New Jersey Agency Sued for Allowing Fourth Fossil-Fuel Power Plant in Newark

Today, Earthjustice, on behalf of Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), sued the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) for approving a fourth gas power plant in Newark, despite strong community opposition. The plant would be built next to the Ironbound neighborhood, which is already crowded with smokestacks, diesel trucks, and power plants.  

The facility would sit in one of the most polluted ZIP codes in New Jersey, where residents face higher rates of asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and shortened life spans. In just four square miles, over 50,000 people, most of them working-class people of color, live breathing the air pollution from three existing gas plants, the state’s largest trash incinerator, and nonstop diesel truck traffic from one of the largest ports in the country, along with sprawling warehouses.   

“Our community has said no, again and again, but PVSC continues to put our health at risk with a project we didn’t ask for and don’t need,” said Hazel Applewhite, CEO of Ironbound Community Corporation. “We’re fighting to protect our families, our elders, and especially our children, so they can grow up breathing clean air and living full, healthy lives. Newark residents are not disposable. This lawsuit is about safeguarding our community today and for generations to come. We will not be ignored.” 

PVSC claims the plant is needed to prevent power loss. But the electric utility spent $4.8 billion on grid hardening, including elevating the substation that serves PVSC’s wastewater treatment plant. Thanks to these investments, the facility has not lost power in years. Still, PVSC wants to spend some $280 million more on a polluting fossil-fuel plant the community doesn’t need. Even FEMA warns that gas is unreliable during storms and shouldn’t be used for emergency power. 

“Ironbound residents have been clear. They deserve clean air, and PVSC has safer, cleaner options,” said Colin Parts, Earthjustice associate attorney. “PVSC’s decision to push forward with this polluting, unnecessary gas plant is arbitrary, unjustified, and will only exacerbate the harms Ironbound residents already face.” 

Using renewables could save PVSC and taxpayers tens of millions as gas-powered turbine costs rise and battery prices fall. 

Earlier this year, Earthjustice, on behalf of ICC, sued the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection over the same project.