Power Plants Not Welcome In The Meadowlands: Environmentalists

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Dozens of people rallied in Ridgefield Tuesday in opposition to two power plants proposed for the Meadowlands.

The power plants have drawn the ire of environmentalists who are concerned they would risk local residents' health and be among the largest sources "of climate destroying greenhouse gases in the region," according to Food & Water Watch, a national nonprofit that was represented at the rally.

"We are here to tell the Murphy Administration to stop polluting and disastrous fossil fuel projects in New Jersey," Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a statement. "The Meadowlands power plant and NJ Transit’s power plant in Kearny will increase greenhouse gases and emit heavy metals and chemicals like ammonia and nitrogen oxide in an area that already has F levels for ozone and some of the worst air pollution in the nation."

The proposed power plants would be built in North Bergen and Kearny, next to CSX train tracks that would transport crude oil, along with trucks, something Tittel said poses safety hazards for area residents.

"There could be many thousands of people harmed or killed by any type of spill or explosion from a truck, or tanker, or storage tank," Tittel said.

North Bergen Liberty Generating, a subsidiary of Diamond Generating Corporation, issued a statement Wednesday addressing its power plant.

"The North Bergen Liberty Generating facility will help to replace an aging nuclear power plant with a safe, clean, and efficient natural gas-fired plant," NBLG said.

The facility will be 34 percent more efficient than the average New York City fossil fuel power plant today, will generate as much power as a solar array six times the size of Central Park, or a wind farm the approximate size of Bergen and Hudson counties combined."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com