WolfeNotes.com

Yesterday, I ripped off a rant about the Environmental Endowment for NJ [EENJ].

I just updated that post, but now realize that the update needs to be a stand alone post.

This particular EENJ grant to NJ LCV really needs to be exposed – for it perfectly illustrates how incompetent, deceptive, and essentially corrupt these folks are:

17.   New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund  ($15,000) Trenton, New Jersey: to advance an agenda that protects and enhances the state’s water quality in key regions of the Garden State with three priority issues:  1) NRD Constitutional Amendment, 2) Releasing the Water Supply Master Plan (WSMP), and 3) Establishing Stormwater Utilities.

The EENJ funding for the Natural Resource Damage [NRD Constitutional Amendment] campaign is an outrageous deception and fraud.

Let me explain why. Bear with me, this is complicated and requires context and a brief historical excursion.

First of all, keep in mind that NJ LCV was one of the chief supporters and spokespersons for the Open Space Ballot Question.

As the public just learned, the open space ballot question diverted $32 million per year previously dedicated to State Parks maintenance.

Also keep in mind that the long ignored DEP Natural Resource Damage [NRD] program recently came to the attention of the media, public, Legislature, and environmental groups in response to the Christie DEP’s paltry $225 million sweetheart deal with Exxon.

Just like the State Parks diversion disaster, very few people understand that the open space issue is related to the NRD issue.

Specifically, the original draft of the open space legislation, Senator Smith’s bill, explicitly INCLUDED dedication of NRD money.

Amazingly, NJ LCV and the Keep It Green Coalition OPPOSED inclusion of NRD money in the Open Space bill. As a result, the NRD money was deleted from the open space bill that authorized the ballot question.

The idiots at NJ LCV and KIG made a huge mistake. As I wrote during the open space debate:

The KIG coalition does not want the public to know that – to know that in addition to stealing the entire State Parks capital budget, that they also stole the lease and concession money.

And they also don’t want the public to figure out what a HUGE mistake they made by opposing dedication of Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement funds and expanding that NRD dedication to ALL cost recovery and enforcement settlement agreement funds.

The original introduced version of SCR84 included the NRD funds dedication. That provision could have been expanded by a simple amendment. Instead of seeking that amendment, the KIG fools OPPOSED IT ALL!

As I again wrote:

Earlier in the day, the Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the $225 million Exxon Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement.

Jeff Tittel was the only person who connected the dots.

Tittel correctly reminded legislators that Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement revenues were dedicated in the original version of the open space initiative and that Keep It Green opposed that and had the NRD revenues deleted from the final version of the Resolution that authorized the November open space ballot dedication.

But it is even worse than a huge blunder – the real reason why the KIG and NJ LCV opposed dedication of NRD money was self serving: Mike Catania had long been involved in DEP NRD Settlements and had allocated tons of NRD money to various NJ conservation groups. As I wrote:

Even more aggressively, the “entrepreneurial conservation” model is defined and proudly laid out in excruciating detail by Mike Catania, who explains the “business model” of his creation: Conservation Resources, Inc. (see: ** “A Ten- Year Journey: Conservation Resources’ Final Report):

“We would also like to acknowledge the handful of farsighted regulators who were open to CRI’s role in matching those members of the regulated community who needed to fund a conservation project in order to satisfy a regulatory requirement with a non profit organization or local government seeking funding for an appropriate project. For their part, the regulated community and their legal advisors and consultants instinctively “got” CRI’s role and welcomed this new way to comply with New Jersey’s stringent environmental regulatory requirements.”

[**Note: To cover his tracks, Catania killed the link to his own self congratulatory Report:“A Ten- Year Journey: Conservation Resources’ Final Report) – just more evidence that these folks are corrupt.]

Dedication of that NRD money to the Open Space program would cut them out of this funding source. As I wrote:

Curious also that given Mr. Catania’s entrepreneurial experience with the DEP NRD program, that the KIG OPPOSED the initial version of the SCR84, which would have dedicated Natural Resource Damage recoveries to the new open space fund. That provision could have been amended to capture all cost recovery settlements and provided significant new funds. But the provision was stripped from the final version, SCR84 SCS.

