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CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION HONORS WINNERS OF ANNUAL GOVERNOR’S ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS PROGRAM
EVENT INCLUDES FIRST-EVER RECOGNITION FOR INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
TRENTON - The Christie Administration
today honored a broad selection of environmental groups, scientists,
companies, educators and students from across New Jersey for their
leadership to protect and improve the environment.
Honorees recognized at the 17th Annual Governor’s Environmental
Excellence Awards ceremony at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton
included a Stockton University professor who helped develop what became
the first comprehensive forest management plan for the ecologically
sensitive Pinelands region; a Jersey City afterschool program that is
innovating state-of-the-art solutions to common environmental issues; a
Newark business that has taken indoor farming to new heights; and a
Central New Jersey organization that helps certify others in
sustainable land stewardship practices.
Award winners also included a South Jersey school district whose
development of an energy plan is expected to save its taxpayers more
than $5 million over 15 years; a collaborative that leverages expertise
from multiple sectors to study how to improve wastewater infrastructure
statewide; and a pharmaceutical giant that has re-engineered its food
waste collection program into a streamlined composting success story.
“This year’s winners have demonstrated true leadership in finding
ways to enhance New Jersey’s environment,” Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin said. “Through their
collaborations and dedication, these honorees are setting high
standards and excellent examples of how everyone in our state can help
the environment through partnerships and commitment. As stewards of New
Jersey’s environment, we salute the outstanding contributions of this
year’s winners.”
The Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards (GEEA) are the
state’s premier environmental awards program for recognizing
outstanding environmental performance, programs and projects in the
state. Including today’s event, the program has recognized 160 winners
since 2000.
The awards program is sponsored by the DEP, New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust
and the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology, in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
A panel of judges reviewed and scored nominations that featured
unique or valuable environmental projects and activities. For more
information about GEEA, visit the NJ State Department of Environmental Protection website.
2016 GOVERNOR’S ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
Clean Air
Delran Township Public Schools
Delran Township Public Schools in January 2015 began exploring the
development and implementation of an Energy Savings Improvement Plan as
a way to reduce energy use, increase sustainability and save money.
The Burlington County district chose an Energy Services Company
approximately a year ago, developed a district-wide plan and began
construction this past July. The project, which began construction in
July 2016, will result in better interior and exterior lighting systems,
improve temperature control by upgrading building management systems,
add air conditioning at some locations, and install new roofs at two
schools. Work is expected to be completed in August 2017. The results
are anticipated to reduce energy costs by 32%, cut emissions in
half, produce 80% of the district’s electric needs through
on-site solar, and save taxpayers $5.6 million over the next 15 years
that can be used to fund other educational needs throughout the
district.
Water Resources
River Friendly Programs of the Raritan Basin
The River-Friendly Programs of the Raritan Basin works one-on-one
with residents, businesses, schools and golf courses to improve land
stewardship practices and complete several challenges in order to be
certified River-Friendly. The program, a joint initiative of the Stony
Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, Raritan Headwaters Association
and New Jersey Water Supply Authority, aims to help program
participants be more mindful of their impact on water and land by
following four key principles that address water resource challenges in
the 1,100-square-mile Raritan Basin across Central New Jersey: reduce
pollution, conserve water, restore habitat for wildlife and educate the
public about becoming better environmental stewards. To date, the
program has worked with hundreds of residents to become River-Friendly,
and is currently working with 13 schools, 16 businesses and seven golf
courses to achieve the designation.
Jersey Water Works
This one-year-old collaborative among representatives from the public
and private sectors, public utilities, the environmental community and
regulatory agencies is the first of its kind in the nation to consider
possible solutions to the complex and costly problems associated with
aging and inefficient water infrastructure statewide. One of the
biggest water challenges in New Jersey - and a key issue for the
collaborative - is combined sewer overflow (CSO) systems, which
discharge raw sewage into waterways after significant weather events,
and sometimes lead to sewage backups in homes, streets and parks. The
collaborative targets cost-efficient solutions that would result in
clean water and waterways, flood and climate resiliency, and economic
growth that create both local jobs as well as healthier and safer
neighborhoods. In its short tenure, the collaborative has received
support from the New Jersey League of Municipalities, produced reports
identifying best practices nationwide, established a peer-to-peer
network for communities with CSO systems, and identified new ways of
doing business that can improve addressing CSOs and incorporating green
infrastructure practices.
