Environment
Regional policy, industrial remediation, and climate resilience across New York and New Jersey and the region. Core recurring topics include drinking water quality, toxic site cleanup, stormwater management, energy transition impacts, and regulatory reforms that balance state environmental mandates with regional economic growth.
Environment
What’s happening at the Cornell-Dubliner Superfund site in South Plainfield?
Cleaning up a Superfund site involves much more than removing contaminated soil.
At the former Cornell-Dubilier Electronics facility in South Plainfield, decades of industrial activity contaminated buildings, groundwater, nearby properties and Bound Brook. The cleanup has required demolition, excavation, thermal treatment, groundwater extraction and years of monitoring.
This deep dive examines how Superfund sites are investigated, how cleanup methods are selected, who pays for the work and why protecting a community can take decades.
Energy
CHPE Brings Canadian Hydropower to NY
The Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) is now operational, delivering clean hydropower from Hydro-Québec to New York City. The 339-mile transmission line can provide enough renewable electricity to meet up to 20% of the city's annual power needs while strengthening grid reliability during periods of peak demand.
Climate Resilience
Satellite images show massive Atlantic seaweed belt reaches record size
New satellite imagery shows the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has grown to nearly 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.
While the floating seaweed supports marine life in the open ocean, massive blooms washing ashore can impact coastal ecosystems, tourism, and local economies. Scientists continue studying the environmental factors driving its expansion.
Environment
Raw Sewage in the streets – New Jersey’s dirty little secret
When heavy rain hits cities like Newark, Jersey City and Camden, it can overwhelm century-old sewer systems and send a mixture of stormwater and untreated sewage into nearby waterways. New Jersey has combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls across 21 municipalities, discharging an estimated 23 billion gallons of sewage and stormwater each year.
Energy
Hochul signs major reforms to New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) law
Governor Hochul and state lawmakers have approved significant changes to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), including extending emissions reduction timelines, adopting a 100-year emissions accounting standard and requiring future regulations to consider affordability, reliability and economic impacts.
Data Centers
The race to cool AI: How modern data centers keep from overheating
Not all data centers are cooled the same way. As AI pushes computing power to new heights, operators are rethinking how they keep servers from overheating. This deep dive examines six cooling technologies that are transforming modern data centers.
Economic Development
Infrastructure Update – week of May 18, 2026
This Week in Policy, Energy Infrastructure & Transportation
Energy
New Jersey’s nuclear legacy and its next chapter
New Jersey’s nuclear story is entering a new era. From Oyster Creek’s historic beginnings to Salem and Hope Creek powering millions of homes today. After decades of limits on new development, the state is once again opening the door to nuclear energy to help meet rising demand and strengthen grid reliability.
Drinking Water
PFAS and the struggle for clean water: How “forever chemicals” became a defining infrastructure challenge
A new kind of water crisis has been unfolding, driven not by visible pollution or failing pipes, but by PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” found in drinking water across the state. While federal standards lagged for years, New Jersey moved early, building its own testing programs and enforcing strict limits. Read more on how New Jersey became a national leader in the fight against PFAS.
Environment
Faces of Infrastructure: Garrett Eucalitto
Meet Garrett Eucalitto, the force behind Connecticut’s infrastructure push. From roads to rail, it’s about delivering real projects, and the skilled workforce making it happen.
Environment
New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) at the crossroads: SEQRA’s impact on housing and infrastructure, and the debate over reform
SEQRA, once a pioneering environmental law, is now at the center of a debate about how the state can address its housing crisis and build for the future while protecting the environment.
Drinking Water
The lifelines beneath our feet: New Jersey’s water story
New Jersey’s water story began in crisis: contaminated rivers, cholera outbreaks, and failing private suppliers. Out of that turmoil came reservoirs, treatment plants, and the regional systems we rely on today. Now those systems are aging, and the state faces a new era of hard choices. How we got here, and what comes next.
Data Centers
From Brownfields to Bytes: Data Centers Drive New Life on Polluted Land
No one wanted this polluted site—until AI showed up.
Now it’s set to become a power-hungry data center.
What does that mean for energy, jobs, and the community?
Environment
Moss Landing, California’s toxic legacy and what New Jersey must learn
A year after the Moss Landing battery fire, the environmental and human impacts are still unfolding in California. As NJ moves towards similar battery storage at scale, what lessons can be learned from the infamous fire?
Environment
Faces of the Environment: Mike Martucci, EPA Region 2 Administrator
Martucci steps into the role with a blend of political experience, business leadership, and agricultural stewardship that shaped both expectations and skepticism.
Environment
NJ green workforce initiative enters next phase with fresh funding [New Jersey Business Magazine]
NJEDA approved Phase 2 of the Green Workforce Training Grant, a $4 M initiative to fund training programs in the green economy, prioritizing overburdened communities.
Environment
The 10 Largest Superfund Sites in New Jersey: Inside the multibillion-dollar efforts to clean up the state’s most contaminated places.
New Jersey’s industrial past has left behind a toxic footprint. The state has more Superfund sites than any other in the nation. Explore the 10 costliest toxic sites, from Agent Orange waste to mercury-soaked marshes.
Environment
NJBIA, Building, Labor Groups Urge Sherrill Administration to Reconsider DEP Land Use Rules [New Jersey Business]
"We strongly support efforts to improve climate resilience and environmental protection. However, these goals must be pursued in a manner that is economically sound, administratively efficient, and compatible with New Jersey’s urgent need for housing, investment, and job creation."
Environment
Salt smarter not harder this winter [centraljersey.com]
NJ American Water and The Watershed Institute urge residents and municipalities to use winter road salt responsibly to protect water quality. Simple steps such as shoveling first, using only what you need and spreading salt efficiently can reduce environmental harm.