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Earthjustice attorneys urge NJDEP to deny RVSA permit modification, call EJ analysis inadequate
Summary
Earthjustice speakers argued RVSA's environmental justice impact statement omits meaningful alternatives analysis and failed to weigh electrification or conduct cost‑benefit tests of control measures, and said the EJIS misapplies the EJ rules to ongoing facility emissions.
Two Earthjustice attorneys told the hearing they oppose the proposed air‑permit modification and Title 5 renewal as currently configured and urged the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to require substantive revisions or deny the modification.
Amari Turner, a law clerk with Earthjustice, said RVSA "failed to adequately analyze alternatives and justify its proposal of control measures," calling the alternatives section "two sentences long" and arguing the no‑action alternative and cost‑benefit analyses for controls were not meaningfully addressed.
Cassandra Bellevue, senior associate attorney at Earthjustice, told the meeting RVSA "ignores the EJ rules' plain language," alleging the facility treats ongoing emissions as part of existing conditions rather than addressing ongoing contributions. Bellevue also said RVSA did not evaluate electrification for generators, boilers or engines and that the EJIS therefore failed to consider "all feasible control measures." "RVSA and DEP must acknowledge and correct for the ongoing harms RVSA's business as usual operations pose to residents," she said.
Earthjustice said it will submit written comments with additional detail and asked DEP to require RVSA to expand its alternatives analysis, perform a cost‑benefit assessment of controls, and evaluate broader facility‑wide measures.
