Anyone interested in making a donation to pay for experts to testify at any public hearing regarding Freeport Electric's diesel Plant No. 2 may write a check payable to the Old Lindenmere Civic Association and send it to: Old Lindenmere Civic Association, P.O. Box 298, Merrick, NY 11566. Donations are not tax-deductible.
Give to plant-fight fund, please
No doubt, Freeport Village will put up a dogged fight in defending its "right" to run diesel Power Plant No. 2, located just across the Meadowbrook Parkway from Merrick. That's what the attorneys say.
For months, village officials, including Mayor Willliam Glacken and Electric Superintendent Hubert Bianco, have said Freeport has a legal permit to operate the plant, so it will do exactly that.
Recently, the state Department of Environmental Conservation reopened the village's Title V permit to run the 1969 plant, which has spewed known and suspected carcinogens into the air for more than three decades. The permit will be rewritten to include tougher emissions and monitoring standards. There are none in the permit now.
Reopening of the permit follows months of phone calls and letters by Merrick and Freeport civic leaders, who either want pollution controls installed at the plant (there are none now), or want it shut down. The leaders, who are waging a grassroots campaign against the plant, believe a new, more stringent permit will force Freeport to do one or the other.
However, an environmental attorney from south Merrick, Jacques Simon, said not so fast when he visited an Old Lindenmere Civic Association meeting last week. Surely, Freeport would send a team of lawyers and experts to any public hearing that may be convened over the new permit, he said.
How would Freeport pay for such a cadre of environmental experts? With village tax dollars, of course.
Freeport's likely objective at a hearing: Shoot down any legal claim for toughening Plant No. 2's operating permit.
Simon warned that Merrick must come prepared to such a hearing with its own experts, who can substantiate arguments that the plant poses a public-health threat.
Such experts, who would study the plant's toxicity and render a judgment, wouldn't come cheap, however. They would run $5,000 each, just to give their testimony. For a report, they would want another $2,500.
Outrageous prices, you say. Indeed, they are. However, expert witnesses will prove vital to Merrick making its case that Plant No. 2 should no longer run, at least in its current form.
So, the Old Lindenmere Civic Association, which has led the plant fight from the outset, is raising funds to hire specialists to testify.
Here's where all of Merrick can help. You might not have been involved thus far with the many letter-writing campaigns against Plant No. 2. You might not have attended a recent public protest against the plant, at which 200 to 300 of your neighbors marched. You might not be able to donate any time to this worthy cause, which is all about saving your life and the lives of your children, friends, neighbors, even your pets. You can offer a donation, though, big or small.
If you can't give much, stick a dollar in an envelope and send it to the Old Lindenmere Civic Association. The dedicated folks there will take care of the rest. If each Herald reader gave only a dollar or two, Merrick would quickly be on its way to hiring a team of experts.
But consider giving more. The health of this community, both of its people and its home values, is at stake here.
