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April 18th, 2008 No comments

End Political Influence on DEP Regulators

April 2nd, 2008 1 comment

[Note: Inspector General Cooper’s Encap Report was a whitewash, so I repost this October 24, 2007 column – maybe the Attorney General or Legislative Committees can be convinced to examine these issues and develop much needed reforms. Who knows maybe the recently formed DEP “Permit Efficiency Task Force” might want to roll up their sleeves and engage serious flaws in DEP practices. http://blog.nj.com/njv_bill_wolfe/2008/03/dep_fast_track_is_back_environ.html
Heads are spinning as the political fallout and finger pointing continue in the collapse of the Encap luxury condo and resort golf course project. The multi-billion dollar project was slated to be built on top of highly toxic landfills in the Meadowlands. Under the influence of politically connected lobbyists, State officials approved over $300 million in taxpayer subsidies to the failed project. It looks like the taxpayers are left holding a rather large bag and millions of taxpayer dollars have vanished.
Worse, we now learn that the DEP Commissioner allowed lobbyists for the developer to virtually write DEP permits that violated regulatory standards designed to protect public health and the environment. The landfills remain even bigger environmental hazards due to the millions of cubic yards of toxic fill material imported to the site.
Superb journalism at the Bergen Record and captured the root cause of the debacle:
Political appointees running the state’s environmental watchdog agency routinely overruled top staffers and approved stripped-down safeguards for the EnCap Golf project in the Meadowlands, a Record investigation shows.
State documents reveal that the staff scientists and leading specialists inside the Department of Environmental Protection were often surprised and frustrated to learn that their bosses had already green-lighted the developer’s proposals, sometimes in separate meetings with the developer’s attorneys.
Those high-level approvals often flew against longtime policies and standards that DEP staffers had spent their careers upholding. The staffers, who all declined to be named because they feared workplace reprisals, said interference from politically connected developers is a fact of life in their jobs.”


This key aspect of the story – the corruption caused by political access and undue influence over career DEP environmental professionals – is being lost as the focus is diverted to the extraordinary self-serving spin and finger-pointing by responsible state officials.
Former DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell has blamed his bosses in the McGreevey and Codey Administrations.
Current DEP chief Lisa Jackson responded by saying that the career professionals should be free from political interference. She invited staffers should come forward if there is a problem like the EnCap situation.
“I come from the staff myself, I came from the technical side,” Jackson said. “I understand how frustrating it can be to work under political appointees who come in and often set new policies.”
While we agree with DEP Commissioner Jackson, we challenge her to back up that rhetoric with real reforms..
The problem of political influence at DEP is systemic and warrants a systemic remedy. However, what goes on inside DEP on a daily basis has been largely ignored in the corruption, ethics, and pay-to-play reform debates. Furthermore, New Jersey’s whistleblower protection laws are weak and riddled with loopholes. In a national ranking, New Jersey’s law scored only 55 out of 100 points. (see PEER analysis of New Jersey’s whistleblower law http://www.peer.org/docs/wbp/nj.pdf)
To begin this reform process, last April, PEER filed an Open Public Records request seeking public records of meetings between DEP officials and lobbyists and representative of regulated industries. http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=852
That OPRA request was denied by DEP. DEP claimed that disclosure of these records would jeopardize the privacy of the lobbyists involved.
In response to the OPRA denial, PEER filed a petition for rulemaking to force DEP disclosure of meetings with industry lobbyist. The petition was based on Election Law Enforcement Commission lobbying regulations, which require lobbyists to disclosure all communications with state agencies that seek to “influence government processes”. Transparency in government improves decisions and promotes accountability – as the saying goes “Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
That petition was also denied by DEP Commissioner Jackson, on the same day it was published for public comment.http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=885
As this story explodes into a full-scale debacle and the public learns just how dirty the Encap deal was, we again urge DEP Commissioner Jackson and Governor Corzine to reconsider the transparency, accountability, and whistleblower protection reforms we have proposed.
There is no place for pay to play political influence at DEP.
The governor and Commissioner Jackson must act to bolster the credibility and restore public confidence in DEP.

