[CPEO-BIF] New jersey Manufactured Gas Plants

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

PSE&G to spend nearly $1.2B to clean up former gas plant sites

BY JAMES M. O'NEILL
Bergen Record (NJ)
August 6, 2009

PSE&G expects to spend nearly $1.2 billion to clean up 38 sites 
contaminated with toxic pollution left over from an era when towns in 
New Jersey illuminated their streets by gaslight.

In the mid to late 1800s, any town with pride and gumption built a 
manufactured gas facility - a small factory that roasted coal at high 
temperatures to separate out the gas. The gas lit the streets and heated 
homes. Some of the waste products from the process, including coke and 
coal tar, were sold for industrial purposes. But plenty of the waste was 
useless, and toxic - and got dumped on site.

"Crime was a major concern in the 1800s, and streetlights cut that down. 
It represented a big improvement in the quality of life," said Bruce 
Preston, the manager of environmental projects for PSE&G who oversees 
the cleanup program. "Unfortunately some of the tar byproduct was 
deposited around the plants. It's a legacy and liability we want to get 
off the books."

....

For the entire article, see
http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/PSEG_to_spend_nearly_12B_to_clean_up_former_gas_plant_sites.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org




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