EL SECRETO SUCIO DE NUEVA JERSEY

The report details the environmental and public health impacts of waste incinerators in New Jersey, specifically highlighting how these facilities are located in low-income communities of color. It provides data on air pollution emissions and permit violations, criticizes the use of renewable energy subsidies for incineration, and proposes a policy framework to phase out incinerators in favor of zero-waste strategies.

• Between 2015 and 2018, New Jersey's five municipal solid waste incinerators collectively emitted over 10,000 tons of air pollution and nearly 7 million tons of greenhouse gases.
• Waste incinerators in New Jersey have frequently violated air pollution permits, with more than 1,700 violations recorded since June 2004, sometimes exceeding limits by two to eight times.
• Incineration facilities are disproportionately located in environmental justice communities; the three largest incinerators in New Jersey are in census blocks identified as such, where residents are predominantly people of color and low-income.
• The report links incinerator emissions of PM2.5 and NOx to increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, noting that the counties of Essex, Camden, and Union have reported some of the state's highest coronavirus death rates.
• Despite their pollution, New Jersey incinerators have received over $30 million in taxpayer-funded 'clean energy' subsidies through the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program since 2004.
• The report advocates for a 'zero waste' transition, claiming that recycling creates 10 to 20 times more jobs and reuse can create 296 times more jobs than landfills and incineration per ton.

APA

Earthjustice (n.d.). EL SECRETO SUCIO DE NUEVA JERSEY. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-08_el-secreto-sucio-de-nueva-jersey.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. EL SECRETO SUCIO DE NUEVA JERSEY. n.d. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-08_el-secreto-sucio-de-nueva-jersey.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=EL SECRETO SUCIO DE NUEVA JERSEY |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-08_el-secreto-sucio-de-nueva-jersey.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjusticendsecreto, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{EL SECRETO SUCIO DE NUEVA JERSEY}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021-08_el-secreto-sucio-de-nueva-jersey.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }