TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, and Assemblywoman Shanique Speight issued the following statement in response to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s (PVSC) decision to authorize a contract for a gas-powered backup power plant in Newark’s Ironbound section. The contract was approved in a 6-2 vote by the PVSC Board.
Chairman Brendan Murphy voted in favor of the project, along with Commissioners Elizabeth Calabrese, John J. Cosgrove, James P. Doran, Joseph F. Isola, and Hector C. Lora.
Vice Chairman Luis Quintana, a Newark City Councilman, and Commissioner C. Lawrence Crumb, Newark’s Council President, voted in opposition.
“Despite hours of tearful testimony from residents, environmental advocates, and local leaders warning of the devastating health and environmental impacts this power plant will bring to our community, their voices were ignored. We are deeply disappointed by the PVSC Board’s decision to move forward with this project, despite overwhelming opposition. This is an area that has carried far more than its share of pollution and health impacts. One in four children in Newark suffers from asthma. Instead of alleviating that burden, PVSC just made it worse.
“This decision reflects a disregard for environmental justice. It is unacceptable that in a state that claims to champion these values, a polluting facility is allowed to move forward in a part of the city that has long borne the cost of toxic infrastructure. We thank Councilmen Quintana and Crump for standing with the people of Newark and voting no. For them, this is personal. We raise our families here. We breathe this air. And we know what’s at stake.
“Our children and our elders will bear the consequences of this decision, while those who voted for it return to communities where they can open a window and breathe clean air.”