Obscenity

April 2nd, 2008 7 comments

The Supreme Court knows it when it sees it – well, this is obscene folks.
Where’s the public outcry here about Government waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars?
A Submarine to Fight al-Qaida’s Navy
[…]
“This is not about the waste of taxpayer dollars–already pushing a trillion–in funding the Iraq war, which, while reprehensible enough, pales in comparison to the big-ticket military systems purchased in the wake of 9/11. In the horror of that moment, the floodgates were lifted and the peace dividend promised with the end of the Cold War was washed away by a doubling of spending on ultra-complex military equipment originally designed to defeat a Soviet enemy that no longer exists, equipment that has no plausible connection with fighting stateless terrorists. Example: the $81-billion submarine pushed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, presumably to fight al-Qaida’s navy.
That’s the huge scandal the media and politicians from both parties have studiously avoided. But as the GAO’s authoritative audit details, the costs are astronomical. The explosion of spending on expensive weaponry after 9/11 had nothing whatsoever to do with the attacks of that day. The high-tech planes and ships commissioned for trillions of dollars to defeat an enemy with no navy, air force or army, and using $3 knives as its weapons arsenal, were gifts to the military-industrial complex that will go on giving for decades to come.”
Link to complete column: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080401_a_submarine_to_fight_al_qaidas_navy/

Categories: Law & order, Policy watch, Politics, Taxes Tags:

Saturday Nuke News

March 29th, 2008 No comments

[Note: Due to today’s small news saturday Star Ledger story reporting on Governor Corzine’s Energy Plan’s stealth embrace of PSEG plans for a new Nuke Plant in South Jersey, I thought I’d REPOST this March 10 post. Interested readers can listen to a WBAI radio interview on the issue by clicking on the mp3 Thursday March 27 6: 00 am link – listen at minutes 45:00 – 60:00 http://archive.wbai.org/ ]
BPU’s “hands tied” by deregulation – deal would lead to more air pollution, greater global warming emissions, and higher rates for consumers. PSEG announces that new nuke plant planned for south jersey. New plants and transmission lines for north jersey

Ed Selover, Executive V.P. and General Counsel, PSEG defends controversial power sale to NY City before Assembly Utilities Committee.
Former Star Ledger political columnist, Tom Moran, recently hired as PSEG’s Policy Director, watches hearing from the shadows.
Moran received a baptism of fire – It will take Moran’s best spin to pull PSEG’s chestnuts out of this fire.

Trenton – PSEG’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel appeared before the legislature today to try to justify PSEG’s controversial plan to sell electric power to NY City produced by the plant in Ridgefield, Bergen County. The proposal had been blasted by NJ Rate Counsel as likely to lead to higher rates and a less reliable power system for NJ consumers.
Other NY City power export deals already under consideration would cost over $1.5 BILLION in new power plant construction and transmission lines to offset and mitigate the loss of NJ produced power (PJM testimony). NJ Rate Counsel,Stephanie Brand, testified that the Bergen deal would cost NJ ratepayers from $35 million to $120 million/year in higher electric rates, while providing windfall profits for PSEG

PSEG plant, Ridgefield, NJ.
Plant would leave the NJ grid and connect to Con Edison’s 49th street Manhattan station. Plan would require new transmission lines, including one under the Hudson River.

An Assembly Committee held hearings today to explore the impacts of the sale on NJ consumers and regional electric markets. The deal would allow PSEG to supply NY City with 550 MW of power generated by PSEG’s Bergen power plant, which would abandon the “PJM” grid. A new 660 MW line would be buried under the Hudson River, providing additional capacity to export even more power.

Joseph Fiordaliso, Commissioner, Board of Public Utilities (BPU) – warns Assembly Committee that BPU’s “hands are tied” and BPU has no power to block the PSEG deal, beyond sending a “protest letter” to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Sam Wolfe, BPU Chief Counsel answers questions regarding ratepayer and system reliability impacts of proposed PSEG NY City power sale. Wolfe is a former Assistant Commissioner at NJ DEP (no relation to this author).

The NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) raised major concerns about the impact of the deal on the reliability of the PJM grid and electricity prices. Joseph Fiordaliso, Commissioner of BPU warned the Assembly Committee about negative aspects of the deal, including higher prices for NJ consumers, more air pollution, and an increase of imports of dirty power from the mid-western coal plants. But he said BPU’s “hands are tied”. As a result of energy deregulation passed by the NJ Legislature, BPU has no power to block the PSEG deal, beyond sending a “protest letter” to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Unfortunately, no legislator seemed willing to explore this predictable consequence and fatal flaw of energy deregulation.

Stephanie Brand, NJ Rate Counsel implores the Committee to do everything in their power to “stop this” deal from going forward.

NJ Rate Counsel,Stephanie Brand, strongly opposed the deal, calling it “grossly unfair”. She testified that it would cost NJ ratepayers from $35 million to $120 million/year in higher electric rates, while providing windfall profits for PSEG. Brand also raised concerns about effects of reliability after the PSEG Bergen plant abandons the NJ energy market and PJM grid for the “greener” pastures of NY City. This deal would open the door to even more exports of NJ produced power to serve NY City, leaving NJ holding the bag for higher electric rates and more pollution. Brand took strong exception to PSEG’s claim in its filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). According to Brand, PSEG’s FERC filing claimed that when a private market entity behaves in a market driven way, then consumers are automatically better off! Free market fundamentalism. PSEG filing argued that FERC should not review the negative economic impacts on NJ and that impacts on reliability were beyond the scope of FERC’s review and should be ignored. Brand implored the Committee to do everything within their powers to “stop this” deal.

Steve Gabel, Gabel Associates (energy consultant). Gabel sought to educate the Committee about the “big picture” of “dynamic energy markets”. Gabel stressed “the benefits of interstate commerce” and was the only testimony that addressed related isues of energy efficiency, renewable power, and the global warming bill RGGI.

Energy consultant Steve Gabel focused on the “big picture” of “dynamic energy markets”. Gabel stressed “the benefits of interstate commerce” in energy markets.Gabel identified a “paradox” whereby NJ electric rates were tied to the low price of high polluting coal, a fact that makes investments in new cleaner power sources uneconomic. But just weeks ago, Gabel emphasized that interstate energy markets were a danger to efforts to combat global warming. During legislative consideration of the “Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative” (RGGI) bill, Gabel joined PSEG and a chorus of energy lobbyists to warn of potential higher prices and increases in global warming emissions due to increasing imports of dirty coal power from the mid-west. What 8 weeks ago was criticized as “leakage” that would undermine global warming policy and increase rates, has now become a pro-consumer “dynamic market in interstate commerce”.

“Pennsylvania/Jersey/Maryland (PJM) regional power grid representative brief the Committee on PJM role in power distribution, reliability, and rates.

The testimony of PJM representatives should be required reading – a primer on the economic and regulatory policy barriers to reducing coal based global warming emissions and market entry/access restrictions to renewable power technologies. The PJM primary goal is system reliability – with reliability viewed very narrowly as limited to increases in power production and distribution. As a result, economic regulatory policies provide incentives for more traditional power production that undermine energy conservation and renewable power.For example, no one mentioned the concept of a “carbon adder” to make dirty coal power prices reflect their true staggering environmental costs. The Committee took no testimony from environmental experts or those concerned about global warming.

Ed Selover summarizes PSEG’s $8.5 billion investment in new power capacity; $5 billion investment in new power distribution; plans to develop a new nuclear power pant in south Jersey; and plans to expand costly new power plants in north jersey (oh, BTW, he also mentioned PSEG commitment to clean air and global warming, and investments in what he called “non-traditional projects” like a $5 million energy efficiency pilot project and a $50 ($15?) million new electric metering initiative. So much for reciprocal investments between new supply and demand side management and renewable energy!).
Massive and controversial PSEG plans presented as a fait accompli (that’s a done deal, for Jersey folks).
Rick Thigpen. PSEG lobbyist.
Thigpen has close ties to the NJ Democratic party.
Karen Alexander (seated). Alexander is a former DEP Assistant Commissioner and knows how to work the inside DEP and BPU regulatory game.
Assemblyman John Rooney (R/Bergen) – called for investigation of potential “fraud” in prior PSEG regulatory filings

