WolfeNotes.com

Hoffman Capably Led NJ DEP’s Water Supply Planning And Geologic Science For Years

I just learned that NJ’s longtime State Geologist, Jeffrey Hoffman has retired, effective December 1.

As State Geologist, Jeff managed several critical DEP water resource protection (water quantity and water quality) and geological science programs of the NJ Geological Survey

These programs included everything from mapping old mine sites, designating “critical” water supply aquifers, analyzing and allocating groundwater, determining the “safe yield” of watersheds, drought monitoring and management, to crafting the NJ Water Supply Plan, to fundamental geological and hydrological science of NJ’s aquifers.

That work was not only scientifically complex and had huge implications for the environment and economy, but was often politically controversial as well. Jeff navigated those controversies extremely well and with a people friendly demeanor. He was a nice guy.

NJ’s water resources are better off as a result of Jeff work, and that is something to be very proud of.

On a personal note, I’m sorry to say that I can’t recall when Jeff was appointed State Geologist (a hugely important position established in Legislation). But I know it was at least 20 years ago, as I recall working with him during the McGreevey DEP on the Highlands Act and implementing regulations (circa 2002).

[Correction: I just learned that Hoffman was appointed State Geologist by Gov. Christie in 2015, so my work with him was prior to that. He began at DEP in 1981, I began at DEP in 1985.]

Jeff strongly opposed the concept of “deep aquifer recharge” I advocated and ultimately got incorporated in the Highlands Act. That science and policy concept is the scientific foundation for the DEP’s extremely stringent development septic density standards, which are based on a “non-degradation standard” to protect groundwater and thereby significantly limit new development.

Jeff took the position that the concept was not well developed and was not adequately supported by the scientific literature. He recommended minor tweaks to then current NJ Geological Survey science and methods. I countered that the science was uncertain but was more than adequate to support a policy decision to be made by the legislature, not DEP regulators.

Thankfully I won that internal debate, despite the fact the DEP Commissioner Campbell agreed with Hoffman’s recommendation.

Over the years, we also locked horns on major battles, including the Christie DEP rollbacks of the Highlands regulations (baed on misinterpretations and misrepresentation of NJGS science) and various iterations and updates of the Statewide Water Supply Plan over many years.

Jeff was a competent and hard working professional and a good man to work with. He will be missed.

DEP Denies Petition To Force Stronger New Rules To Protect Drinking Water

In the December 4, 2023 edition of the NJ Register (see: 55 NJR 2430(a), the DEP issued a formal denial of my petition to force DEP to respond to long known threats to public health posed by the presence of hundreds of unregulated chemicals DEP’s own research has documented to be present in NJ drinking water.

These currently unregulated chemicals include a toxic soup of pharmaceutical chemicals known to be “endocrine disruptors” and industrial chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious adverse health effects, even at very low levels (parts per billion and trillion).

In response to their own science that exposed these risks, 15 years ago DEP proposed a new regulatory strategy to require treatment to remove this entire class of chemicals, instead of going through the incredibly slow and expensive individual chemical by chemical risk assessment based regulatory process for adopting current drinking water standards known as MCL’s (for “maximum contaminant levels“). DEP is way behind in adopting science and risk assessment based recommendations by the NJ Drinking Water Quality Institute on more than a dozen chemicals already, and it typically takes many years for DEP to adopt an MCL.

US EPA explains why the current MCL process is broken:

“The current approach to drinking water protection is focused on a detailed assessment of each individual contaminant of concern and can take many years. This approach not only results in slow progress in addressing unregulated contaminants but also fails to take advantage of strategies for enhancing health protection cost‐effectively, including advanced treatment technologies that address several contaminants at once. The outlined vision seeks to use existing authorities to achieve greater protection more quickly and cost‐effectively.” ~~~ (US EPA, March 2010)

But for over a decade, DEP has dragged its feet and worked hard to keep these threats below the public radar.

The limited NJ media coverage of these issues has been narrowly focused on individual unregulated chemicals, e..g. “forever chemicals”. Worse, media coverage not only ignores the much larger threats posed by hundreds of these chemicals, but their coverage is framed in a way to mislead the public and create the false impression that DEP is doing a very good job. NJ Spotlight reporter Jon Hurdle’s coverage of “forever chemicals” is a prime example of these media failures.

But my petition forced DEP – for the first time, to my knowledge – to acknowledge the problem, summarize the science, and, most importantly, signal a regulatory response. I strongly urge media and readers to read both my petition and the DEP’s rambling denial document. Here’s the key DEP conclusion:

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Department acknowledges that research conducted to date has demonstrated the presence of unregulated contaminants in water supplies. As described above, the Department is involved in varied and continuous efforts to obtain more complete information about the occurrence, toxicity, and possible treatment approaches for these contaminants. As the results of these ongoing efforts are analyzed, the Department will determine whether science supports initiating a regulatory monitoring and treatment program for currently unregulated contaminants.