For them now to fund themselves for a campaign to correct their huge blunder is ABSURD and CORRUPT.

Ken Ward, 59, of Corbette OR said, “There is no plan of action, policy or strategy being advanced now by any political leader or environmental organization playing by the rules that does anything but acquiesce to ruin. Our only hope is to step outside polite conversation and put our bodies in the way. We must shut it down, starting with the most immediate threats — oil sands fuels and coal.”

“Audubon has a $3.8 million dollar budget, ALS has $2.plus Million budget   For them to get money [from EENJ] it’s obscene same with COA with $1.2 million and takes money from grassroots like POP [People Over Pipelines] and CURE [Citizens United for Renewable Energy] etc… ~~~ A reader’s comment

[Update below]

Full dose of bitter bile coming – those with weak stomach’s should stop reading and hit the delete button right now.

I’ve been off line for awhile, and in checking my email backlog today came across this stunt from DEP.

The cynics at the Christie DEP have managed to pull off another stunt – more great PR that provides cover for the worst environmental record of any Administration.

The event is part of what is by now a well honed playbook – one that involves manipulating well meaning local groups and volunteers and safely diverting the policy agenda away from DEP regulatory failures and policy rollbacks – all while disabling effective advocacy by sapping resources, framing the issues and managing the media, and co-opting groups with State funds.

How long are so called “activist” groups going to go along with this bullshit?

But what stood out and caught my eye today was the progressive and authentic appearance of the local groups involved – e.g. permaculture, urban focus, local food, environmental justice.

So, after I saw a huge DEP $250,000 grant to the project, I chased a link on DEP’s press release and then looked into the the funding partners.

Surprisingly, funders included The Environmental Endowment for NJ.

I frequently write about how the major Foundation Funders control the activist and policy agendas and manipulate environmental groups by funding politically safe, corporate friendly, feel good measures.

These elite Foundations are part of a tightly knit group of insiders and interlocking inbred organizations. They are adept at fundraising and spend enormous resources self promoting and self dealing — the same folks who have controlled the money and the issue agenda for so long.

But today I want to focus on a smaller Foundation, which has long been NJ’s most progressive and aggressive Foundation, willing to take on controversial and hard hitting political and policy advocacy, the Environmental Endowment for New Jersey (EENJ). 

EENJ is endowed by funds obtained via

“funds from settlements of lawsuits brought to enforce compliance with the federal Clean Water Act.”

That origin and funding gave EENJ an aggressive and primarily regulatory focus.

EENJ used to be the place where those that could not get funded by the more conservative corporate Foundations like Dodge and Wm. Penn went for funding. EENJ provide funds for both small grassroots groups fighting important local battles and Trenton based groups that worked on regulatory and corporate and government accountability issues.

Not any more.

Now they fund political cover operations for the Christie DEP and other feel good measures like gardening and beach cleanups.

EENJ has been weeny – ized.

They too have been captured by the elite faction – take a look at the current Board members who make the funding decisions.

Now take a look at the list of their current grants – who gets them and for what.

Cindy Zipf (Clean Ocean Action) and Eric Stiles (NJ Audubon) fund their own organizations through EENJ.

They fund work very closely related to the primary work of their own organizations.

I wonder if they recuse themselves?

Full disclosure:

EENJ used to fund my work at NJ PEER.

That funding was terminated, and for no reason that was provided to me.

A former EENJ Board Member told me I was blackballed by members of the EENJ Board.

Fuck them.

[Update: This particular grant to NJ LCV really needs to be exposed:

17.   New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund  ($15,000) Trenton, New Jersey: to advance an agenda that protects and enhances the state’s water quality in key regions of the Garden State with three priority issues:  1) NRD Constitutional Amendment, 2) Releasing the Water Supply Master Plan (WSMP), and 3) Establishing Stormwater Utilities.

Funding for the Natural Resource Damage [NRD Constitutional Amendment] is an outrageous deception and fraud.

Let me explain why.

NJ LCV was one of the chief supporters and spokespersons for the Open Space Ballot Question.

