #12
  13. May 21st, 2015 at 14:29 | #13
  14. May 21st, 2015 at 15:24 | #14
  15. May 21st, 2015 at 16:22 | #15
  16. May 21st, 2015 at 16:42 | #16
  17. May 21st, 2015 at 17:00 | #17
  18. May 21st, 2015 at 17:19 | #18
  19. May 21st, 2015 at 17:58 | #19
  20. May 21st, 2015 at 18:21 | #20
  21. May 21st, 2015 at 18:43 | #21
  22. May 21st, 2015 at 19:59 | #22
  23. May 23rd, 2015 at 12:46 | #23
  24. May 23rd, 2015 at 13:05 | #24
  25. May 23rd, 2015 at 14:48 | #25
  26. May 23rd, 2015 at 15:08 | #26
  27. May 25th, 2015 at 23:18 | #27
  28. May 26th, 2015 at 00:23 | #28
  29. May 26th, 2015 at 05:33 | #29
  30. May 26th, 2015 at 05:51 | #30
  31. May 26th, 2015 at 06:53 | #31
  32. May 26th, 2015 at 06:55 | #32
  33. May 26th, 2015 at 10:45 | #33
  34. May 26th, 2015 at 11:55 | #34
  35. May 26th, 2015 at 15:19 | #35
  36. May 26th, 2015 at 17:16 | #36
  37. May 26th, 2015 at 21:33 | #37
  38. May 26th, 2015 at 22:34 | #38
  39. May 26th, 2015 at 23:30 | #39
  40. May 26th, 2015 at 23:48 | #40
  41. May 27th, 2015 at 04:10 | #41
  42. May 27th, 2015 at 07:09 | #42
  43. May 27th, 2015 at 08:16 | #43
  44. May 27th, 2015 at 10:43 | #44
  45. May 27th, 2015 at 11:51 | #45
  46. May 27th, 2015 at 15:43 | #46
  47. May 27th, 2015 at 16:42 | #47
  48. May 27th, 2015 at 17:41 | #48
  49. May 27th, 2015 at 18:38 | #49
  50. May 27th, 2015 at 19:35 | #50
  51. May 27th, 2015 at 20:34 | #51
  52. May 27th, 2015 at 22:40 | #52
  53. May 28th, 2015 at 03:01 | #53
  54. May 28th, 2015 at 06:33 | #54
  55. May 28th, 2015 at 13:39 | #55
  56. May 28th, 2015 at 16:48 | #56
  57. May 28th, 2015 at 19:51 | #57
  58. May 28th, 2015 at 20:57 | #58
  59. May 28th, 2015 at 21:57 | #59
  60. May 28th, 2015 at 23:02 | #60
  61. May 29th, 2015 at 05:40 | #61
  62. May 29th, 2015 at 06:16 | #62
  63. May 29th, 2015 at 06:21 | #63
  64. May 29th, 2015 at 20:10 | #64
  65. May 29th, 2015 at 22:38 | #65
  66. May 30th, 2015 at 00:07 | #66
  67. May 30th, 2015 at 03:17 | #67
  68. May 30th, 2015 at 20:42 | #68
  69. May 31st, 2015 at 20:22 | #69
  70. May 31st, 2015 at 23:02 | #70
  71. June 1st, 2015 at 00:33 | #71
  72. June 1st, 2015 at 06:50 | #72
  73. June 1st, 2015 at 08:18 | #73
  74. June 1st, 2015 at 09:07 | #74
  75. June 2nd, 2015 at 05:26 | #75
  76. June 3rd, 2015 at 15:25 | #76
  77. June 12th, 2015 at 10:46 | #77
  78. June 12th, 2015 at 16:17 | #78
  79. May 19th, 2022 at 12:42 | #79
You must be logged in to post a comment.