So, the writing is on the wall. DEP is signaling that they can no longer ignore the problem and likely will do something on the regulatory front.

Which is very likely why – as I wrote Sunday – the corporate water companies are seeking to ram a bill through the lame duck legislature in oder to avoid the costs of these new treatment requirements and pass them all on to consumers, with no regulatory review of the economic justification and profits they are making.

Of course, if that bill passes and is signed into law by the Governor, it will make it much harder for DEP to adopt stringent new regularly requirements to mandate removal of these chemicals, because DEP will face strong political pushback based on the costs and impacts to consumers, as the private corporate water companies get a huge pass from this billion dollar problem.

And NJ Democrats, who control both the Legislature and the Governor’s executive branch (DEP and BPU) power, are supporting and pushing the corporate agenda.

NJ American Water Uses Spotlight In Stealth Political Campaign to Deregulate Profits

Democratic Deputy Speaker Of NJ Assembly Pimps The Corporate Message

Lame Duck Bill A Preemptive Strike Against New Drinking Water Protections

Billions Of Dollars And Water infrastructure Investment At Stake

About a week ago, NJ Spotlight began running a new advertisement for NJ American Water.

I found that ad very curious – occurring seemingly out of the blue – especially because it was not linked to any specific legislation or political issue or project campaign that I was aware of. But the ad did specifically mention “forever chemicals” PFAS, and misleadingly mention allegedly rigorous drinking water testing, so my interest was piqued.

My initial suspicion was that the ad was designed to respond to pressure and mislead the public about the risks of hundreds of unregulated toxic chemicals DEP has found in NJ drinking water – a critical issue I’ve been warning the public about for several years and recently petitioned DEP to respond to, see:

• Petition For Rulemaking Submitted To Force The Murphy DEP To Upgrade Protections For Drinking Water In Light Of Widespread Chemical Contamination By Unregulated Chemicals

Significantly, while DEP just denied that petition (published in the December 4, 2023 NJ Register: 55 NJR 2430(a)), DEP is now drafting amendments to update the NJ Water Supply Master Plan, which could include regulatory strategies to address unregulated chemicals, including new sampling requirements, new treatment requirements (e.g. granular activated carbon) and new drinking water standards.

In the petition denial, DEP conceded the validity of my argument and signaled the development of new regulatory requirements to better protect drinking water:

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Department acknowledges that research conducted to date has demonstrated the presence of unregulated contaminants in water supplies. As described above, the Department is involved in varied and continuous efforts to obtain more complete information about the occurrence, toxicity, and possible treatment approaches for these contaminants. As the results of these ongoing efforts are analyzed, the Department will determine whether science supports initiating a regulatory monitoring and treatment program for currently unregulated contaminants.

The advertisement also touted private corporate investments in “resilience” to respond to the climate emergency.

Below is a screen shot of the ad and here is the linked text of the NJ American advertisement.

Amazingly, the NJ American deregulatory and privatization message is pitched by NJ Democrat Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

NJ Democrats have long championed privatization of NJ’s drinking water and wastewater systems, see:

• Wide Range of Critics Blast Democrats’ Water Privatization Bill

Just days after the NJ American advertising campaign ads appeared, NJ Spotlight ran this story, favorably reporting on legislation that would further deregulate and increase NJ American’s profits:

• Lawmakers move to help utilities recover costs for upgrades

With no debate, the Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that allows water utilities to recover the costs of improvements to its sewer and drinking water systems more quickly without regulatory review. 

Here is the revealing legislative provision that suggests that this legislation is a preemptive strike and anticipates upcoming DEP regulations: (NJ Spotlight)

In the Assembly Appropriation Committee earlier this month, the panel amended the bill to allow utilities to recover for costs for new treatment systems, such as granular-activated carbon treatment, as well as related tanks, pumps, control and electrical equipment.

This is a particularly egregious example of a set of corrupt abuses:

• The corporate media campaign is being run by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, which just passed the bill with no debate – a new low in Trenton’s legacy of political corruption;

• The corporate media campaign is being used to generate favorable news coverage at NJ Spotlight, thereby compromising their journalistic independence and integrity

• This hugely significant legislation is being rammed through a lame duck session, with no public awareness or debate;

• The bill would expand current privatization and deregulation of private utility profits, allowing private corporations to pass through 100% of the costs of new regulatory requirements and profit on investments to upgrade treatment systems, with no regulatory review and limits on their profits or public awareness and participation;

• The bill would be a preemptive strike against future DEP drinking water regulatory protections and climate adaptation requirements, making it much harder for DEP to set tough standards due to concerns about costs and rate shock by consumers.

The bill must be stopped – where the hell are the NJ environmental groups?