Good Old Lower East Side

East River Environmental Coalition wins concession from CON ED

Nov 21, 2000

East River Environmental Coalition wins concession from CON ED on Clean-up of 14th St

Hard work and testimony from the Lower East Side community is paying off!

On June 1, Con Edison filed an application to double the power at the 14th Street plant by installing new generators, but refused to clean up any of the existing problems that have burdened our community. Now, after months
of outcry from an enraged community already suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases, Con Edison is finally admitting that they must clean up existing problems at the old plant.

Con Edison was required to submit $300,000 to be used by municipal and community groups to conduct studies of the planned power expansion.
Community groups submitted plans for these studies, and on September 1 the NYS Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment allocated $225,000 to the joint application of East River Environmental Coalition (EREC)/Community Board 3 to study impacts of the expansion on the health of the community, alternatives to the expansion, and the environmental justice implication of moving all the power generation and resulting pollution from midtown to the LES. As part of this study, a health survey has been conducted in Haven Plaza. In addition, EREC was awarded an additional $18,000 to study the impacts of installing new steam lines throughout the area.

EREC held a public meeting on August 21 at the Campos Plaza Community Center. Public officials, tenants, and experts in public health and environmental science spoke out to more than 350 people. They addressed health issues such as aggravated asthma, the environmental racism aspects of Con Ed's plan, and the importance of community organizing to fight back and not allow this plan to go through.

At a Public Hearing held by the Public Service Commission October 5 at PS 34, members of the community again testified--this time to the judges examining testimony for this case. Many mothers spoke about the days of school missed by their children because of asthma attacks. Others testified about the explosions, noise, oil leaks with toxic chemicals, and being evacuated from their homes without explanation. Because of community outcry and strong political support, Con Ed is finally admitting changes must be made to the existing plant. They have now proposed changes that would result in a 8 1/2 % decrease of total emissions from both the existing plant and the new generators than is now emitted from the old plant. However, some specific pollutants, such as fine particles which are known health hazards, would be increased. These changes include a commitment to burn natural gas in 2 units from April 15 to Oct 15, minor equipment modifications to the South Steam Station boilers that burn oil, and training of personnel and other measures that would improve the operation of the plant as they relate to air emissions.

It is hard for our community to understand why Con Ed personnel are not already trained in ways that would reduce air emissions. Why did it take years of complaints before the proposed plan, and months of outraged response to the plan, to get a commitment to these minor changes? Our community wants Con Ed to make a major investment in cleaning up the existing plant to the fullest extent possible. Our health issues are not being seriously
addressed, and we will not be bought off with minor improvements that should have been made years ago.

This is the time to let Con Edison know that we will not stand for our health being second to Con Edison profits. We want a major investment in the existing plant to clean and upgrade it to ensure the lowest possible levels of pollution emission. We want con Ed to examine alternative solutions to meeting energy needs. This includes energy conservation, upgrading all Con Ed plants and looking at smaller plant expansions. We want money from Con Edison to be invested directly to air quality improvement programs on the Lower East Side. It is even more important now for Lower East Siders to stand together to not allow this plan to go through. To get involved and for more information, call EREC at 606-4040.