Strong local opposition has again tabled final approval by New Jersey’s Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission to build a $180-million gas-fired power plant in Newark, N.J., as an emergency backup, despite already securing sign-offs from Gov. Phil Murphy (D) last year and the state Dept of Environmental Protection last month. 

Opponents, including many residents of Newark, which the state has deemed a pollution-burdened community, claimed at a mid-March commission meeting the plant would emit too much methane, sulfur and other pollutants. 

The facility was proposed several years ago to prevent a repeat of total wastewater treatment power loss that occurred in 2012, when flooding from Superstorm Sandy inundated the site and untreated sewage flowed into Newark streets and the Passaic River. 

DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, in a 16-page decision for the backup power plant, said that despite grid resilience improvements it has made, local power firm PSE&G said it could not guarantee service during extreme weather conditions, accidents and equipment failure or damage, according to the decision.

The commission said it will explore “significant changes in technologies,” but did not say when a new vote will occur. The backup plant was set to located in Newark's Ironbound section, and would be the fourth fossil-fuel plant in that area, if built, opponents say.