Healthy Ecosystems
George Zimmermann
A professor of Environmental Studies at Stockton University in
Galloway Township, Atlantic County, Zimmermann was the lead campus
proponent for the school’s Forest Management Plan, which the Pinelands
Commission approved in 2013 - making it the first comprehensive forest
management plan for public land within the ecologically sensitive
Pinelands region. That plan stands as a state model for management of
forestland. It uses the latest forest management techniques and best
management practices centered on large-scale public use of the land,
which is tantamount to having a university in a forest. In addition to
serving as a blueprint for how best to use the Stockton forests,
Zimmermann’s plan is a working document to transform the forests into a
laboratory and demonstration site to develop and implement sound,
sustainable forestry practices in the Pinelands region, as well as for
other public entities to manage their forestry resources responsibly.
Innovative Technology
AeroFarms
By using an interdisciplinary approach to address food insecurity and
pollution issues, AeroFarms has taken urban agriculture to new heights
with large scale, indoor vertical farming techniques. The company’s
combination of in-house designed LED lighting technology and secret
growing algorithms in a chemical-free and pest-free environment greatly
speeds up crop production to communities and partners in need of
nutritious, non-GMO leafy greens. These techniques allow Newark-based
AeroFarms to optimize plants for taste, texture, color and nutritional
density by using sensors to record data points through every minute of a
plant’s growing cycle. As a result, AeroFarms uses significantly less
water and fertilizer than traditional agricultural producers, and is
not reliant on weather condition for successful production and harvest.
In the past four years, AeroFarms has created eight working vertical
farms and is developing models to replicate additional farms in
communities that lack supermarkets, resulting in job creation,
availability of fresh produce, and furthering economic revitalization
in communities that need it.
Land Conservation
New Jersey Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership
This innovative public-private partnership between corporations,
federal and state agencies, nongovernmental organizations and academia,
works to develop and implement projects to protect and improve New
Jersey’s coastlines, freshwater wetlands and aquatic habitats. Since
2005, the partnership has funded 29 projects across the state, which led
to the preservation of more than 520 acres and 17 stream miles.
Additionally, more than $700,000 in contributions and in-kind services
from the initiative’s partners has resulted in projects totaling more
than $8.5 million. Projects to date have included habitat restoration,
marshlands, fish passages, dam removals, species protection, education
and outreach, and cultural and historic projects. Additional projects
are under way, the most recent of which aims to restore the resiliency
and functionality of a degraded section of the Wallkill River while
involving 200 students to help with tree planting and protection along
the river in Sparta Township, Sussex County. This particular effort
exemplifies the collaborative approach used in all partnership
projects.
Healthy and Sustainable Businesses
Merck and Co. Inc.
Merck re-engineered the efficiency of its food waste collection
program at three of its Central New Jersey campuses after an
out-of-state facility that accepted Merck’s food waste closed. As a
result of its commitment to reduce operational waste and increase
recycling at Merck’s locations in Whitehouse Station, Lebanon and
Branchburg, the pharmaceutical giant achieved and surpassed a 2014
corporate recycling goal two years ahead of schedule. Merck
accomplished its goals early by developing food waste composting
programs, centralizing trash, standardizing containers and labeling at
all trash and recycling stations, educating employees about the
importance of recycling through signage and internal communications, and
implementing measures to keep trash from going to landfills. The
result was 1,594 tons of nonhazardous materials recycled, equaling a 48
% recycling rate; 989 tons sent for waste-to-energy recovery,
amounting to a waste diversion rate of 78%; and nearly 70 tons
of compost diverted from trash, saving the company $334,000.
Healthy and Sustainable Communities
Groundwork Elizabeth
In 2009, Groundwork Elizabeth developed the Come Grow With Us!
