Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission

Recurring Agenda Items by Category

Ward-Level Impact: East vs. Central Newark

East Ward carries the primary burden: the plant is sited there, the Superfund site is on its waterfront, and CSO outfalls drain into the adjacent Passaic River. Central Ward experiences secondary CSO impacts during storm events but has no direct exposure to the plant itself.The East Ward carries the main burden: the plant sits there, the Superfund site is on its waterfront, and the sewage outfalls drain into the adjacent Passaic River. The Central Ward gets secondary overflow impacts during storms but has no direct exposure to the plant itself.

Key Ongoing Issues

Contract Change-Order Ledger

PVSC agendas do not publish contract dollar amounts or vendor names — but each item title recites the contract number and, for amendments, a cumulative change-order or modification number the board is asked to approve. Across the 60-meeting archive, 300 distinct contract numbers appear. The table lists contracts whose recited amendment number reached No. 3 or higher; each change order is a separate board-approved amendment to an already-awarded contract. The most-amended contract in the archive is B203 (“Construction of Perimeter Floodwall, Stormwater Pump Stations and Stormwater Collection System”), whose recited change orders reached No. 32 across 12 agenda appearances, 2019–2025. What each amendment cost, and who holds the contract, is not in the public agenda — that requires an OPRA request. PVSC agendas never list contract dollar amounts or company names — but each item title gives the contract number and, for amendments, a running change-order number the board is asked to approve. Across the 60-meeting archive, 300 different contract numbers show up. This table lists the contracts whose amendment count reached No. 3 or higher; every change order is a separate amendment to a contract that was already awarded, and each one needs board approval. The most-amended contract in the archive is B203 (“Construction of Perimeter Floodwall, Stormwater Pump Stations and Stormwater Collection System”), which reached change order No. 32 across 12 agenda appearances, 2019–2025. What each amendment cost, and which company holds the contract, is not in the public agenda — finding out takes an OPRA public records request.

Counts reflect the 2018–2026 archive window only: a contract awarded before 2018 can enter the record mid-life, and gaps in posted agendas mean appearance counts are minimums, not totals. Financing figures link to PVSC’s published NJ Water Bank postings and are project financing amounts, not contract award prices.These counts only cover the 2018–2026 archive. A contract awarded before 2018 can show up already partway through its life, and since some agendas were never posted, the appearance counts are minimums — the real numbers could be higher. The dollar figures link to PVSC's published NJ Water Bank postings; they are project financing amounts, not the prices of the contracts themselves.

Major Capital Projects — NJ Water Bank Financing Postings

PVSC finances major capital work through the New Jersey Water Bank, a state revolving fund of very-low-interest loans administered by NJDEP and the NJ Infrastructure Bank (some projects also draw FEMA disaster-relief funds). PVSC publishes a posting for each financed project, and those postings — unlike the meeting agendas — state dollar figures: 18 postings totaling $1,007,483,232 are on PVSC’s site. Amounts are financing figures, not contract award prices; the borrower repaying the loans is PVSC, the regional authority serving 48 municipalities. Contracts B040, B128, and B129 share one project number (S-340689-23, the Standby Power Generating Facility), so their figures may overlap rather than sum. PVSC pays for major construction through the New Jersey Water Bank, a state fund that lends money at very low interest, run by the state environmental agency (NJDEP) and the NJ Infrastructure Bank (some projects also use FEMA disaster-relief money). PVSC publishes a notice for each financed project, and those notices — unlike the meeting agendas — include dollar figures: 18 notices totaling just over $1 billion are on PVSC's site. These are financing amounts, not the prices of the contracts themselves, and the borrower paying the loans back is PVSC, the regional authority serving 48 towns. Contracts B040, B128, and B129 share one project number (S-340689-23, the Standby Power Generating Facility), so their figures may overlap rather than add up.

B040: The Standby Power Plant — From Sandy Resilience to EJ Litigation

Contract B040 is a gas-fired backup power plant at 600 Wilson Avenue: per NJDEP’s environmental-justice decision, three natural-gas combustion turbines plus two gas-fired black-start engines, designed to meet a 34-MW demand so the treatment plant can run when the grid fails — the failure mode Superstorm Sandy exposed. It is the largest figure on PVSC’s NJ Water Bank postings ($232.7M) and, as of late 2025, the subject of litigation brought by the City of Newark itself and the Ironbound Community Corporation — while two sitting Newark council members serve on the PVSC board that approved it. Contract B040 is a gas-burning backup power plant at 600 Wilson Avenue: according to NJDEP's environmental-justice decision, three natural-gas turbines plus two gas-fired starter engines, built so the sewage plant can keep running when the electric grid fails — which is exactly what happened during Superstorm Sandy. It carries the largest dollar figure on PVSC's NJ Water Bank postings ($232.7 million), and as of late 2025 it is being fought in court by the City of Newark itself and the Ironbound Community Corporation — while two sitting Newark council members serve on the PVSC board that approved it.

The governance tension is structural: the City of Newark is a litigant against a commission whose board includes Newark’s Council President and an at-large council member (see “Who governs it?” above). How individual commissioners voted on Resolution 125-25 is not stated in the public agenda; PVSC does not post minutes online.The governance tension is built into the structure: the City of Newark is suing a commission whose board includes Newark's own Council President and an at-large council member (see "Who governs it?" above). The public agenda does not say how individual commissioners voted on Resolution 125-25, and PVSC does not post its minutes online.

Meeting Archive (60 meetings, 2018–2026)

Click a date to view the original agenda on nj.gov/pvsc. Dots indicate agenda categories present in that meeting.

Data Notes

Agendas downloaded from nj.gov/pvsc/home/public/agenda/pdf/. Text extracted with pdftotext. Category detection uses keyword matching against agenda item descriptions; supporting materials (permit applicant names, discharge parameters, contract amounts, LWA generator identities) are not posted publicly and require OPRA requests. Meeting dates confirmed by probing the URL pattern around the second Thursday of each month, 2018–2026. Where the PDF’s printed meeting date differs from its URL date, the printed date is used (e.g. the June 2024 meeting, held June 20). The February 2026 agenda was posted in two versions; the version at the canonical meeting-date URL is used. Agendas were downloaded from nj.gov/pvsc/home/public/agenda/pdf/ and the text extracted with pdftotext. Topics were detected by keyword matching against agenda item descriptions. Supporting materials — permit applicant names, discharge details, contract amounts, waste generator identities — are not posted publicly and require OPRA requests. Meeting dates were confirmed by checking the URL pattern around the second Thursday of each month, 2018–2026. When the date printed inside the PDF differs from the date in its web address, the printed date is used (for example, the June 2024 meeting was actually held June 20). The February 2026 agenda was posted online in two versions; this site uses the one at the standard meeting-date address.