By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 07, 2017 at 7:45 AM, updated April 07, 2017 at 7:47 AM
A New Jersey town has banned summertime commercial leaf blowing for good. (File photo)
MAPLEWOOD — The controversial leaf blower ban is back, and it’s here to stay.
The Maplewood town council this week unanimously passed an ordinance banning commercial landscapers’ use of the gas-powered blowers during the summer months – a move that cemented a pilot program enacted last year. The new rule, the town’s lawmakers said, is meant to decrease noise and environmental pollution in the community.
New Jersey has more places under the federal Superfund program, which prioritizes cleanups of dangerous contaminated sites, than any other state.
Many have histories more colorful than an oil slick: A massive chemical fire at a mob-controlled waste storage facility. Agent Orange in the Passaic River. Local wildlife turned green. And the only site ever to be put on the Superfund list twice.
While many of those sites have been cleaned up, they require longterm treatment and monitoring. With the EPA’s budget on the chopping block under President Donald Trump’s administration, advocates worry things will backslide for the Superfund, which has already been near-broke for decades.
“Just think about it: We’ve got over a hundred Superfund sites in this state. We’ve got 21 counties,” former Gov. Jim Florio, who wrote the Superfund law when he was in Congress in the early 1980s, said recently. “Nobody lives very far from these sites.”
BERGEN COUNTY
Garfield Groundwater Contamination
The former E.C. Electroplating company’s activity at this Garfield site spilled and leaked cancer-causing chromium into the ground, creating a plume of groundwater contamination at least a half a mile wide. One of New Jersey’s orphan sites, the EPA hasn’t identified a funding source for a cleanup, and says there’s “insufficient data” to measure the risk it poses to the surrounding community.
The city’s mayor appeared in front of a U.S. Senate hearing to plead for federal dollars for the site in 2014, but the cleanup still lacks funds.
Curcio Scrap Metal, Inc.
This active scrap metal yard in Saddle Brook saw a spill of oil containing PCBs in the 1980s and a major cleanup project in the 90s. Because of the nature of the work done there, it was also contaminated with heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, according to the EPA. Soil cleanup was completed long ago but groundwater cleanup is ongoing.
Fair Lawn Well Field
This site includes three municipal drinking water wells in the Bergen County borough. Volatile organic compounds were detected in the water in the late 1970s and traced to a nearby industrial park. Monitoring is ongoing, but the EPA says it has “insufficient data” to determine the site’s threat to human health.
(EPA)
Maywood Chemical Co.
The Maywood Chemical Works processed radioactive thorium ore from 1916 to 1955. The work generated chemical and radioactive waste.
The site is being cleaned up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the company deemed responsible for the contamination. Cleanup of radioactive soil is “underway” and the rest of the plan is “in development,” according to EPA.
Quanta Resources Corporation
This site saw nearly a century of coal tar, paving and roofing material production along what was once an industrial wasteland along the Hudson River. Now surrounded by booming waterfront development, the EPA is overseeing cleanup of PCBs and other contaminants, but says it has “insufficient data” to determine the site’s threat to human health.
Berry’s Creek Study Area
A small chunk of the Meadowlands in Bergen County is home to three distinct Superfund sites along Berry’s Creek, a six-mile tributary of the Hackensack River. The area includes the Scientific Chemical site in Carlstadt, Universal Oil Products site in East Rutherford and the Ventron/Velsicol site, which spans Wood-Ridge and Carlstadt.
All three sites are laden with PCBs and Berry’s Creek is considered among the most mercury-laden locations in the country. Only the Scientific Chemical site is listed as “under control.”
Waldwick NJ, The adult male driver of a 4-door Buick sedan required ambulance transportation to a local hospital following a crash in which her vehicle struck a utility pole near the intersection of Crescent and Wyckoff Avenues in Waldwick on Wednesday morning, 04/05. Waldwick PD, FD, and EMS responded to the incident.
