Protest Against 2nd Proposed Woodbridge Natural Gas Power Plant

Jan 12, 2024

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This past Saturday morning, June 3, some people held a rally to protest the second proposed natural gas power plant in the Keasbey section of Woodbridge.

The one-mile march began and ended at Woodbridge Town Hall, and protesters marched through the streets of Woodbridge.

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), a national energy company, seeks to build the second plant on the former EPEC Polymers site, right next to its existing natural gas plant in Keasbey.

While CPV admits their second plant would produce more than 2.3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, they also say it will be one of the cleanest and most modern in the nation. They will also close down older plants to offset carbon emissions. Both Woodbridge plants — the existing and the proposed — could also process offshore wind energy once it is brought ashore, a green-energy idea being strongly pushed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Should the new plant be approved by the state, it will supply enough electric energy for more than 600,000 homes in both New York and New Jersey.

CPV is still awaiting key air quality permit approvals from the state of New Jersey; the proposals have sat before the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection for several years now, as controversy over the second plant has ballooned:

Nearly 150 people spoke against the second plant at this Feb. 28 public hearing. On March 1, the NJ Sierra Club published this press release, calling on Gov. Murphy to reject the second plant outright. So far, 14 nearby towns, such as Highland Park and Rahway, have passed resolutions opposing the plant.

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac, who supports the new plant, previously said other towns should mind their own business.

"We don't care what other towns do, and they should not care what we do," McCormac told the Home News-Tribune.

"It's what the industry needs," he said of the second plant.

Also, not all are against the second plant: At a town Council meeting in February, Woodbridge residents Tom Maras and Ed Soefield got up and spoke in support of the plant, saying it will bring more than a 1,000 union jobs to the Woodbridge area.

"People need electric; Murphy just announced an electric car mandate by 2035," said Fords resident Soefield, who is an IBEW building trade union leader. "There's a shortage of electricity right now. And the only way to get more electric is that natural gas plant. It's the cleanest, it's EPA approved, unlike coal, oil or nuclear. If you want electric cars, if you want electric stoves, if you want electric police cars or electric school buses, you have to go with this power plant. You can't have those things without electricity ... Look at all those condos on Main Street, they need electric. Case closed."

Saturday's rally was led by Food & Water Watch NJ (led by Charlie Kratovil, a progressive who has run multiple times without success for New Brunswick mayor), the NAACP Perth Amboy Area Branch, Environment New Jersey and a progressive activist group called Our Revolution Middlesex County.

Members of those groups also spoke. You can watch video from Saturday's rally here: https://drive.google.com/file/...

"Building another toxic gas plant here in Woodbridge would be an environmental injustice, and it is ridiculous to even be considering such a proposal. We call on Gov. Murphy to reject it now," said Rev. Donna Stewart, president of the NAACP Perth Amboy Area Branch.

"Woodbridge is ground zero for air pollution's impacts in Middlesex — it doesn't make sense to double down on another fossil fuel power plant," said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. "NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette shouldn't greenlight an air permit which doesn't meet the Murphy administration's own goals on reducing climate and air pollutants, expanding clean energy and reducing the environmental harm on overburdened communities."

Stop Woodbridge's 2nd Natural Gas Power Plant, NJ Residents Beg Murphy: Some people are asking why Gov. Murphy, who wants New Jersey to use all clean energy by 2035, is not stopping a natural gas power plant (March 2023)

Woodbridge Natural Gas Plants Would Back Up Wind Energy, Company Says (March 2023)

Woodbridge Residents Speak For And Against 2nd Natural Gas Power Plant: Mayor McCormac explains why he backs the second plant (Feb. 2023)

3 New NJ Power Plants Coming, 2 Will Definitely Use Natural Gas (April 2022)