Rally against
Plant No. 2
The march against Freeport's diesel Power Plant No. 2, organized by the Old Lindenmere Civic Association and the Joint Council of the Merricks, gets under way at 10 a.m. Saturday at Merrick and Clubhouse roads. It will then head west on Merrick Road to the Freeport plant, before returning to Merrick. Marchers are to gather at 9 a.m.
A pre-rally meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, in the auditorium at Birch Elementary School, at the east end of Rugby Road in Merrick.
According to a recent New York State Assembly report, diesel-electric generation is "so dirty" that 100 megawatts of diesel power is equal in pollution to adding 140,500 cars to Long Island highways.
In the summer of 1999, Freeport's diesel Power Plant No. 2 generated 1,200 megawatts of power. That created the same amount of pollution as that of almost 1.7 million cars.
Scott Brinton/Herald
Photo caption #100: Anthony Byrnes, top left, plans to march with residents from throughout the South Shore against the Village of Freeport's diesel Power Plant No. 2 on Saturday, June 16. His sister Christine died in 1981 of brain cancer. Since 1969, the plant has spewed a host of known and suspected carcinogens throughout the area. Above: Byrnes is shown with wife Kathleen and children Mackenzie, 11, and Christopher, 5, in the front yard where he and Christine played as children.
Scott Brinton/Herald
Names are to follow Mon.
Residents from Merrick-Bellmore, Freeport and Wantagh-Seaford are organizing the protest rally against Plant No. 2. Above: At the home of Michele Walsh, president of the Central Merrick Homeowners Association, are, from left: Barry Fox, Merrick Park; Vicky Rosenberg, Wantagh-Seaford; Marge Congello, Central Bellmore; Michele Walsh, Central Merrick; Jill Murtha, Central Bellmore; Mary Ramo, Central Merrick; Stacey McHale-Grossman, Old Lindenmere; Richard and Lisa Schary, North Bellmore; Joseph Kralovich, Old Lindenmere; Dr. Elliot Cohen, south Merrick.
Photo credit: Scott Brinton/Herald
Joseph Kralovich, left, Old Lindenmere president, and Vincent Greco, a longtime Freeport civic activist, were last week named co-chairmen of CHOKE, a coalition whose sole aim is to fight Plant No. 2.
hed: United they stand
Drophead: Merrick-Bellmore, Freeport, Wantagh-Seaford residents to rally against diesel plant
By Scott Brinton
Anthony Byrnes, 45, grew up with two sisters in the quiet of Rugby Road in Merrick, in a middle-class ranch house that he now calls home. One sister was stricken with a cancerous tumor in 1989, at age 35, and survived. The other sister, Christine, developed brain cancer in 1981, at 28, and died shortly after.
Byrnes, a muscular-looking man who is a mechanic at a Long Island power plant, is nearly drawn to tears as he speaks of Christine, who would be 48 years old today. "She was my best friend," he says in staccato voice.
Christine Byrnes Reffi suffered a painful death. She had not one, but many small tumors that lodged throughout her brain. Anthony Byrnes said the doctors told him there were "more than you want to count."
Christine died at a time when all else was well in her life. The homemaker and former secretary had a husband and two small children whom she loved and cared for dearly. Her kids were ages 2 and 6 at her death.
On Saturday, June 16, Anthony Byrnes, who is married and has two young children, will march beside Merrick residents against Freeport Electric's diesel Power Plant No. 2, with memories of his sister in mind.
The rally, organized by the Old Lindenmere Civic Association and the Joint Council of the Merricks, gets under way at 10 a.m. at Merrick and Clubhouse roads, and then heads west on Merrick Road to the Freeport plant, before returning to Merrick. Marchers are to gather at 9 a.m.
The Freeport plant, just across the Meadowbrook Parkway from Merrick, opened in 1970 when Christine Byrnes turned 17, and it ran throughout the '70s as she entered young adulthood. Before that, Freeport Village operated a garbage incinerator, as did the Town of Hempstead in Merrick, only blocks south of Rugby Road.
The incinerators closed three decades ago, according to resident reports. The diesel electric plant, however, remains open, continuing to spew a host of known and suspected carcinogens when it runs, which is mostly throughout the summer. Prevailing winds off the Atlantic Ocean primarily blow diesel exhaust from the plant into Merrick-Bellmore, particularly into Merrick's Old Lindenmere section, where Rugby Road is.
