Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority Earth Day Recap

On Earth Day this year, an invitation-only hearing in Trenton took place to gut the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) Rules meant to strengthen NJ’s land use, flood hazard and stormwater regulations to address climate crisis. While that dismaying closed-door negotiation was taking place, Waterspirit was spending our energy creating new connections in the water industry. We got together with water and conservation advocates in Rahway, courtesy of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, for a tour of the Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority.

The tour highlighted a multi-stage treatment process designed to protect sacred Earth and maintain consistent service rates. We often teach our program participants about the journey water takes from our residences to the sea, and this close-up experience with this important phase in that journey was especially interesting.

Did you know, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that a typical household uses approximately 100 gallons of water per person, per day? The wastewater from our residences travels through various municipal sewer systems and flows into a main trunk sewer, which then flows into the treatment facility. First, screens remove large debris and grit stemming from wastewater. Through aeration tanks, the biological-activated sludge and air work together to break down organic substances. Finally, the remaining sludge is settled and either recovered for reuse or removed. There was methane firing on site visible from the facility tour.

The combined heat power facility produces 6.2 MW of power, currently offsetting plant energy costs by 25% with a goal of becoming net zero. We learned that the long term goal is to make use of their space and optimizing their engines for solar power this year. How exciting! Waterspirit is supportive of solar power given its minimal use of water, the increase in affordability for all rate payers, and the realistic possibility of powering everything we do with the sun’s radiating energy.

After the tour, we talked about the critical issue of PFAS (dubbed “forever chemicals”) and our aligned goal of preventing the problem at the source before it hits water and wastewater systems. If manufacturers use alternatives to PFAS and microplastics that are not harmful or polluting, the prevalence of forever chemicals and microplastics in our waterways would cease to exist.

There is much work to be done to protect sacred water: wastewater, groundwater, drinking water and stormwater alike. Join us to learn more about water conservation efforts and communicating with your local municipality or county about ways to amplify messaging. water@waterspirit.org

Waterspirit Statement on the Tidelands Resource Council Decision to License Pollution in New Jersey Waters and Lands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Blair Nelsen
Email: water@waterspirit.org
Phone: 732-923-9788

Waterspirit Statement on the Tidelands Resource Council Decision to License Pollution in New Jersey Waters and Lands

If Gov. Sherrill approves Trump’s dirty pipeline, New Jersey residents and business owners would suffer unknown losses.

 

New Jersey - May 6, 2026 - Waterspirit is heartbroken by yesterday’s Tidelands Resource Council’s unanimous approval of a utility license for the Williams/Transco Northeast Supply Enchancement (NESE) project. This decision advances a thrice-denied, risky Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline and compressor station that would do nothing to lower New Jersey’s energy costs while saddling us with excessive air and water pollution for generations. Waterspirit, local organizations, and residents of all backgrounds have been educating the public about the science and risk for a decade, celebrating the projects prevention back in 2024. Regardless of the current unanimous rejection by all of the Bayshore Mayors and lengthy testimony that included elected officials, the Tidelands Resource Council opted to lease NJ’s land to corporate polluters. While Governor Sherrill still has the opportunity to reject this toxicity, she has so far remained reticent to opposing the NESE project. Challenges to the permits issued last fall will continue to play out in the court system.

 

“The Tidelands Resource Council’s decision to license this polluting project is a deep wound to our shared watersheds and the web of life that water sustains. Greenlighting the NESE Project is tantamount to sacrificing of our children's future on the altar of greed. How will you be able to look them in the eye? We are heartbroken by this choice. Treating our waterways as mere resources to be exploited causes us to forget that water is our lifeblood and a sacred trust. We will continue to act as guardians of the water, which, thanks to this reckless decision, is needed now more than ever,” said Blair Nelsen, Executive Director, Waterspirit. 

 

About Waterspirit

Founded in 1998, Waterspirit is a spiritual ecology nonprofit grounded in the belief that water is sacred and must be protected. Through education, advocacy and contemplative practice, Waterspirit fosters non-denominational spiritual connection and environmental protection to heal Earth’s waters.


For media inquiries, interview requests, or to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact: Blair Nelsen, water@waterspirit.org  

Earth Day at Waterspirit

Once again, the week of Earth Day was full of fun, water-honoring Waterspirit activities!

We hosted our annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup on Sandy Hook on April 25. Our group, including many students from Kean University, braved the drizzly conditions to pick many bags of garbage off of the beach. Many thanks to everyone who braved the weather to protect the beach, and a special thank you to the Sandy Hook Rangers and to Monmouth Clean Communities for making this event possible.

On April 26, Watespirit’s Scott Carlin gave the homily during the Sunday service at the United Methodist Church of Red Bank. Many thanks to that community for the invitation to deepen our collective understanding of the connection between water, Earth care, and faith.

The Waterspirit team— both staff and volunteers— also visited green fairs in Red Bank, Fair Haven, Tinton Falls, and Montclair throughout the week. At each event, we played water games and did contemplative exercises to deepen our appreciation of life-giving water.

Would you like to invite Waterspirit to your town’s green fair, or to give a presentation for your community? Reach out to us today!

International Marine Biodiversity

Waterspirit’s Executive Director spent the past two weeks attending important negotiations about marine biodiversity at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. These sessions were the third and final Preparatory Commission meetings for the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (also called the BBNJ, or High Seas Treaty). This was the member states’ final attempt to reach agreement about important mechanisms that will allow this treaty to successfully launch at the first COP for the ocean in January 2027. However, not as much progress was made as we had hoped for. Member states will still need to find common ground about financial rules, functioning of subsidiary bodies, and other critical operational issues at COP-1, rather than hitting the ground running with all procedures in place. We also have lingering questions about how the BBNJ will work in conjunction with other UN mechanisms such as the International Seabed Authority, which is currently negotiating a mining code that could allow deep sea mining in international waters to begin.

 

What are some of the things that the BBNJ will do?

-        Create and monitor Marine Protected Areas in international waters.

-        Connect countries with resources to protect marine biodiversity.

-        Incorporate Traditional Knowledge in marine biodiversity protection.

-        Use the precautionary principle and cumulative impacts as guiding analytical approaches.

 

Waterspirit will continue to stay connected with the BBNJ process and the first COP for the ocean, to be held at United Nations Headquarters from January 11-22, 2027. If you are a UN-NGO representative who would like to join this work, please consider connecting with the Faith in the Ocean coalition to prepare for this conference.