State's review of controversial Meadowlands power plant proposal put 'on hold'

State environmental regulators have suspended their lengthy review of a proposed power plant in the Meadowlands because the developer has temporarily pulled its application for the controversial project.

Representatives for the North Bergen Liberty Generating station have told the state that the company plans to resubmit its permit application after changing key pieces of technology it will use in the plant, which would generate electricity exclusively for New York. 

On Monday, opponents said the suspension would pose a welcome delay in any decision by the state Department of Environmental Protection on the project.

"Even if the company were to re-submit a completed application today, we're looking at a year before the DEP would be ready for public hearings, and a total of 18 months before the Murphy administration could make a final decision on the permit," said Matt Smith, an organizer for the advocacy group Food & Water Watch. 

A DEP spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on how the suspension affects the agency's timetable.

A spokesman for the developer, Diamond Generating Corp. of Los Angeles, said the company has been "making technical changes as needed for quite some time," but did not elaborate. Brian Hague, the spokesman, said he didn't think it would significantly delay the project.

"We’ve been working with the DEP on these changes to keep everything current," Hague said.

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Proposed for an industrial section of North Bergen on a tributary of the Hackensack River, the natural-gas-fired power plant would become the top single greenhouse gas producer in the Garden State, tied with the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in Linden.

The new plant would emit about 2.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The $1.5 billion plant would be one of the largest electricity generators in the state, at 1,200 megawatts. None of the electricity would go to New Jersey consumers, however. It would instead be transmitted by cable under the Hudson River to New York City.

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Questions about the status of the company's permit application have been discussed for weeks among environmentalists and local officials who oppose the project. 

A letter sent in May from a DEP official to a concerned resident confirmed that the project's review is "on hold" until the company resubmits its application. The letter, written by Francis Steitz, director of the Division of Air Quality, was circulated by opponents over the weekend. 

"I'm really concerned about this because I live only a mile away," said Sandi Liberti of Palisades Park, who received the DEP letter. "This is not what New Jersey needs." 

The project is supported by North Bergen leaders, the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and labor unions. Diamond Generating, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, would temporarily employ more than 2,100 construction workers to build the plant.

About 30 permanent workers would operate the plant, and the company would spend about $5 million annually to local contractors for plant maintenance. 

Almost 50 Bergen County towns have passed resolutions against the plant. No Hudson County town has done so.

Gov. Phil Murphy has yet to take a stance on the project, saying his administration will "call balls and strikes" individually on all fossil-fuel projects despite his push for New Jersey to reach his 100 percent clean energy goal by 2050.

Murphy was criticized last year when the DEP issued six wetlands-related permits for the project in June. But the air permits are key. Hague has said the project would not move ahead until the state approves those permits.