Jersey City · Ward C · DEP Permit Application
A private operator wants to build a 750-ton-per-day solid waste transfer station at 25 Van Keuren Avenue — bringing 260 truck trips a day to a neighborhood the State already counts as overburdened. The Department of Environmental Protection is taking public comment now, and the law gives this community grounds to stop it.
25 Van Keuren LLC has applied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to build a Materials Recovery Facility and Transfer Station at 25 Van Keuren Avenue, Block 7405, Lot 2. The site sits in an industrial pocket near St. Paul's and Tonnele, but the closest home is roughly 800 feet away — and schools, daycares, parks and high-rises sit well within a one-mile radius.
Maximum solid waste accepted at the facility, every operating day.
130 heavy-duty trucks in and out, all on local streets.
6 a.m.–10 p.m., six days a week. Trucking out begins at 4 a.m.
A dense residential neighborhood begins just past the property line.
The State of New Jersey has formally classified this Census block group (340170069001) as an Overburdened Community under three of the law's criteria — low income, minority, and limited English proficiency. Hudson County is already in severe non-attainment for ground-level ozone under the federal Clean Air Act. Adding a regional waste plant here is not a neutral act.
Heavy-duty truck traffic emits NOₓ, VOCs and fine particulate matter — the same pollutants driving Hudson County's ozone non-attainment. The applicant's own Environmental Justice Impact Statement concedes that the facility will increase exposure (EJIS pp. 19–26).
Two regional solid and hazardous waste facilities already sit within a mile of this site. A third would compound truck routes, idling, odor and particulate exposure on a single neighborhood (EJIS pp. 26–27).
Within a one-mile radius there are already 84 permitted minor sources of air pollution and one major source. The cumulative impact on residents — children, seniors, anyone with asthma — is the entire problem the EJ Law was written to address (EJIS p. 29).
Trucks haul out the previous day's waste between 4 and 6 a.m. Tipping and processing run 6 a.m.–10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The site is currently a low-traffic truck depot; the applicant acknowledges this would be a substantial step up (EJIS p. 21).
New Jersey's 2020 Environmental Justice Law (N.J.A.C. 7:1C) tells DEP that when a new polluting facility cannot avoid adding to existing burdens in an overburdened community, the agency must deny the permit — unless the applicant proves the facility serves a "compelling public interest" within that community. DEP has called this a narrow exception.
N.J.A.C. 7:1C-1.5; 7:1C-5.3; 7:1C-9.2(b). Economic benefits, including job creation, are expressly excluded from this analysis.
Van Keuren's application fails every prong.
Two similar facilities already sit within a mile. The benefits the applicant cites — recycling capacity, convenient collection — are county and statewide, not local. The fourteen jobs it promises are, by regulation, irrelevant. And the applicant itself concedes other locations exist; they simply call this one "ideal."
DEP's own examples of facilities that could qualify — small food-waste sites, public water infrastructure, renewable energy, combined sewer overflow projects — describe the opposite of what's proposed here.
The site is included in the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority's regional Solid Waste Management Plan.
25 Van Keuren LLC fails to obtain a permit from DEP's Bureau of Solid Waste Permitting after stricter state environmental laws are passed.
New rules require DEP to deny permits in overburdened communities absent a compelling public interest.
DEP allows the application to be resubmitted. A 60-day comment window begins.
The Hall on West Side, 60 West Side Avenue, Jersey City. Comments are recorded and forwarded to DEP. Virtual attendance available.
Last day to submit written comments to Compliance Plus Services for transmittal to DEP.
Every comment is logged and forwarded to DEP. The hearing record is part of the official permit decision. Showing up — in person, online, or in writing — is the entire mechanism by which an overburdened community can stop a facility like this one.
Step 01
Show up in person or join virtually. Public testimony is on the official record DEP must consider.
Request virtual link →Step 02
Written comments are accepted through May 28 and forwarded to DEP. Sustainable JC has a one-click action; you can also email directly.
Comment via Sustainable JC →Step 03
The Governor's office sets the tone for DEP. Tell the administration to enforce the EJ Law it signed in 2020.
Send the email →