New Jersey
The Fight Over New Jersey’s Tough Environmental Justice Law Is Now in the Courts – Inside Climate News
When New Jersey’s landmark environmental justice law was enacted in September 2020, there was plenty to celebrate for activists who had fought so hard to prevent more of the unrelenting pollution that has long plagued the Ironbound section of Newark, the state’s largest city.
More than five years later, the fight is still going on—but the stage has shifted largely to the courts.
In January, the state’s intermediate appellate court unanimously upheld the rules implemented to enforce the law. The recycling and construction industries that challenged the rules have asked the state Supreme Court to hear an appeal, but the state’s highest court has not yet decided whether to accept the case.
There are other legal skirmishes too—all revolving around the plan to build yet another power plant in the Ironbound. This plant, which would be the fourth in the Ironbound’s expansive industrial zone, has been proposed as a backup source of power at the Passaic Valley sewage treatment plant, the state’s largest waste treatment facility.
“It’s a very important moment,” said Ana Baptista, a longtime activist in the Ironbound and an associate professor in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program at The New School in New York.
And it’s all unfolding against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s cutting and gutting of environmental policies and protections. The state’s new governor, Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to go up against Trump. But her administration, which includes a new head for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is just getting under way.
“I think this is going to be a very critical year,” said Baptista. “We’re paying very close attention.”
The new plant was proposed after the giant Passaic Valley sewage treatment plant lost power during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, spewing hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the streets. The sewage commission said it wanted the new natural-gas backup plant to prevent a repeat incident—and much to the disappointment of environmental activists, the DEP approved a permit for it, saying it was only for backup in case of emergency.
The Ironbound Community Corp., which provides educational, environmental and housing support to residents and advocated for the environmental justice law, is challenging the permit in the state’s Appellate Division. The ICC also has filed suit, along with the city of Newark, against the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission for approving the project in June. Two judges have ordered a halt in construction while the cases play out.
A Landmark Environmental Justice Law
Charles Lee, a former Environmental Protection Agency official who is recognized as one of the pioneers of the environmental justice movement, said New Jersey put considerable thought into how to proceed with what he said is now “an extremely strong law.”
“These are issues that have been crying out … to be addressed for decades,” said Lee, now a visiting scholar at the Howard University School of Law’s Environmental and Climate Justice Center.
Lee said the Ironbound, like Chicago’s South Side and Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, bears the burdens of pollution from an array of industries. “There’s just this incredible concentration of environmental burdens,” said Lee.
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The state’s business community has not embraced the law or the ensuing regulations.
In a statement in January after the appellate court affirmed the rules, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association expressed disappointment. The association’s deputy chief government affairs officer, Ray Cantor, said the rules have had “a chilling effect” on the business community because they go too far.
In its petition in February to the state Supreme Court, the New Jersey chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. called the rules an “existential threat” to the recycling industry and said they go beyond the scope of the environmental justice law. “The importance of this issue to New Jersey businesses cannot be overstated,” lawyers for the institute said.
In a court filing in the ICC lawsuit against the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, Denis Driscoll, a lawyer for the commission, said the complaint should be dismissed and that the proposed power plant would only be used for emergencies.
Under the 2020 law, the DEP must consider the impact of projects such as power plants on poor and minority communities already disproportionately harmed by pollution. It requires regulators to deny permits for any facility that cannot avoid adding pollution to an overburdened community unless the project will serve a compelling public interest and also requires consideration of the cumulative impact of pollution from an array of industries. It essentially adds another layer of scrutiny on top of existing environmental laws.
A number of states, including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Massachusetts, have enacted similar laws or require analysis and consideration of similar issues. But the strength of New Jersey’s law is the mandate to deny permits that add pollution to an overburdened community and to require a cumulative impact analysis. New York passed a law in 2023 that some say may ultimately prove even tougher than New Jersey’s.
While the law protects communities across New Jersey, it is especially significant for the Ironbound, an eclectic neighborhood of homes, shops and restaurants on one side and a hulking industrial zone on the other. There is the giant Passaic Valley sewage treatment plant, the state’s biggest trash incinerator, the contaminated remains of an old Agent Orange factory and more, all in the gritty shadow of the New Jersey Turnpike, the port of Newark and Liberty International Airport.
The main street—Doremus Avenue—is known as the “Chemical Corridor” for its warehouses and plants. The diesel trucks crawl through as planes from the nearby airport take off or descend in the skies. Traffic seems to go in all directions, and the smells of all that industry waft through the community.
To the Ironbound Community Corp., the decades of pollution have taken a toll on the health of neighborhood residents, who face high asthma rates and an array of chronic health conditions.
Nicky Sheats, a longtime environmental activist in New Jersey, said it took a long time to get support for the idea of an environmental justice law—but the community’s persistence paid off.
“We’ve been talking about it for so long, maybe it makes sense … that we would be the first to do innovative things like this,” he said. Now, he said, the activist community will keep up the pressure to ensure that the law is enforced.
“We’re persistent,” he said.
Sheats and others in the Ironbound have been buoyed, meanwhile, by the appellate decision upholding the rules and by the interim orders halting construction of the new plant.
“It’s something to cheer and something to provide hope,” said Jonathan J. Smith, an attorney with Earthjustice who is representing the Ironbound community.
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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Mile marker 113.3 on the eastern spur of the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus will forever be an incredible memory for one family, who scrambled to deliver their baby boy right on the side of the road.
Kristen Fast was in labor last week, with her husband driving her to the hospital on the turnpike, but when they got to the mile marker, baby Archer couldn’t wait any longer and had to be delivered on the highway.
Archer insisted on arriving three days before he was due, and maybe it was because his lovely big sister, 4-year-old Zelda, was waiting for him.
He was in such a hurry, he didn’t even let mom and dad get to the hospital for him to be born, although they tried.
“The doula said, ‘pull over, hang up, call 911.’ So we did that. We called 911. The operator started walking him through what to do,” said Archer’s mother, Kristen Fast.
“Next thing I know, I get in the back seat, and we’re making sure she’s comfortable, and I look down, and that baby is ready to go,” said Archer’s dad, Alex Fast.
New Jersey State Trooper Freddie Guacamaya responded to Alex’s 911 call.
“Cop comes, puts on his gloves, and he was fantastic,” Alex Fast said.
“I said, ‘Are you the EMT?’ And he didn’t answer. So I said, ‘You are not an EMT. I’m in danger.’ But he was fine, he was being very calm,” Kristen Fast said.
“They said, ‘you got to clamp that cord right away. If you have anything, if you have a string.’ So I panicked and just looked in the front and we just had an iPhone cable. So we just clamped the cord with an iPhone cable,” Alex Fast said.
“The EMTs came, and they said, ‘What is this?’” Kristen Fast said.
The loving, kind courtesies extended to the family just continued, helping to make their emergency experience flawless.
“There were three policemen who showed up. I said, ‘I’d love to be with her in the ambulance.’ And they were amazing. They drove our car to the hospital for us, which was so nice. They paid for our valet,” Alex and Kristen Fast said.
They were all welcomed to Hackensack University Medical Center with a healthy baby and a hearty story, backed by Archer’s exact birthplace, recorded accurately: New Jersey Turnpike I-95, mile marker 113.
“Archer’s healthy. He’s thriving. He’s a Jersey boy through and through. I don’t think you get more Jersey than being born on the New Jersey Turnpike,” Kristen Fast said.
New Jersey
What to know about Freedom Fuel Network as Trump urges cheaper gas prices in Pennsylvania, NJ
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — There are 25 new Freedom Fuel Network gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.
This comes after President Trump announced the privately-owned network on social media last week, saying it will help drivers save money at the pump.
There are 25 new Freedom Fuel gas stations opening across the Philadelphia area and South Jersey as Americans closely watch gas prices.