As the public just learned, the ballot question diverted $32 million per year previously dedicated to State Parks maintenance.

But very few people understand that the original draft of the open space legislation explicitly INCLUDED dedication of NRD money.

Amazingly, NJ LCV and the Keep It Green Coalition OPPOSED inclusion of NRD money in the Open Space bill. As a result, the NRD money was deleted from the open space bill that authorized the ballot question.

The idiots at NJ LCV and KIG made a huge mistake. As I wrote during the open space debate:

The KIG coalition does not want the public to know that – to know that in addition to stealing the entire State Parks capital budget, that they also stole the lease and concession money.

And they also don’t want the public to figure out what a HUGE mistake they made by opposing dedication of Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement funds and expanding that NRD dedication to ALL cost recovery and enforcement settlement agreement funds.

The original introduced version of SCR84 included the NRD funds dedication. That provision could have been expanded by a simple amendment. Instead of seeking that amendment, the KIG fools OPPOSED IT ALL!

As I again wrote:

Earlier in the day, the Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the $225 million Exxon Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement.

Jeff Tittel was the only person who connected the dots.

Tittel correctly reminded legislators that Natural Resource Damage (NRD) settlement revenues were dedicated in the original version of the open space initiative and that Keep It Green opposed that and had the NRD revenues deleted from the final version of the Resolution that authorized the November open space ballot dedication.

For them now to fund themselves for a campaign to correct their huge blunder is ABSURD.

Exposing Christie DEP lies is like shooting fish in a barrel

A friend just sent me Dave Levinsky’s Burlington County Times October 12 set up story for the pipeline public hearing (compressor station, freshwater wetlands permit).

The email’s subject was a provocative question: “They’re lying?”.

Have you seen this article? Read the very last sentence. DEP claims that the changes they made to the rules aren’t related to NJNG submitting a new application.

I previously wrote that the DEP had weakened the stream encroachment rules and that the NJNG permit by rule was directly related to those regulatory changes (boldface #4 is the specific relevant change):

The Christie DEP weakened regulatory standards and made it easier by: 1) eliminating a prohibition on disturbance of Category One stream buffers; 2) increasing the allowing disturbance of soils and vegetation in the “riparian zone”; 3) eliminating a cap on riparian disturbance and allowing mitigation; and 4) relaxing a restriction on eligibility for the “permit by rule” to exempt impacts from certain pipeline related construction activities that disturb vegetation and soils and negatively impact water quality.

I routinely let most DEP lies pass unchallenged, but because my own credibility was involved, I managed to find the October 13 dead tree version of the BCT at the local Library and read the story.

First of all, Levinsky left out the fact the DEP Assistant Commissioner Kopkash specifically testified before the Senate Environment Committee on SCR 66 and stated that – rebutting the testimony of Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club – that a pipeline would require an Individual Permit (IP) and would not be eligible for a general permit (GP) or permit by rule (PBR).

The NJNG permit by rule specifically contradicted that pledge.

But at the end of Levinsky’s story, sure enough, the DEP press office denied that the rule change was related to the NJNG permit by rule:

You’re going under the stream, essentially under the protected zone,” [DEP press spokesman] Hajna said, adding that the changes in the flood hazard rules were not a factor.

“We did make changes to the Flood Control Act (sic), but this was not one of them,” he said.

Mr. Hajna of DEP is lying –

Below is the specific applicable language from the DEP’s FHA rule proposal to Permit By Rule #36 (at page 613):

“7:13-7.36 Permit-by-rule 36 – placement of an underground utility line using directional drilling or jacking

(a) Permit-by-rule 36 authorizes the placement of an underground utility line beneath a regulated water through directional drilling or jacking, provided the conditions at N.J.A.C. 7:13-6.7 are met and:

1. The regulated water is not disturbed in any way except for temporary disturbance associated with soil borings necessary to ensure that the project is viable

Prior to this rule change, it was very difficult to get a PBR for HDD because of the disturbance and impacts associated with soil borings, et al.

