This
final report of the New Jersey Comparative Risk Project summarizes
a four-year effort to ev aluate
the impacts of New Jersey’s environmental problems. The
magnitude of these impacts is compared using a new, unique ranking
system that will be an invaluable reference for prioritizing future
environmental management efforts.
Funded by
the DEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the report was overseen
by a 19-member independent panel. Seventy-three experts analyzed and ranked
88 chemical, physical and biological factors (“stressors”)
according to their relative impacts on human health, ecological quality
and socioeconomic conditions. The report provides 178 detailed analyses
of stressors from acid precipitation and benzene to West Nile Virus and
zinc. Its findings indicate that the conversion of undeveloped land poses
the top ecological and socioeconomic risk to New Jersey’s environment
and people. Indoor pollution and outdoor air pollution pose major health
and socioeconomic risks, and invasive species pose serious ecological
threats to several New Jersey ecosystems.
DEP News
Release - DEP Releases Study that Ranks Top Risks to New Jersey’s
Environment and Human Health: Land Use Change Poses State’s Highest
Environmental Threat
Report Cover Letter |