The California Air Resources Board rates diesel exhaust as the most carcinogenic Toxic Air Contaminant it has studied. The board allows diesel generators to operate only during rolling blackouts.
According to a recent New York State Assembly report, particulate emissions from a "typical diesel emergency generator," run only during peak demand, can cause a "significant increase in cancer risk for nearby residents within one city block" by 250 in a million. On average, that represents a 50-percent greater cancer risk than usual.
Freeport's Power Plant No. 2 is a half-mile south of Lindenmere, due west of the town's Sen. Norman J. Levy nature preserve and next to tidal wetlands. It is almost 20 times the size of the "typical diesel emergency generator." Such generators are, on average, rated at 1 megawatt. Each of the Freeport plant's two 10,000-horsepower Fiat engines is rated at 9.5 megawatts, for a total of 19 megawatts. They are reported to rank among the largest land-based diesel engines in the U.S.
Like so many Merrick residents whom the Herald has spoken with in recent months, Anthony Byrnes wonders why New York State allows the municipal plant to run, knowing it has no pollution controls and that diesel exhaust is a likely carcinogen.
Referring to the power plant where he works, Byrnes said, "They're monitoring us. If something is out of whack, we have to sign for a violation. We're watched. Why can't they do that?"
The state Department of Environmental Conservation granted Plant No. 2 a Title V permit to operate with no emission standards. Why? Apparently, village officials, including Mayor William Glacken, argue that the plant is grandfathered, or exempt, from the Clean Air Act of 1970 because it was built in 1967-69.
It might not be grandfathered, however.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, DEC and state Attorney General's Office are investigating possible violations of the Clean Air Act at the plant.
Last week, a Herald probe showed that, although the plant was completed in 1969 with the two diesel engines, a third, combustion turbine was added there in 1973. According to the Clean Air Act, that would likely constitute a major modification, meaning the plant should be subject to the more stringent New Source Review.
Joseph Kralovich, president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, hopes to raise awareness of this and several other issues concerning the plant during the protest march.
Old Lindenmere has joined forces with the Central Merrick, Merrick Park, Central Bellmore and Wantagh-Seaford homeowners associations, along with Freeport, south Merrick and North Bellmore residents, in organizing the rally.
Throughout the past week, civic volunteers have feverishly handed out hundreds of fliers in neighborhoods and shopping centers across the South Shore, calling upon people to join the march. A pre-rally meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, in the auditorium at Birch Elementary School, at the east end of Rugby Road.
On June 7, leaders from all involved civic groups gathered at the home of Michele Walsh, Central Merrick president, to lay out rally plans.
The 11 representatives formed a new coalition whose sole aim is to fight Plant No. 2. Its name is CHOKE, or Coalition Helping to Organize a Cleaner Environment. Kralovich, the Old Lindenmere president, and Vincent Greco, a long-time Freeport civic activist, were named coalition co-chairmen.
Kralovich said of the plant: "It's a loaded gun. It can run anytime."
Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park association, said, "I believe that the Freeport power plant has become a political pawn in the hands of Freeport politicians."
The village's elected leaders have convinced their constituents that the plant is needed to meet Freeport's electric needs and curb rates, Fox believes. He called the argument "false," however.
A recent Herald investigation showed that, in the summer of 1999, Freeport generated 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity at Plant No. 2. It then sold more than 1.3 million kilowatt-hours to the Long Island Power Authority, meaning the plant was not run that summer to help "keep the lights on" in the village, but for LIPA.
CHOKE has adopted "Clean It Up, or Close It Down" as its slogan, referring to Plant No. 2. The group is now fundraising, selling T-shirts with its slogan embedded in a logotype for $15 each. Stacey McHale-Grossman, vice president of the Old Lindenmere association, said that the hundreds of rally fliers distributed were costly.
Mary Ramo of North Merrick, vice president of the Central Merrick association, said of residents in her neighborhood: "All the people up there are very interested in this [the plant fight]. ... Everyone is very supportive."
Ramo said, however, that she approached North Merrick School District representatives about having a letter addressing Plant No. 2 sent to parents, as one was recently distributed in the Merrick district. She was turned down, though. "I didn't get a reason; no reason," she said.
Anthony Byrnes hopes all the efforts by the civic groups and other residents will accomplish one aim. Of Plant No. 2, he said, "I want it shut down."