Here is the text of the proposal explaining why DEP made the rule change: (see page 322-323 – boldface mine):

“Permit-by-rule 36 (N.J.A.C. 7:13-7.36)

Proposed N.J.A.C. 7:13-7.36 incorporates with amendments existing N.J.A.C. 7:13- 7.2(c)3, which authorizes the placement of an underground utility line beneath a regulated water through directional drilling or jacking. An exception is proposed to be added to the existing requirement that the regulated water is not disturbed in any way as a result of activities under this permit-by-rule. It is sometimes necessary for a small amount of temporary disturbance to take place within or adjacent to the regulated water to accommodate soil borings to investigate subsurface geology in order to ensure that jacking under the channel is viable. Given the limitations of this permit-by-rule, allowing borings to be taken within or adjacent to the regulated  water will not adversely impact flooding or the environment. The existing requirement that no manhole is constructed within 10 feet of any top of bank or edge of water (unless situated within a paved surface) is incorporated with two amendments. First, for the reasons discussed in the section of this summary that address the riparian zone, an exception is made for projects located adjacent to a lawfully existing bulkhead, retaining wall, or revetment along a tidal water. Second, the existing exemption for manholes in paved surfaces is not continued. Except for projects located adjacent to a lawfully existing bulkhead, retaining wall or revetment along a tidal water, manholes constructed within 10 feet of a top of bank are subject to damage and displacement during flood events, irrespective of the presence of pavement. Finally, the existing requirement that any manhole along a sanitary sewer must be constructed with a watertight cover in the flood hazard area is proposed to be expanded to cover all manholes proposed in the flood hazard area, in order to prevent leakage of material out of the system, or leakage of floodwaters into the system, during a flood event.”

Exposing Christie DEP lies is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I am really glad that I was unable to attend last night’s pipeline hearing in Bordentown – my dog could not tolerate me spending a night in jail!

I just read the NJ Spotlight story on that hearing and – casually mentioned several paragraphs into the story – learned that:

[Glenn] Ashton was one of at least two speakers who were ejected from the meeting by state troopers after exceeding a three-minute speaking limit set by DEP officials.

What?

State Troopers eject “at least two” people from a public hearing for exceeding an arbitrary 3 minute limit set by DEP bureaucrats?

Are you kidding me?

[Update: Holy moly! I just read the Burlington County Times’ story, and they ejected the Mayor!

• Bordentown Township mayor removed from DEP hearing on natural gas compressor

“I don’t need a microphone,” Popko said as New Jersey State Police troopers escorted her from the auditorium. “I find this outrageous and offensive. Three minutes to the mayor of this town is utterly wrong.” …

“You’re supposed to be for environmental protection, not business protection,” Popko said before being escorted out.

The permit applicant has had MONTHS of private behind closed door meetings with DEP staffers – the public was shut out and not made aware of all those meetings, phone calls, and correspondences.

The game is rigged, folks.

DEP just issued a “permit by rule” approval that essentially privatized the stream encroachment permit – there will be no public hearings or opportunity for public comment on that permit, including DEP’s critical applicability determination.

For the details on that, see:

• Christie DEP Finds That Pipelines Crossing Streams Have “No Impact” On Them

It’s game over folks, because DEP already made the essential finding on the water quality issue, i.e. that pipeline stream crossings using HDD will “not disturb the stream in any way”.

The Christie DEP is a totally corrupt agency.

Last night was not the first time that Christie DEP used State Police to intimidate and suppress critics, see:

• DEP Commissioner Martin Uses State Police To Eject Environmentalist From Polluter’s Advisory Group Meeting

In my 30+ year career, I can not recall prior cases where the local Mayor and members of the public were ejected by State Police for exceeding a 3 minute time limit on public testimony.

Where is the outrage over this?

End Note to Jon Hurdle: Thanks for finally mentioning the NY State Cuomo DEC denial of Water Quality Certificate.

Ask the PennEast people about that and the implications of DEP’s recent “permit by rule” applicability determination for the stream encroachment permit for HDD issued to SJG.

PS to readers: I am writing from a library with time limits and other constraints, so can’t go into detail on these issues. More to follow on that.