Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Health experts press Murphy to stop plans for Newark’s 4th power plant
By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 21, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Karen Yi
By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 21, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Scientists and health professionals in New Jersey have joined the fight against a plan to build a fourth gas-fired power plant in Newark.
On Wednesday, 130 doctors, medical providers and professors sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, asking him to reject a permit for a 84-megawatt energy facility, which is being built to support the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC).
Officials for the sewer utility, which serves 1 in 6 New Jersey residents and treats waste from states along the East Coast including New York, said the plant will provide back-up power during storms and prevent disasters like the one caused by Hurricane Sandy. During the 2012 storm, the facility lost power, and 840 million gallons of raw sewage seeped into the Passaic River and Newark Bay.
“We urge you to deny the air permit for the PVSC power plant in favor of a solution that utilizes one hundred percent, zero-emission, renewable energy,” the letter said. “Doing so would be consistent with Governor Murphy’s environmental justice commitment and climate goals, and decrease further harm against the people of the Ironbound community as well as the whole of Newark.”
A chorus of foes
Murphy signed a landmark law in 2020 that would allow the state Department of Environmental Protection to reject permits for projects that would add pollutants to overburdened communities like Newark. The health and environmental experts are joining a chorus of residents and community advocates who have railed against the plan for months arguing the city is already overburdened by pollution. The plant would be built in the Ironbound neighborhood that is sandwiched by Port Newark and Newark Liberty Airport.
The Ironbound also has a fat-rendering plant, a garbage incinerator and hundreds of trucks that crisscross residential streets every hour.
You have more exposure in certain communities like here in Newark and you also have more susceptible individuals who have pre-existing conditions like asthma, heart disease. You can think of it as really being like a triple whammy.
Robert Laumbach, associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health
“You have more exposure in certain communities like here in Newark and you also have more susceptible individuals who have pre-existing conditions like asthma, heart disease,” said Robert Laumbach, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health, who signed the letter. “You can think of it as really being like a triple whammy.”
The Department of Environmental Protection is weighing whether to approve an air permit needed to build the power plant.
Christi Peace, a spokeswoman for Murphy, said the administration “remains committed to avoiding or reducing factors that could contribute to existing public health and environmental stressors in overburdened communities across our state.”
A young volunteer helps count passing trucks in Newark as part of a protest against plans for a new power plant in the community.
Karen Yi
Under the 2020 law, the Murphy administration would also have to consider a project’s cumulative impact on a community. But that law is still in the rule-making process and won’t take effect until later this year.
A call for justice
“What they really should do is not build the plant because that’s what the community wants,” said Nicky Sheats, director for the Center for Urban Environment at Kean University. “But at least they should hold off and subject the plant to the environmental justice law, that would be in the spirit of environmental justice.”
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission was scheduled to approve construction on the plant in January, but Murphy asked the commissioners to wait until they completed an environmental review and held more public meetings to move forward. Those are required under an administrative order that the DEP issued while it implements the environmental justice law.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission did not respond to a request for comment. It will hold an April 26th public meeting to hear feedback on the project.
Tagged
environment
newark
pollution
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC’s horse carriage drivers feel betrayed as lawmakers set to abolish industry
Central Park's horse carriage drivers are making their last stand as city lawmakers prepare to abolish the industry.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 21, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. ET
Parents grumble as NYC schools chancellor dodges calls for NYC schools integration plan
Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she felt disappointed by the lack of details.
By
Jessica Gould
News
Parents grumble as NYC schools chancellor dodges calls for NYC schools integration plan
Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she felt disappointed by the lack of details.
By
Jessica Gould
Driver found with apparent gunshot wound on George Washington Bridge, officials say
By
Charles Lane
16 arrested in New York auto insurance fraud crackdown involving nearly $500K
By
Giulia Heyward
Coney Island's small, 1890s lighthouse may be landmarked by the city
By
Catalina Gonella
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .