Superstorm Sandy Caused Flood Of Excrement In New Jersey 10 Years Ago

NEWARK, NJ — In October 2012, a colossal torrent of feces and wastewater spilled into a tidal bay in North Jersey in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. And even now – a decade later – the memory still stinks.

After Sandy’s unprecedented storm surge flooded the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s underground tunnels at their wastewater treatment plant in Newark, it destroyed millions of dollars in equipment and took the single-largest consumer of power in New Jersey offline.

The fallout wasn't pretty.

According to a report from Climate Central, an estimated 840 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed into Newark Bay over the week after the storm. It took another two weeks to get most of the treatment plant up and running, and during that time, another three billion gallons of partially treated sewage overflowed into the bay, which connects with the Passaic and Hackensack rivers.

The total “negative economic impact” to the region? More than $4 billion, according to federal authorities.

Since then, the fifth-largest wastewater treatment plant in the United States has rolled out a sweeping series of renovations to avoid future calamities at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) facility in Newark, which treats sewage from 48 towns and cities in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and Passaic counties.

The massive plan will likely cost more than $700 million once it’s finished, and was partially created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which will fund 90 percent of it. The scope of the project is gargantuan. According to the PVSC, it includes a 2.4-mile, 12-foot-high concrete floodwall (expected to be finished by the end of 2024), three new pumping stations and the replacement of cables, bulkheads and other vital equipment throughout the system.

However, it’s another crucial aspect of the plan – a natural gas power plant that would provide backup electricity if the grid goes down – that is drawing the ire of many Newark residents, elected officials and local environmental activists.

‘NEWARK RESIDENTS DESERVE CLEAN AIR’

The PVSC has maintained that its new plant would use state-of-the-art emission controls and have a “negligible impact” to the nearby area. See its summary of the proposed project here.

But according to several community groups and residents in Newark, it’s a song and dance they’ve heard from other agencies before – and the tune gets worse every time.

If approved, the plant would be the fourth gas-burning power plant in a neighborhood that already struggles with harmful levels of toxic air pollution from decades of environmental racism, advocates have argued.

• See related article: NJ Activists Fight 2 Proposed Plants: 'Stop Dumping On Newark'
• See related article: Essex County Trash Incinerator Unfairly Burdens Poor, Critics Say
• See related article: The Big Poop Debate; Proposed Waste Plant Causes Outcry In Newark

While residents say they understand the need to build resilience in the face of weather events like Sandy, they also argue that the PVSC should move forward with a solution that prioritizes as much renewable energy as possible and doesn’t involve a new “dirty energy power plant.”

Activists have pointed to the state’s landmark environmental justice law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020, which makes it much harder for potential polluters to build a new facility, expand an old one, or renew an existing permit in areas that are considered “overburdened.” To qualify, a neighborhood needs to have 35 percent low-income households, 40 percent minority households or 40 percent of households with limited English language proficiency. Read More: NJ Law Gives Urban Areas A Powerful Tool To Fight Polluters

After Murphy put out a call to the PVSC to go back to the drawing board and take another look at the proposal in January, activists cheered the move. But they continue to keep the pressure up as the project circles back to the finish line.

Several local community leaders denounced the power plant plan during a statewide “Walk for Climate Justice” in August. Read More: NJ Activists Want 7 Controversial Fossil Fuel Projects Shut Down

“The answer to fighting climate change is to support clean, renewable energy – not fossil fuels,” said Terrance Bankston, an organizer with Clean Water Action and former Newark City Council candidate.

“Newark cannot afford another polluting, gas-burning power plant like the one the PVSC is proposing,” agreed Cynthia Mellon, co-chair of the City of Newark Environmental Commission.

“Our communities can no longer be sacrifice zones,” said Chris Rodriguez, an urban farmer with the Ironbound Community Corporation.

“For too long, we’ve had to deal with the toxic burden of harmful air pollution,” Rodriguez said. “Newark residents deserve clean air.”

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BUILDING THE PLANT: WHERE IT STANDS

But according to the PVSC, people living near the proposed plant should also consider what could happen to their neighborhood if another Superstorm Sandy happens.

According to the sewerage commission, its facility in Newark can’t be without electricity for as little as seven hours – let alone several days. And if a “100-year rain event” hit the city and took out power again, it could let loose a river of sewage on the streets of Newark up to a foot-and-a-half deep, the agency says.

“If [the Newark wastewater treatment] plant is down for 72 hours during a superstorm, overflows are not adequate enough to handle storm water,” the PVSC said, sharing a map of untreated sewage that could potentially overflow in the area just south of Riverbank Park.

