PAGE 14 — THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011 LOCALSOURCE.COM UNION COUNTY LOCALSOURCE

Covanta battles emissions, pushes for new contractBy Cheryl Hehl

Staff WriterThis is the second in an inves-

tigative series on Covanta Energy,the company holding the lease onthe county waste incinerator.

Towns signing on to a contractthat would allow Covanta Energyto continue operating the wasteincinerator in Rahway, might wantto remember the old adage "buyerbeware."

Fairfield based Covanta has hademission problems at both the Rah-way and Essex county incinerators,resulting in lawsuits in New Jerseyand in other states. Covanta ownsmore than 40 energy-from-wasteplants. The Newark facility is thelargest in New Jersey.

Although Covanta has argued itsfacilities are more technologicallyadvanced than garbage incineratorsbuilt several decades ago, the East-ern Environmental Law Centerfiled a lawsuit on behalf of the Iron-

bound Community Corporation, anonprofit public interest group inNewark.

The law center argues that Cov-anta violated federal clean air stan-dards dealing with sulfur dioxide,carbon monoxide and other particu-lates released from incinerators onhundreds of occasions.

According to the New JerseyDepartment of Environmental Pro-tection, the Essex County incinera-tor emits more mercury, a potentneurotoxin, than any other facilityburning trash in the state. Underthe terms of the settlement, alongwith installing new pollution con-trols, Covanta agreed to commis-sion a study to examine wastedeliveries at the incinerator. Theyalso agreed to provide $875,000 -tobe used for a green space recreationproject in the Ironbound section ofNewark.

However, in other states, as wellas at the Rahway facility, Covanta

has been cited and fined forexceeding emissions that containeddeadly dioxins.

In November 2009 Covantaagreed to pay $355,000 settlementto the Connecticut DEP after test-ing revealed Covanta had allowedan incinerator there to emit morethan twice the permitted levels ofdioxins.

According to the GlobalAlliance for Incinerator Alterna-tives, although incinerators havepollution control devices such asfilters and scrubbers, even the mosttechnologically advanced incinera-tors "release thousands of pollu-tants that contaminate air, soil andwater." GAIA claims people livingnear incinerators are at high risk ofexposure to dioxin and other con-taminants.

, "These particles can be lethal,causing cancer, heart attacks,strokes, asthma and pulmonary dis-ease," GAIA said in a report issued

Batter up!

Photo by Jim Lowncy, county of Union

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Alexander Mirabella, left, and Free-holder Christopher Hudak, right, congratulate Union County Baseball Associa-tion President James lozzi on being honored at the group's 75th Annual HotStove League Dinner in Mountainside.

COUNTY NEWSCounty offers severalyoga class for adults

The popular gentle yoga seriesat Trail side Nature and ScienceCenter in Mountainside willresume on Tuesday nights throughTuesday. The series is intended foradults 18 years and older.

For information about this seriesor upcoming programs at Trailside,call 908-789-3670.

This series is an opportunity tolearn and experience Raja yogatechniques for integrating body and

mind. Yoga instructor Claire M.Bay, certified by the Chopra Centerin New York City, returns to Trail-side to teach and guide the partici-pants.

Students will learn how to usenature's healing powers to relievestress.

Soothing music will enhance theoverall experience. Each yoga ses-sion will run from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m.

Pre-registration is preferred asspace is limited; however, partici-pants can register for individualsessions.

Human Service boardelects new chairman

The Union County Human Ser-vices Advisory Council announcedrecently the election of James W.Home Jr., President and CEO ofUnited Way of Greater UnionCounty to a one-year term as chairof the organization.

The HSAC is a county-basedplanning, advisory and advocacyorganization dedicated to meetingthe human service needs of thecounty at large.

in May of last year.The World Health Organization

said last May that dioxins are main-ly byproducts of industrial process-es, but can result from naturalprocesses also, such as forest firesand volcanic eruptions. They citeincinerators among the industrialprocesses.

"In terms of dioxin released intothe environment, uncontrolledwaste incinerators are often theworst culprits, due to incompleteburning," their report noted.

In a report from 2008, GAIApoints out that by combining toxicmaterials at high temperatures,incinerators "can actually createdioxins, furans and other supertox-ins."

The Rahway plant, whichprocesses all of Union County'shousehold waste, or about 1,500tons a day, into renewable energy,is monitored by Covanta, who sub-mits their numbers to the Depart-

ment of Environmental Protection.The Union County Utilities

Authority has been pushing 14towns in the county to sign on to a45-year lease that would allowCovanta to continue to operate theRahway-based waste incinerator.That lease is due to expire this yearand so far only nine towns havesigned on the dotted line, includingElizabeth, Hillside, Linden, Rah-way, Roselle, Springfield, WinfieldPark and Kenilworth. Without allthe towns, Covanta will not be ableto continue operating the incinera-tor.

The county has stood firmlybehind the move they claim willsave $2.1 million a year over thenext 45 years, Covanta continues tostruggle with violations stemmingfrom emissions that are known car-cinogens.

Next week: where Covantastands on emission problems at itsplants.

UC website has new,convenient features

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders announced newupgrades to the Union County website, designed to increase public accessto county services. The upgrades include a new video page, events calen-dar and recycling schedule. The Union County website address ishttp://ucnj.org. "The Internet plays a crucial role in 21st century gover-nance," said Freeholder Chairman Deborah P. Scanlon. "We want to makesure that the Union County website continues to be an up-to-date, user-friendly tool for accessing information about county services and pro-grams, and for engaging the public in civic matters:"

One feature of the upgrade is a new video page in a clear, easy-to-useformat. It includes current and archived editions of Freeholder Forum andVintage Views, two programs which enable .viewers to keep up with cur-rent events and policy discussions. The shows are also broadcast on localcommunity access cable TV channels.

The new video page also includes a series on county events and pro-grams produced by the Office of Public Information, including: the grandopening of the Vo-Tech Schools, Academy for Performing Arts, Remarksof Freeholder Chairman Deborah P. Scanlon at the 2011 County Re-Orga-nization Meeting, TaylorMade Day at Galloping Hills Golf Course,Columbus Day Flag Raising Ceremony, grand opening of Snyder AvenuePark in Berkeley Heights, highlights of the 2010 MusicFest and distribu-tion of Recycling Enhancement Grants to municipalities.

"People respond to different media in different ways, and we feel thatthese visual images can reach many Union County residents who mightotherwise not be aware of new services, policies, and programs," saidFreeholder Scanlon. "The video page is an important addition to ourextensive print and online media outreach."

The new video page can be accessed through the "Video Channel"icon on the home page, or visit http://ucnj.org/videochannel/.

Another new feature of the website is a new Events Calendar forUnion County parks and recreation facilities, redesigned for clarity andreadability. The calendar features popular programs that are used by thou-sands of county residents each year, including MusicFest, which last yearattracted 80,000 fans along with hundreds of vendors and their employ-ees. The new events calendar can be accessed through the "Programs &Special Events" icon on the home page, or visithttp://ucnj.org/parkeventssite/.

Union County's free recycling events also attract a significant numberof users each year. The Recycling Schedule has been redesigned so visi-tors to the website can see all of the events by scrolling down a singlepage. The popular program includes free personal paper shredding alongwith free disposal services for electronics, automobile tires and otherhousehold items that involve hazardous substances.

The new recycling schedule can be accessed through the "Communi-ty" link at the top of the home page, or go to http://ncnj.org/communi-ty/recycling. The new website was first launched in September 2010.Additional upgrades and features are being added on an ongoing basis.