Paramus NJ, An empty shipping container being transported by a tractor trailer on Route 17 southbound in Paramus, broke loose from its tie down devices, hit a overpass at Midland Avenue, and fell to the roadway striking an SUV in the process. No one was injured in the incident, which occurred early Wednesday afternoon, 04/05, but traffic on Route 17 southbound through Paramus was negatively impacted for several hours while the roadway was cleared of the container and the overpass was inspected. Paramus PD and NJDOT managed the incident scene. Two (2) heavy duty wreckers and a flat bed trailer were needed to remove and transport the damaged container from the scene.
Trenton NJ, GOP Assemblyman Ron Dancer introduced legislation to combat vandalism in cemeteries. People accused of intentionally damaging gravesites can be charged with bias intimidation under Dancer’s bill (A4778).
“Recent cemetery attacks in the national news have all had an element of bias intimidation, targeting and desecrated Jewish cemeteries,” said Dancer, noting that in February approximately 100 monuments or markers were destroyed or damaged at a Philadelphia graveyard. “These are not incidents of vandalism. These are hate crimes, and an attack on the Jewish people in our country.”
Defacing or damaging graves is a fourth degree offense. If bias intimidation is found, the charge is elevated to third degree, punishable by five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
“This reprehensible behavior cannot be accepted,” said Dancer. “Intolerance, bigotry and hatred are diseases that spread like viruses. It’s crucial to fight every form of racial and religious bias.”
Sick pay is for when you’re sick. If you’re not sick, and you don’t use it, you lose it.
This is the simple policy fix to one of New Jersey’s most maddening problems. Yet, again and again, we have failed to write it into law.
There is no justifiable reason. Sick pay is supposed to protect you from losing income when you’re ill – not amount to a kingly entitlement bonus. You don’t deserve a six-figure payout just for being healthy.
A New Jersey lawmaker wants to offer tax credits to organ donors, but his no-strings approach is meeting opposition from groups who believe the practice runs afoul of federal law.
While the National Organ Transplant Act makes it illegal for hospitals to pay for organs, 19 states provide either a tax credit or deduction for verifiable, unreimbursed expenses related to living organ donations, said Troy Zimmerman, of the National Kidney Foundation. In some states, the benefit also includes the donor’s lost wages.
Donor groups who support a cost-neutral approach have raised issues with New Jersey’s proposal to provide residents with $1,000 in income tax credits for donating organs, or a $100 tax credit for donating blood, platelets or plasma because it does not specifically apply to a donor’s expenses.
“It falls into the category of well-intentioned legislatures looking to do something to increase the number of donors,” said David Fleming, president of Donate Life America.
Operator of nation’s largest power grid reports increased reliance on natural gas and renewables is not adversely affecting sustainability
In a rapidly changing energy sector, are there still enough power plants available to provide the electricity everyone needs?
The operator of the nation’s largest power grid is answering that question in the affirmative. Its new study finds that with the addition of more natural-gas and renewable resources the system can remain reliable.
With the retirement of scores of coal plants and the early closing of some nuclear units, PJM Interconnection sought to determine whether the system is losing too many traditional resources in a new assessment, “PJM’s Evolving Resource Mix and System Reliability.’’
The study highlights some of the issues affecting the energy sector in New Jersey, which will see its two biggest coal units shut down later this year; its oldest-running nuclear plant, Oyster Creek, scheduled to shut down at the end of 2019; and questions raised about the economic viability of nuclear units elsewhere.
As elsewhere, at least five new natural-gas plants have either come on line or will soon be active, amid a rapid and controversial expansion of the gas pipeline infrastructure in the state. Amid all this activity, clean-energy advocates are pushing state policymakers to ramp up reliance on renewable sources of energy, such as solar and offshore wind.
…HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING POSSIBLE LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO
TUESDAY…
…FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
EVENING…
The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a
* Flood Watch for portions of northeast New Jersey and southeast
New York, including the following areas, in northeast New
Jersey, Eastern Bergen, Eastern Essex, Eastern Passaic,
Eastern Union, Hudson, Western Bergen, Western Essex, Western
Passaic, and Western Union. In southeast New York, Northern
Westchester, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Southern
Westchester.
* From late Monday night through Tuesday evening
* Rainfall with an approaching warn front may be heavy at times
late Monday night into Tuesday morning. The warm front is
expected to lift through parts of the area Tuesday afternoon,
and thunderstorms with heavy rain could also occur later in the
day on Tuesday, mainly across northeast New Jersey.
* Total rainfall of 1 1/2 to 2 inches, with locally higher
amounts, will likely lead to areal and small stream flooding
late Monday night into Tuesday. Some larger rivers may
experience minor flooding as well.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on
current forecasts. You should monitor later forecasts and be
alert for possible flood warnings. Those living in areas prone to
flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding
develop.
More people are leaving the New York region than any other major metropolitan area in the country.
More than 1 million people moved out of the New York area to another part of the country since 2010, a rate of 4.4 percent — the highest negative net migration rate among the nation’s large population centers, US Census records show.
The number of people leaving the region — which includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island — in one year swelled from 187,034 in 2015 to 223,423 in 2016, while the number of international immigrants settling in the tri-state area dwindled from 181,551 to 160,324 over the same period, records show.
The nation’s economy is improving, there are more jobs in cheaper places to live, and retirees are choosing to move to warmer climates, experts say.
The Trump administration’s emphasis this week on quashing sanctuary cities’ efforts to shelter immigrants without legal permission has ricocheted through the New Jersey governor’s race.
By MICHAEL CATALINI, Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Trump administration’s emphasis this week on quashing sanctuary cities’ efforts to shelter immigrants ( shelter illegal immigrants) without legal permission ricocheted through the New Jersey governor’s race.
Democrats vowed to push back against President Donald Trump, setting up a potential showdown over federal funding that the GOP president says is on the line. Republicans, meanwhile, criticize sanctuary cities and question their purpose.
Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who is term-limited, has said there’s “no chance” he’ll back Democratic lawmakers’ efforts to require the state to pick up the tab if federal dollars to sanctuary cities are cut.
Steve Janoski , Staff Writer, @SteveJanoskiPublished 4:26 p.m. ET March 28, 2017 | Updated 4:53 p.m. ET March 30, 2017
Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III unveiled on Wednesday his 2017 budget, a $522 million spending plan that will increase county taxes by $8 on the average county home assessed at $465,962.
A nearly $413 million tax levy — an increase of 1.89 percent — will support the budget, despite Tedesco’s plan being about $20 million smaller than last year’s budget.
By Steven Nelson, Staff Writer | March 31, 2017, at 5:15 p.m.
Sen. Bob Menendez may call a federal prison home if prosecutors prove he accepted bribes to do favors for a wealthy businessman.
But you wouldn’t know that if you tuned in to Bloomberg TV last week to watch the New Jersey Democrat discuss a Securities and Exchange Commission nomination.
The reporter didn’t mention the case.
And there was nothing remarkable about the omission. Menendez regularly appears on cable news programs without viewers being told he faces felony corruption charges.
CNN’s Jake Tapper didn’t mention the prosecution during a 10-minute interview on March 13 that focused on health care policy. Nor did MSNBC’s Katy Tur in a March 3 interview about investigation of Russian actions during the 2016 presidential election.
The federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics tracked roads, airports and other transportation to arrive at an average noise metric for each area of the nation. These New Jersey regions were some of the worst. These maps were created by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics with Esri and Open Street Map.
Midland NJ, Midland Park firefighters battled a blaze in a single family home located at 97 Busteed Drive, Midland Park on Friday morning, 03/31. Fire companies from Ho-Ho-Kus and Wyckoff provided mutual aid assistance at the scene. The fire appeared to have started on the home’s exterior and then traveled to the interior. No injuries were reported in the blaze.
