New gas plant approved in Newark despite community objections over health and pollution
A state sewer commission approved a controversial gas-fired backup power plant in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, drawing opposition from residents who say it adds to the area’s already heavy pollution burden.
Emilie Lounsberry reports for Inside Climate News.
In short:
- The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission voted 6-2 to approve a fourth power plant in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood, citing the need for emergency backup power after a major outage during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
- Opponents, including local residents, health workers, and environmental advocates, objected during a five-hour hearing, pointing to asthma and other health issues tied to the area’s industrial pollution and invoking New Jersey’s 2020 Environmental Justice Law.
- While the commission added pollution monitors and limited the plant to backup use, it rejected full reliance on battery or solar power, arguing that space and reliability constraints made those options unworkable.
Key quote:
“It’s an affront to environmental justice. If we can allow a new gas plant in what I would consider one of the most overburdened communities in New Jersey….then the law is meaningless.”
— Sam DiFalco, representative of Food & Water Watch
Why this matters:
The Ironbound neighborhood is a textbook example of environmental injustice: overwhelmed by highways, incinerators, factories, and truck traffic, and now home to four power plants. Residents, many of them immigrants and low-income families, already suffer from some of the state’s highest rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease. Adding a new gas plant, even one slated only for emergencies, increases exposure to harmful air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. These pollutants can worsen existing health issues and linked to developmental harm in children and higher death rates from respiratory illness. As climate change brings more storms, communities like Ironbound bear the brunt of both energy vulnerabilities and pollution fallout.
Related: Newark's Ironbound to get another power plant despite high asthma rates
