Edison rejects plan for gas-fired power plant in neighboring Woodbridge

From Staff Reports

EDISON – The Township Council has voted against plans for a gas-fired power plant in the Keasbey section of neighboring Woodbridge.

The resolution recently approved by the council also calls on Gov. Phil Murphy's administration to reject the facility's air permit application.

With the vote, Edison became the first municipality to formally oppose the project, according to Food & Water Watch, a New Brunswick-based organization.

Competitive Power Ventures’ plan calls for a 630-megawatt plant at a site adjacent to a fracked gas power plant it operates, according to the organization.

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“I am pleased that the Edison council was able to take a stand against an unneeded fossil fuel power plant during this time of climate emergency,” said John Hsu, an Edison resident and Food & Water Watch volunteer. “People sometimes wonder what residents can do at the local level, but efforts like this added up together will make a world of a difference.”

Each of the towns located within 5 miles of the proposed site, Woodbridge, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Metuchen and Edison, are considered overburdened with air and climate pollution, with 73% of all census block groups meeting one or more of the environmental justice criteria, according to Food & Water Watch.

“Two of the leading causes of death in Middlesex County are heart disease and cancer, and lung disease causes 4.1% of deaths in our county. The pollutants from this proposed power plant will only contribute to these numbers,” said Aishwarya Devarajan, an Edison resident and Food & Water Watch volunteer.

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“We have to look after our environment. This plan was strictly a money grab for a large corporation, and it would come at the expense of our health,” said Edison Councilman Richard Brescher.

The resolution was introduced by Brescher, following months of advocacy from Food & Water Watch and local residents. Its adoption comes as state officials develop and implement rules under a new environmental justice law, which will make it harder for polluting projects to be sited in overburdened communities.

Competitive Power Ventures is “trying to get in under the wire to foist an unnecessary, health-endangering facility on local citizens solely for the sake of their bottom line,” said Keith Voos, Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee of the Metuchen-Edison Branch of the NAACP.