FERC issues environmental impact statement on controversial Spectra pipeline
JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND – Friday morning the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) published its Final Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Spectra Energy pipeline, proposed to run through Bayonne and Jersey City.
Here’s the link from FERC’s eLibrary database:
http://elibrary.ferc.gov:0/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=14004365.
The four-member commission will now review this final impact statement, and the entire record on the case, including earlier comments submitted in response to last year’s draft Environmental Impact Statement, and will render a decision. While a final decision from the commission is expected on June 14, a FERC spokeswoman stated Friday that, “There is no statutory time frame by which the Commission must act.”
Anyone interested in accessing the full FERC case file regarding the Spectra Energy project should refer to Docket No. CP11-56-000.
No Gas Pipeline to hold community meeting March 26
The membership-based Jersey City activist group No Gas Pipeline will hold a community meeting on the proposed Spectra Energy pipeline on Monday, March 26 at 7 p.m. The purpose of the meeting, co-hosted by the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations, will be to update Jersey City residents on the status of the pipeline project.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recently released Final Environmental Impact Statement (see above) will be among the agenda items discussed, as will various plans to fight the pipeline if FERC approves the project later this year.
The program will include a panel discussion with Dale Hardman, co-founder of No Gas Pipeline; Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy; City Attorney Derek Fanciullo; William Schulte, Eastern Environmental Law attorney and counsel for No Gas Pipeline; Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop; and Marlene Sandkamp, a member of the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations. There will be time for Q&A with the audience.
The meeting will take place at City Hall, 280 Grove St.
Bankruptcy judge to rule on Christ Hospital buyer this week
This week a federal bankruptcy judge is expected to rule on a buyer for the struggling Christ Hospital.
Proposals from potential buyers were due in court on March 15. Three potential buyers were expected to submit bids to the court: Community Healthcare Associates (CHA) in a partnership with LibertyHealth System, which currently owns Jersey City Medical Center; Hudson Holdco LLC, which owns Bayonne Medical Center and Hoboken University Medical Center; and MHA, the owner of Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus.
Christ Hospital filed for bankruptcy last month after a deal to sell the hospital to a company in California fell through.
MHA and Hudson Holdco are for-profit companies and would likely turn the hospital into a for-profit entity. CHA is a consulting and real estate development company that tries to stabilize struggling medical facilities by partnering with hospitals and others in the healthcare community. Like Christ Hospital, LibertyHealth System is a nonprofit entity, and Christ would remain nonprofit under Liberty’s ownership – despite the involvement of CHA – since LibertyHealth would hold the license.
The hospital currently loses about $800,000 a month, according Christ CEO Peter Kelly. And according to a September 2011 letter submitted to the state attorney general from Christ’s lawyers, the “hospital’s total liabilities exceed approximately $123 million. In contrast, the hospital has recorded its assets as of June 30, 2011 at approximately $38.7 million.”
The hospital’s bankruptcy filing last month listed its liabilities as $115 million.
Mayor, Police Chief to hold second meeting on public safety
On Thursday, March 22 at 6 p.m. Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey will hold the second in a series of town hall-style meetings of public safety and crime.
During his State of the City Address, delivered last month, the mayor promised to hold a series of public meetings with the police chief after residents complained about crime in Jersey City. These meetings, Healy said, would be held throughout the city. The first of these meetings was held in late February in City Hall.
The second of these meetings will be held at the Infinity Institute, formerly St. Paul the Apostle School, at 193 Old Bergen Rd. Members of the Jersey City Police Department’s newly-formed Community Response Team will be on hand from each district to discuss issues with members of the public and to hear complaints.
Last month, Healy and Comey promoted more than a dozen officers to the rank of detective. The administration has said that these promotions will help expedite criminal investigations in the field since, as detectives, these officers have the added ability to initiate criminal investigations.
“These meetings are an opportunity for the public to express their concerns and issues and for them to meet with the newly-appointed detectives who are leading the Community Response Teams in their communities” Healy said in a statement last week. “We know that the last meeting held at City Hall was a positive interaction with the community and are hoping that the public takes advantage of this second meeting so that we can work as partners to continue to improve the quality of life in our communities.”
In addition to the formation of the Community Response Team, Healy has also pledged to hire more police officers and is actively pursuing grant funding to hire more officers.
Array of Hope coming to Landmark Loew’s
On Friday, March 23, the parishes of St. Joseph and St. Nicholas and the schools of Deanery Ten will welcome, to the historic Landmark Loew’s Jersey City Theatre, Array of Hope, a wide-ranging Christian live and multi-media concert experience geared toward teens and young adults. Array of Hope has performed in numerous parishes and venues in the Newark Catholic Archdiocese.
Support for this concert event has been provided by the William E. Simon Foundation.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. Adult ticket prices are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Tickets for children and teens under 18 are $7. For more information and tickets, call St. Joseph Parish at (201) 653-0392, or e-mail stjosephjc@yahoo.com.
The Landmark Loew’s Jersey City Theatre is located at 54 Kennedy Blvd.