FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 26,2011

NJ BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES THERE WILL BE NO PURGEN COAL PLANT
At NJ’s Energy Master Plan hearings, President Solomon released that Governor Christie said NO to all coal and carbon sequestration plants in New Jersey.

August 26, 2011– Linden, New Jersey – Over the last two months there have been several hearings for input on New Jersey’s draft Energy Master Plan, which outlines Governor Chris Christie’s plan for use, development and management of New Jersey’s energy over the next 10 years and beyond.  During each of these hearings, members of the Stop PurGen COALition have been present to strongly voice their concerns about a proposed experimental coal and carbon sequestration plant called “PurGen,” which would require the construction of a 140-mile long pipeline through New Jersey’s coastal waters and would pump carbon dioxide 1 mile below the earth’s surface.

On July 26, 2011, at the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) New Jersey Energy Master Plan (EMP) hearing, Lee Solomon, the President of the BPU, interrupted Stop Purgen COALition member Barbara Conover’s testimony to announce, “There will be no PurGen.  That project is not going forward as a coal carbon sequestration plant.  The Governor has said ‘no’ to any coal…I say that publicly, and on the record, and so did the Governor.”

At the August 13, 2011 BPU EMP hearing, another activist questioned BPU about the PurGen project.  Though she commended the EMP’s commitment to refuse coal as a source of energy, she called attention to the fact that there was no specific statement within the EMP that addressed the administration’s stance on “clean coal” technology, and more specifically, their position on PurGen.  Once more, Solomon stated, “There will be no PurGen.  The Governor has been clear about this.”

Stop PurGen COALition activist Sally Jane Gellert, attended the final hearing this week and asked Solomon, “Does this mean that there will be no PurGen – that the experimental so-called “clean coal” plant that was proposed for the state-designated environmental justice community of Linden in Union County has been rejected”?  He responded clearly, “There will be no coal plant.”

The Stop PurGen COALition, comprised of almost 40 groups from around the state including New Jersey Sierra Club, Edison Wetlands Association (EWA), New Jersey Environmental Federation (NJEF), and Clean Ocean Action, consider this a small victory for those who live, work, and play along the New Jersey coastline.

“Mr. Solomon’s assurance that PurGen ‘is not going forward as a coal/carbon sequestration plant’ is welcome news not only for those of us who live in Linden, but for the entire region that would be affected by pollution emitted by such a plant,” said Linden resident and Stop PurGen COALition member Ada Brunner.  “Linden already fails to meet clean air standards, and this plant would only make that worse.”

“It is a welcome relief to hear that the President of the BPU, Mr. Lee Solomon, has stated that there will be no PurGen and clarified there will be no carbon capture/sequestration here in Linden. We have been assured before by DEP Commissioner Bob Martin, but hearing it again from another individual is welcomed news,” said another Linden resident, Rebecca Kerins-Tattoli. “Although I am not resting easy yet, this is a major hurdle in the battle to stop PurGen.”

SCS plans to process coal for energy in Linden and then send a trillion pounds of pressurized, liquid carbon dioxide waste via a 140-mile pipeline through the Raritan Bay and out into the seabed off Atlantic City.

EWA Toxics Coordinator Dana Patterson is very concerned about health and safety.  She explains, “New Jersey is one the most densely populated areas in the country, our Jersey Shore produces millions economically, and this pipeline from Linden to Atlantic City could seriously affect that.  Our communities must not be put at risk of a dangerous release of carbon dioxide into the Atlantic Ocean. If the pipeline was damaged, it could potentially destroy our water quality, kill sea life, harm our fisheries, cause major ocean acidification and threaten our human health and safety.”

Citizens United for Renewable Energy member Georgina Shanley is also concerned with safety, “Given our mandatory evacuation order in the path of Hurricane Irene what perverted logic could allow the sequestration of millions of tons of CO2 off our coast. You just can’t mess with Mother Nature!”
SCS Energy is still moving forward with this project and claims they will pump their liquefied carbon dioxide through the pipeline from Linden to Atlantic City, and down one mile below the Atlantic Ocean’s surface, where they expect the carbon dioxide to remain immobile.

“The governor has said that he is opposed to the PurGen project.  The question is will he do anything to block it?  Under current rules and regulations, they can get all their permits,” stated New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel.

“They’re up for a draft air permit now, but unless the governor passes rules and regulations to block this facility from piping CO2 and pumping it offshore, then this facility could get built no matter what the governor’s opinion is. We would like to see legislation to ban the practice of carbon sequestration off the coast.”

“It’s clear the Christie Administration opposes this, what the coal industry calls ‘clean’ but the rest of us call ‘still plenty dirty and dangerous,’ plant. Faced with this adversity, PurGen should exercise some corporate responsibility and close up shop,” said NJEF Campaign Director David Pringle.  “Failing that, as I testified before President Solomon at the last Energy Master Plan yesterday and as he acknowledged, the Christie Administration will have to take stronger action to stop this environmental and economic injustice.”

“I’m glad to hear another top state official say that PurGen will not be built, but until SCS Energy announces they are no longer ‘in the game,’ we’ll keep on the alert and keep organizing,” said Essex/Passaic Greens Coordinator Ted Glick.  “And there is a big question: If not a coal plant with carbon sequestration, what then? Fracked natural gas? That’s unacceptable to me and the Essex/Passaic Greens.”

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For more information on the Stop PurGen COALition, please visit: www.StopPurGenCoalPlant.org.