According to the PVSC, the power plant would only be turned on during the following scenarios:

• Emergency Power – “The primary reason for the standby power generation facility is to provide emergency power during power outages during events like Hurricane Sandy. The turbines would operate unrestricted during emergencies until such time that the power is restored.”
• Readiness Testing and Maintenance – “The testing and maintenance operation allows the facility to make sure that the equipment is ready in the event of emergency. A total of 300 hours are proposed for the testing and maintenance for all three of the combustion turbines, as shown in the table below. This testing would occur once a month, and the testing will not take place on days when the air quality forecast is “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy.”
• Demand Response – “For demand response, we estimate that the PSEG or PJM utility would request that the PVSC plant be taken off-line once per year before an imminent power grid failure. A total of 24 hours are proposed for demand response.”
• Storm Preparation Mode – “For storm preparation mode, the facility will be allowed to be started up to 48 hours in advance to prepare for a major storm. A total of 960 hours are proposed for storm preparation mode.”

The PVSC has held several public outreach sessions to solicit community feedback over the past year, and says it is sympathetic to local residents’ concerns. But there are a few requirements and limitations to the proposal that will be hard to bend, spokespeople say.

They include:

• On-Site Power – “Since this facility would be used during emergencies, we must anticipate that there could be a loss of the power grid and substations. This means that the power source for the facility must be onsite.”
• Space Available – “Our site and available space for power sources is limited.”
• Power Entire Plant – “The wastewater treatment plant contains large motors and supplies. The power needed to sustain these is significant. This is a magnitude well beyond what would be needed to power the lights of a warehouse. The facility must be able to power the entire plant based on the historical demand during a heavy rain event (as well as additional loads added as part of the Resiliency Program).”
• Weather-Proof – “The facility power source must be 100% reliable during all types of weather conditions.”

“Just because the current proposal is designed with natural gas, it doesn’t mean that renewable energy and alternative fuel sources aren’t an option down the road,” the agency has stated, adding that it has taken a look at several renewable energy alternatives, including battery, solar and wind power.

But considering the space requirements – a combination of solar and battery power would take up an area nearly 17 times the size of the Prudential Center in Newark – natural gas continues to be the best option, the agency says.

In the wake of the protests and continued demands from activists – and with an eye to the state’s new environmental justice law – the PVSC has begun taking a look at ways to reduce its air emissions in other ways, a spokesperson told Patch:

“In addition to modifications to the SPGF itself that we have previously discussed, in December 2021, the PVSC introduced its ‘Energy Sustainability Roadmap.’ The roadmap sets forth an ambitious plan for the PVSC to achieve a number of significant changes to its power source profile in order to reduce air emissions generated by the use of fossil fuels. These changes will be achieved in part by incorporating renewable energy technologies into day-to-day plant operations. We are happy to announce that as part of the roadmap, the PVSC recently received conditional approval under the New Jersey Clean Energy Program’s Transition Incentive Program for the installation of up to 18 megawatts of solar power generating capability at the PVSC’s Newark facility. The PVSC is excited to move forward with this first step in transitioning to a more sustainable, more resilient power future.”

Speaking at a public meeting about the proposal in January, executive director Gregory Tramontozzi said there continues to be "misconceptions" about the plan.

For example, the plant won't be used during peak periods to reduce strain on the power grid. And the PVSC will not be making any "profit" from its operation by exporting energy to the grid, Tramontozzi said.

So where is the project at now? A spokesperson for the PVSC gave Patch the following update on Oct. 20:

“On April 1, 2021, the PVSC submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) a compliance statement regarding the [power plant] project in conformance with NJDEP Administrative Order 2021-25. During the following 90 days, the PVSC accepted comments from interested parties with regard to the compliance statement. Comments were received both at a public meeting held for that purpose and by submission directly to the PVSC. The PVSC has responded to the comments in writing and submitted those responses to the NJDEP for review. The PVSC expects that the NJDEP will release the responses to comments sometime near the end of November or early December of this year. At that point, the only remaining regulatory item will be for the NJDEP to either approve or deny the PVSC’s Title V Air Permit Modification Application.”

Regardless of how the situation with the power plant resolves, the need for a robust resiliency plan is a no-brainer, according to the PVSC, which noted that the frequency of large-scale weather disasters around the country such as Superstorm Sandy has climbed steadily in the last decade.

That includes Hurricane Ian, executive director Gregory Tramontozzi said, adding that the devastating effect of the recent storm isn’t lost on the PVSC.

“PVSC Recovery is just as much about building a stronger future as it is about repairing past damages,” Tramontozzi said. “I am extremely confident that our resiliency and plant-hardening projects are preparing us in the event that a storm like Ian strikes here.”

• See related article: 10 Years Later: Remembering Superstorm Sandy In Newark
• See related article: Feds Launch COVID Wastewater Tracker; NJ Keeps Eyes On Its Sewage
  

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