FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 12, 2005
Contact: Barbara LoMoriello, Legislative Aide -- #(631) 854-4500

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT!
Cooper Leads Call for Repowering of North Shore Power Plants to Burn Leaner, Meaner and Cleaner

On the eve of this week’s LIPA Board of Trustees meeting, Suffolk County Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) led a large and diverse group of concerned citizens and public officials who called on LIPA to sit down with KeySpan in order to devise a plan to "repower" the Northport and Port Jefferson Power Stations. Standing in solidarity with environmentalists, public health advocates and energy watchdogs, Cooper urged that these antiquated, highly inefficient and dirty power plants be modernized with cleaner, state-of-the-art technologies. This retooling will allow the plants to significantly boost their power generation capabilities, while also drastically reducing the amount of deadly pollutants their stacks release into the air we breathe. Experts say that repowering these two plants could double their generating capacity and add as much as 4,700 megawatts to the on-Island electricity supply.

"Now that we’re in cold and flu season, I inevitably start worrying about one of my five kids catching something," says Cooper. "But sometimes I really get concerned when I consider that maybe my son’s stuffy nose or my daughter’s scratchy throat isn’t simply caused by something going around school but instead results from something more ominous that stays around for the long-term—like the contaminants that spew out of those plants every day. Parents on Long Island have enough to worry about without adding high levels of airborne pollutants to that list."

Designed and operated with equipment and technology of the 1960s and 1970s, the Northport and Port Jefferson plants are among the largest individual sources of polluting gases in the region. They contribute to Long Island’s long-standing and dubious distinction of being among the worst areas in the Northeast for ozone and smog levels, asthma and other respiratory problems, all of which place undue stresses upon our public health systems. These plants do not meet the same federal Clean Air Act emissions standards that newly constructed plants are held to. They were grandfathered in when the Clean Air Act was enacted because most experts believed that the plants would not stay open due to their age.

The high levels of airborne pollutants from these two power plants contribute to the rising costs of healthcare and lost business productivity due to sick days. If the plants were repowered and operated at their current level of generation, the Northport plant would experience a 90% reduction in NOx emissions, a 95% reduction in SO2 emissions, an 86% reduction in CO2 emissions, and an 85% reduction in particulate emissions. The Port Jefferson plant would experience an 80% reduction in NOx emissions, a 98% reduction in SO2, an 84% reduction in CO2, and an 83% reduction in particulates.

Earlier this year, both Cooper and fellow county legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Setauket) authored resolutions calling for the repowering of the plants in their districts. Each of the resolutions were approved unanimously by the Suffolk County Legislature.

"The Suffolk County Legislature has a history of leadership in matters of environmental protection, yet we are home to two of the dirtiest power plants in New York State," says Viloria-Fisher. "It’s time for LIPA and KeySpan to remedy this dubious distinction."

A diverse group of supporters back updating the power plants. Senator Charles Schumer supports repowering, as does Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Nassau Legislator David Denenberg, Chair of the Planning, Development & Environment Committee. The Sustainable Energy Alliance of LI—an umbrella organization of over 30 environmental, health, civic, governmental and faith-based groups---called for repowering five years ago in their Citizens Energy Plan. They are joined by much of the business community, represented by LIMBA (the Long Island Mid-Suffolk Business Association), Long Island Business News and the Long Island Association. Health groups, including the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, the Allergy and Asthma Society, Chapter 2 of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Lung Association, all support power plant modernization. Organized labor also backs repowering as shown by support expressed by the Nassau-Suffolk Building and Construction Trades Council and other unions.

County Executive Levy stated "It is clear that Long Island is sitting at a crossroads regarding our energy future for the next generation to come. The aging facilities we rely on to produce our electricity are operating with less than state-of-the-art technology. LIPA and KeySpan must set a timeline to repower their existing generating plants. By doing so, residents will have increased generation to sustain our energy future and will benefit from significantly reduced emissions of pollutants, which will increase our quality of life on Long Island."

Mark Serotoff, Coordinator of the Sustainable Energy Alliance of LI, said "Updating these antique power plants will make an enormous contribution to better air quality, resulting in less respiratory disease, lower fuel costs, job creation, increased productivity due to fewer sick days, and an increased amount of electricity available on Long Island, while yielding a system with fewer breakdowns."

Advocates are hoping that events like today’s demonstration will educate Long Islanders about the dangers associated with keeping these plants operating under status quo conditions. Their goal is also to encourage LIPA and KeySpan to work together to develop a repowering plan that is part of the next long-term purchasing agreement and can be used as a starting point to come up with a long-term solution to our local energy needs. With 70% of the state’s generating capacity coming from burning fossil fuel, New Yorkers from every corner of the state could end up benefiting if LIPA and KeySpan can set the right example for other power providers to follow.