The first location in Dresher, Montgomery County, opened on Friday, with the price of $3.47 per gallon.
This cost was a nod to President Trump serving as the nation’s 47th president.
However, that price has already started to rise after the president announced new U.S. strikes, sending oil and gas prices higher.
Some of those locations with gas stations participating in the Freedom Fuel Network include Lansdowne, Bensalem and Pottstown in Pennsylvania; and Marlton in New Jersey.
Gas Calculator: Find out how much it costs to fill your tank
A White House official told ABC News the administration is not involved with the company and is not providing any funding or subsidies.
Instead, the company says it is cutting its own profit margins to offer lower prices.
Some drivers are applauding this move while others, including gas analysts, are skeptical.
“$3.47 a gallon is a Godsend, honestly,” said one consumer. “Great price because this was a Sunoco before and prices were a lot higher.”
“I want Americans to be asking, ‘Where is that money coming from? Why are corporations and businesses willing to subsidize gas 50-cents a gallon for people, to make President Trump look good,” said another consumer.
Trump is also encouraging other gas retailers to lower their prices. He has not identified the company behind Freedom Fuel, saying only that it’s a private retailer.
Action News is still working to learn how long these lower prices will last and whether more stations will open.
Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
JAMESBURG, New Jersey (WABC) — When it comes to home deliveries, having your order stolen right off your doorstep can be infuriating, so one New Jersey man did it right.
Peter Tsistinas had his brand-new cell phone delivered to a so-called safe pickup site, designated by the seller, where it was stolen.
Delivery services can drop off your item at any number of safe locations, where you can later pick up your order. But as exclusive video obtained by 7 On Your Side shows, porch pirates are upping their game.
Captured on a security camera, a man calmly walks into the CVS store, asks for a delivery, shows an ID, signs for it, and walks off with a brand-new iPhone. There’s just one problem.
“They saw somebody that was not me getting my package,” said Tsistinas when asked what the police were seeing on the tape.
The real Peter, a popular DJ for hire, was dumbfounded. He chose the safe drop to avoid being porch pirated, but the thief still got the goods.
“Yeah, I actually paid extra for it. It wasn’t much. It was $7.99,” Tsistinas said.
Tsistinas got a notification from UPS that the phone was dropped off at 12:39 p.m., less than two hours later, he got a notice it was picked up.
But Tsistinas didn’t pick it up. It was the unknown suspect who went into the CVS, walking off with the brand-new iPhone for Peter’s son.
Tsistinas reported the crime to the police and alerted UPS, CVS and T-Mobile, which shipped the smartphone. The response to the DJ was what he called, “crickets.”
“I was watching, you know ABC News, and I saw 7 On Your Side and I’m like, ‘you know, you’re the first thing I thought of,’” Tsistinas said
7 On Your Side reached out to both CVS and the cell phone provider.
Within a week, T-Mobile responded, saying, “Our care team is working with Mr. Tsistinas directly to get him the device he ordered from us, and we’re working closely with CVS and our other partners to further protect our customers’ orders from theft. Our dedicated fraud, crime and logistics teams collaborate with vendors to address these issues and improve delivery processes.”
CVS also sent 7 On Your Side an official statement, saying, “We’ve connected with the customer and apologized for his experience. T-Mobile is now working directly with Mr. Tsistinas to help resolve the matter. Anyone picking up a UPS package at CVS Pharmacy must present identification matching the person and name on the package to be released. We’re working with the store team to help prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.”
After weeks of back and forth with the companies, Tsistinas could finally focus on his beats again.
“I paid almost $500 in deposit, and then it was going to be like so much per month. So, they just squashed all that,” Tsistinas said.
Referencing the Rolling Stones, he says he not only got his satisfaction, but also his money back.
“Nina, you’re the best!” Peter said.
Police are still looking for the suspect in the video and say he’s part of a crime ring. If you recognize him, call Jamesburg police in New Jersey.
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