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A power plant off the Turnpike makes a public-interest group?s list of worst offenders in the NortheastLinden

By Scott Goldstein
There is no mistaking the odor that confronts New Jersey Turnpike drivers when they pass the Linden Cogen Plant in Union County. It is so foul that many drivers quickly crank up their windows. Some hold their breath.
But it wasn?t the smell that earned the facility a place on a list of major environmental offenders. Rather it was Cogen?s prodigious emissions of carbon dioxide?a colorless gas that has only a faint odor?that made the plant last year?s 10th largest Northeast producer of carbon dioxide, according to a report issued by a coalition of public interest groups.
The Linden Cogen Plant, a natural-gas burning electricity producer owned by Goldman Sachs, released 2.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the report said. The leading polluter in the region was Brayton Point Station, a predominantly coal-fired plant in Massachusetts, which emitted 5.7 million metric tons.
Though Linden Cogen was New Jersey?s worst single offender, the state?s biggest culprit may be PSEG Fossil, which owns three of the top 20 dirtiest plants in the region: The Hudson Generating Station in Jersey City, ranked 13th; the Bergen Generating Station in Ridgefield (16th); and the Mercer Generating Station near Trenton (18th).
?Large companies like PSEG are the ones on the hook to clean up by running less or using cleaner fossil fuels,? says Dena Mottola, executive director of the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group. ?A small number of companies are responsible for the lion?s share of pollution and that is why there is a straightforward way to clean up emissions in New Jersey and the region.?
The report says the region?s 10 dirtiest power companies, including PSEG Fossil, were responsible for more than 60% of the carbon dioxide from all Northeast power plants, while producing only 33% of the region?s energy. Researchers attribute the high volumes of the gas to the age of the dirtiest plants and to their use of coal and oil.
The producers of the report?the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, the Clean Water Fund and Environmental Advocates of New York?want to reduce by one-quarter the carbon dioxide emissions from Northeast power plants by 2020, and called on the region?s governors to enact a reduction plan.
The report examined emissions generated by 188 power plants in a nine-state region covering the six New England states plus Delaware, New Jersey and New York and ranked them in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. The rankings are based on ?carbon efficiency? ratings, which were derived by dividing the amount of the gas emitted by each plant by the amount of energy that plant generates.
Unlike some other pollutants cranked out by area power plants, the concern with carbon dioxide is less about its direct effects on human health than about its status as a so-called greenhouse gas that many experts believe is contributing to the warming of the earth?s lower atmosphere. Such gases allow sunlight to pass through, but trap heat that would otherwise escape back into the atmosphere.
?Global warming could have a devastating effect on New Jersey, leading to loss of our precious beaches and coastal land, extreme weather, more flooding, more smog, disruption of ecosystems and wildlife habitats, and severe weather,? Mottola says.
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Hot Air from All Over: The Top 10 C02 Producers
Plant Name/State 2004 CO2 Emissions
Brayton Point MA 5.7
Northport NY 5.2
Canal MA 4.2
AES Somerset NY 4.1
Mystic MA 3.9
Ravenswood NY 3.7
Dunkirk NY 3.2
Roseton NY 3.0
C.R. Huntley NY 3.0
Linden Cogen Plant NJ 2.8
Emissions in million metric tons Source: Vermont Public Interest Research Group