NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS

New Jersey electric utilities generate 642,300 tons of coal ash annually, ranking 37th in the U.S. While much of this waste is transported out of state, New Jersey residents face health and water quality threats from coal ash dumping in Pennsylvania and New York, including a 100-million-gallon spill into the Delaware River in 2005. The document argues that New Jersey's own regulations are insufficient because they do not mandate composite liners for all dump sites or universal groundwater monitoring at all coal ash ponds and landfills.

• New Jersey electric utilities produce 642,300 tons of coal ash every year, which places the state 37th in the United States for coal ash generation. This ash contains 488 tons of toxic metals according to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory.
• Coal ash management in Pennsylvania threatens New Jersey's drinking water and river quality. In 2005, a storage basin blowout at the PPL Martins Creek Plant in Pennsylvania released 100 million gallons of coal ash into the Delaware River, contaminating drinking water with arsenic. Additionally, the Reliant Energy Portland Generating Station on the Delaware River has contaminated groundwater with substances including arsenic, aluminum, fluoride, boron, iron, manganese, sulfate, and TDS.
• Contamination from New York power plants reaches New Jersey via the Hudson River. The U.S. EPA found that the Danskammer Generating Station in Newburgh, NY, contaminated groundwater with various substances, including iron, selenium, sodium, manganese, aluminum, arsenic, sulfate, sulfide, total dissolved solids, turbidity, magnesium, and boron.
• New Jersey's regulatory framework for coal ash disposal is insufficient for protecting public health because it does not require composite liners for all dump sites to prevent pollutant release, nor does it mandate groundwater monitoring at all landfills and coal ash ponds.

APA

Earthjustice (n.d.). NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/nj-coal-ash-factsheet-0512.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS. n.d. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/nj-coal-ash-factsheet-0512.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/nj-coal-ash-factsheet-0512.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjusticendnew, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{NEW JERSEY COAL ASH GENERATION, CONTAMINATION AND REGULATORY GAPS}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/nj-coal-ash-factsheet-0512.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }