By:Scott Brinton
The Old Lindenmere Civic Association is launching a fundraising effort to pay for environmental experts. The specialists are needed to testify during a public hearing that is expected after Freeport Electric's operating permit for diesel Plant No. 2 is rewritten in the near future.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently announced that it would reopen the permit to include stricter emissions standards, after an investigation by the federal Environmental Protection Agency found possible violations of federal and state clean-air standards at the plant.
Rewriting the permit should take one to two months, according to knowledgeable sources.
After the DEC rewrites Freeport's permit, the agency will conduct a 30- to 45-day public-comment period, during which civic leaders hope a public hearing will be held. During the hearing, residents want to raise many issues regarding the plant, particularly the health threats it poses, including cancer.
Referring to the plant, which has no pollution controls, Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park Home Owner's Association, said, "This is a Love Canal." The plant lies just across the Meadowbrook Parkway from the Norman J. Levy nature preserve in south Merrick.
Jacques Simon is an environmental attorney who lives on Clubhouse Road in Merrick. Simon urged residents during a Thursday meeting of the Old Lindenmere association to present expert witnesses at the hearing.
Surely, he said, Freeport would bring its own specialists to testify. Freeport Electric already retains a Washington, D.C., law firm.
Joseph Kralovich, president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, called funding for expert witnesses "an immediate need."
At minimum, Merrick would need an emissions expert and toxicologist to testify how the plant violates EPA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, as well as an environmental physician to speak to the many diseases that could result from diesel-exhaust exposure.
Each expert's testimony would cost $5,000, with an additional $2,500 for a written report about the plant, Simon said. "You're talking significant money."
Bob Young, a chief organizer of a recent rally against the plant, said, "We need to take this fundraising seriously.
"There is a lot of money in this town. I see a lot of Mercedes. I see a lot of homes being done. If we can't raise $40,000 between now and Christmas, something is wrong."
Stacy Grossman, vice president of the Old Lindenmere association, said the group has about $1,000 in savings.
Simon, the attorney, urged people who have smelled diesel exhaust from the plant and felt fatigue, dizziness or headaches to see an environmental physician, rather than a general-practice doctor. A GP, he said, is poorly equipped to diagnose and treat illnesses resulting from pollution. The trouble is that few environmental physicians practice in the area.
Simon said diesel exhaust blocks oxygen to the brain and attacks the central nervous system, in addition to irritating respiratory ailments like asthma and potentially causing cancer with long-term exposure. After diesel exhaust is inhaled, he noted, it lodges in the lungs, kidneys and digestive system.
He also said, "Those of you who smell the fumes, you inhale it. You are exposed."
Simon, who moved to Merrick in October 1997, said he was unaware of the Freeport plant when he arrived here, and he would not have bought his home had he known about it. Now, Simon wants to assemble a team of lawyers to fight the plant, he said in an interview with the Herald.
The attorney, who is the father of a 20-month-old, said, "I'm willing to take the case on because I don't want my daughter to die of cancer."
The Old Lindenmere Civic Association is planning its next organizing meeting for the coming weeks, with a date and place to be announced. The group is inviting representatives from the Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Civic steps up campaign to close plant
By Scott Brinton
The Old Lindenmere Civic Association has taken up a campaign calling on Gov. George Pataki to close Freeport Village's diesel Power Plant No. 2 by executive order. The association is also seeking to have a state Assembly bill signed into law that would restrict use of diesel generators.
Twenty Old Lindenmere civic members started walking door to door last weekend throughout Merrick and North Merrick, asking people to sign a letter addressed to several elected leaders. The letter urges passage of Assembly Bill A08915 and closure of Plant No. 2 by the governor. (For complete letter, see Editoral, page 30).
According to the federal Clean Air Act and state Environmental Law, the governor can shut down a power plant if it is deemed a danger to public health. (See Herald editorial, June 28 issue.) Old Lindenmere civic leaders believe Plant No. 2 will be forced to close once the state enforces emissions standards there in the coming months. Meantime, they say, the plant continues to run and threaten public health. The California Air Resources Board labels diesel exhaust a known carcinogen. Civic members want the plant shut down until the DEC reissues its operating permit and a stack test is performed to check for emissions violations.
If enacted as law, Assembly Bill A08915 would limit diesel-powered generators from running in Ozone Non-Attainment Areas, which are communities with high levels of ozone, a gas formed by diesel combustion. Ozone is needed in the Earth's atmosphere to moderate temperatures, but when it forms heavy, low-lying pockets in metropolitan areas, it makes breathing troublesome for people.
According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Green Book, Nassau County is deemed a non-attainment area for ozone. That means if A08915 became law, Plant No. 2 could operate here only during power emergencies. (For more information, see Herald story, "2 bills could close Plant No. 2," June 14 issue.)
Civic members have also written to town Supervisor Richard Guardino, seeking his help in the fight against the plant. In a letter to one association representative, the supervisor recently replied, "The Town of Hempstead, where I am privileged to serve, has no jurisdiction over" Plant No. 2.
The response disappointed civic leaders. Michele Walsh, president of the Central Merrick Homeowners Association, said, "That's not what we were expecting."
How to help with fundraising
Anyone wanting to make a donation for securing expert witnesses in the fight against Freeport Village's diesel Power Plant No. 2 can send a check payable to the "Old Lindenmere Civic Association," c/o Joseph Kralovich, president, P.O. Box 298, Merrick, NY 11566.
How to get notified of public-comment period
To be notified when the public-comment period for Plant No. 2's new Title V permit begins, write to: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, attn: Ray Cowen, Regional Director, Region One, Building 40, SUNY Stony Brook, NY 11790-0349; or call, (631) 444-0345.