Community Farm and Garden Initiative to improve access to locally grown
produce for urban communities that border Kean University in Union
Township, Union County. Since then, the program fills a void in a
county that has almost no commercial agriculture, and works because of
its ability to build support for locally grown agriculture in an
environmentally friendly way, with an aim to improve community health
and welfare. As part of its efforts, Groundwork Elizabeth manages the
10-acre Liberty Hall Farm at Kean and builds upon a growing network of
partner gardens to fulfill its mission of helping Union County at-risk
communities receive healthy, locally grown, nutritious produce in order
to combat poor nutritional habits, lack of nutritional education, and
target obesity rates. In 2015, more than 3,000 pounds of produce was
harvested at Liberty Hall Farm. In 2015-2016, the initiative partnered
with 37 community gardens and one farm, provided more than 10,000
seedlings to support the network, and distributed more than 7,500
bottles of donated fertilizer in Union County.
Environmental Education (Adult-Led)
New Jersey Water Environment Association
When it comes to disseminating information about wastewater
treatment, or educating environmental professionals about new
technologies in the field and providing continuing education, other
states look to New Jersey as the model for this critical field of
science. That reputation has been earned through the diligent efforts
of the New Jersey Water Environment Association, a 100-year-old
collaborative that annually provides thousands of hours of
environmental education and thousands of dollars in scholarships to
promote the field’s future environmental advocates. New Jersey’s
program is known for its diversity of courses of study, quality
control, and proper training documentation to meet the rigorous
requirements of oversight organizations. In the past year, the
association provided approximately 50,000 training hours to the
environmental community. Association members routinely volunteer to work
with DEP on a variety of policy matters, and offers expertise to
groups and programs outside New Jersey. Additionally, the association
promotes environmental education at the middle and high school levels,
as well as college level, to grow, develop and mentor the next
generation of environmental advocates.
Environmental Education (Youth-Led)
PS28, Jersey City/Project Reservoir
This environmental STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
afterschool program has earned recognition in multiple national
environmental science competitions during the past year for several
projects that developed state-of-the-art solutions to traditional
environmental concerns. The program involves 150 students from eight
Jersey City schools who are divided into STEM teams to learn more about
the city’s water supply, plastics pollution, STEM-based physical
activities in nature, threats to bee health in urban environments,
storm water runoff pollution and aquaponics gardening. Among the
program’s projects so far are converting the school greenhouse into a
vertical aquaponics garden, designing a solar pumping system at a local
reservoir, and creating a bio filtration system on an island in the
reservoir to filter water and prevent algal blooms by using
microfiltration. In addition to that work, a team of eighth graders
involved with the program has educated other students about microfiber
pollution and designed technology to prevent it. Still another team is
developing technology to use compost and solar power to trap mosquitos.
In addition to honoring the GEEA winners, the Administration
recognized two winners in the first-ever New Jersey Charging Challenge:
Electrify Your Workplace competition:
The College of New Jersey
TCNJ has five Level 2 charging stations in its commuter student
parking garage that have been operational for approximately one year,
and are used by both commuting faculty and students. The installation
resulted from a unique partnership between the Ewing school and
PSE&G - TCNJ committed to using the charging stations for faculty
and staff, and PSE&G provided the electric vehicle charging
equipment for free. TCNJ paid for the equipment installation and is
responsible for ongoing maintenance and electricity costs. A
ribbon-cutting event to highlight the partnership and promote the use
of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations was held in July 2016.
Installation of the stations received widespread media coverage, from
the campus newspaper to network television news in Philadelphia.
PSE&G
The utility in 2015 installed 30 Level 2 charging stations, bringing
to 45 the number of stations installed statewide. The 2015 installation
included 10 stations in a Newark parking garage, 10 stations at the
company’s Training Center in Edison, and 10 stations at its Central
Maintenance Facility in Edison. Solar panels were also installed at the
Training Facility, but they do not directly feed the charging stations.
PSE&G has also implemented an extensive educational campaign to
promote use of electric vehicles to employees and customers. There has
been a feature story in a company magazine, two write-ups in a company
blog about the benefits of electric vehicle use, and promotional
material sent to employees about installation of charging stations at a
hospital in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.
For more about New Jersey’s electric vehicle programs, visit the NJ Drive Green website.
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