During the recent legislative debate on the RGGI bill, energy lobbyists suggested that PSEG was involved in a “paradigm shift” from earning profits from producing power to earning profits from reducing and conserving power. They used this argument to justify new regulatory policies and economic incentives for “rate decoupling” and enhanced return on investment for conservation and efficiency. But today we heard a completely different tune. Today, we heard that PSEG is for sure in the power production business. PSEG cavalierly announced multi-billion plans to increase in-state power production (including, BTW, a new nuclear plant) and plans to construct more transmission lines. Few concerns were expressed about imports of dirty mid-west coal. So much for global warming and all that tree hugger stuff.
During the recent RGGI debate, energy lobbyists suggested that NJ power demand far outstripped instate energy supply, causing imports of dirty mid-west coal power. How can they now claim that EXPORT of NJ generated power to New York City will have no impact on system reliability or air quality?
The whole scene recalled the closing line of one of my favorite Jack Nicholson movies:
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

Planned Energy Exports from NJ to NY – 2,360 MW total

According to PJM, the following NJ power exports are planned or underway:

1,200 MW (Bergen, proposed)
300 MW (Linden under construction)
200 MW (Linden, proposed)
660 MW (Neptune to Long Island, existing)

Categories: Hot topics, Policy watch, Politics, Taxes Tags:

How the Other Half Schools

March 14th, 2008 3 comments

“Long ago it was said that “one half of the world does not know how the other half lives.” That was true then. It did not know because it did not care.” Jacob Riis [1890]

*** Apologies – NJ.Com took down the photos, which were originally published on my “NJ Voices” column at NJ.Com. I was able to save the text, but not the photos. What assholes.
Jacob Riis’ 1890 classic book – a landmark in photojournalism – “How the Other Half Lives” illustrated the outrageous conditions in the lower east side slums of New York – his expose had an immediate impact, inspiring reforms that changed New York. I often wonder: where has that same sense of outrage at injustice gone? Lets take a look.
Street Scenes in Passaic City, NJ
In the tradition and spirit of Riis (I don’t remotely pretend to the competence or quality of Riis’ work), I went to North Jersey yesterday to document conditions at some urban schools located on toxic waste sites. What I found both appalled and pleased me.
I was overwhelmed by this scene – the people of Passaic City have created beauty on the streets of their neighborhoods.

It is outrageous that City and State officials have not been nearly as creative or committed as the people who live there, and instead have abandoned them – abandoned industrial sites and signs of neglect and disinvestment were everywhere.

toxic industrial rubble strewn site – owned by City – is directly across the street from religious shrine and in front of Public School #9
toxic site across street – 100 feet – from PS #9. Owned by City
Toxic site next door to PS #9

The SCC sign says “Health and Safety Project for School #9″ – the cruel irony is that this did not include a cleanup of the abandoned toxic site across the street, literally just feet from school doors.

Pre-schoolers – our most sensitive and special ones – were similarly at risk. These pre-school trailers were located at the perimeter of a brownfields project. Take a look and ask if you would want to send your young child here.

Pre-school trailers can be seen in background. This brownfield site is a SDA construction site known as the “Dr. Robert Holster Education Complex”. A school was supposed to have been built there over 4 years ago but the site still sits vacant. A community hospital was torn down by SCA to build the school.
In foreground, a discarded tire (at edge of brownfield site) is used as planter – lets hope that the soil kids plant and play in has been tested and is safe.

Discarded shipping crates are used for storage – when I was a kid going to school in an upscale suburban town in Westchester County, my favorite reading was a series titled “The Box Car Kids”. This scene added new meaning to that phrase from my youth.

Problems also included over-crowding. Lack of funding and delays in school construction forced kids to learn in trailers for an unacceptable extended period of time

We can do better than this
(Note: while taking these pictures, I was confronted by school and day care officials. I explained my purposes and had very good conversations with them. But shame of Passaic City officials for sending police to my home tonight to investigate me for shooting these photo’s).