Letter to the Editor: Waste to energy argument doesn’t hold up

January 5, 2025

New York is at a crossroads in its waste management crisis. Long Island officials are lobbying Gov. Hochul to classify so-called “waste-to-energy” (WTE) incineration as renewable energy — allowing aging, polluting facilities like Covanta (Reworld) Hempstead to secure subsidies to continue operations. Labeling WTE as renewable energy would reward polluters and harm vulnerable communities. Ms. Hochul must reject falsely classifying WTE as renewable energy.

WTE is neither clean nor renewable, fails to address the root causes of waste and pollution and undermines clean energy goals, including the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. In New York, 12% of greenhouse gas emissions are from waste, and nearly two-thirds of that is from incineration. Burning waste also releases toxic pollutants into the air, water and ecosystems, including carcinogenic dioxins and heavy metals. Moreover, incinerators contribute a negligible 0.3% to the nation’s energy grid, easily replaceable by zero-carbon energy sources.

Covanta (Reworld) Hempstead has repeatedly violated environmental standards. DEC’s failure to conduct in-stack monitoring has left critical gaps in understanding the true extent of pollution from this site. The Town of Brookhaven’s $1 million settlement falls far short of remediating the harm done to the community.

Economic arguments for WTE don’t hold up. According to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, aging municipal solid waste incinerators are prohibitively expensive to maintain, too risky to finance and too costly to upgrade. Viable solutions like plastic use reduction, composting and glass, metal and paper recycling are cheaper, safer and create more jobs. San Francisco diverts 80% of waste from landfills and incinerators, proving a sustainable alternative is possible.

To achieve our climate emission reduction mandates, we must reduce emissions in all industries, including waste. New York must embrace solutions and lead with bold, equitable policies that reduce waste, create jobs and prioritize public health.

- Monique Fitzgerald

Groups File Lawsuit Against NYS-DEC and Caithness Gas Plant for CLCPA Violations

January 22, 2025

Today, Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group (BLARG), Long Island Progressive Coalition (LIPC), and the Sierra Club represented by Earthjustice filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York-Nassau County against the NYS-Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Caithness Long Island LLC, over the unlawful air permit renewal and non-compliance with New York’s landmark climate law.

“The Long Island Progressive Coalition has long advocated for the need for Long Island to transition to clean energy for the sake of our climate and our communities. In the case of Caithness, this is another polluting facility contributing to the poor air quality of North Bellport and surrounding communities. DEC’s decision to ignore the significant impacts of the Caithness gas plant near a disadvantaged community is the last thing we need as we face climate and high asthma emergencies. Long Islanders deserve better, and we’re going to court to force the agency to follow our climate law.” – Monique Fitzgerald, North Bellport resident and Climate Justice Organizer at the Long Island Progressive Coalition, Founding Member of BLARG.

The Caithness Long Island Energy Center, located in Yaphank, is home to the massive gas-burning Caithness power plant — one of the largest single sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the state of New York. The facility emits nearly 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. That is the equivalent to: 235,000 cars driving a total of 2.5 billion miles in one year. In light of the threat to environmental health and public well-being posed by such a large gas plant nestled next to neighborhoods, environmental advocates are calling for the DEC to comply with state-wide mandates to reduce emissions from NY’s power generation and cease continued harm on vulnerable communities.

The surrounding communities, which include North Bellport, Yaphank, Brookhaven, and Shirley, are designated as “disadvantaged communities” under state law and require special consideration under the plain terms of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). These communities have struggled under the burden of air pollution that has contributed to the areas of North Bellport having the lowest life expectancy on Long Island.

Lawsuit alleges DEC improperly exempted Caithness power plant in Yaphank from climate law

January 23, 2025

Three environmental organizations have filed a state lawsuit alleging the state Department of Environmental Conservation illegally exempted the owners of a Yaphank power plant from a recent state climate law that seeks to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The DEC "abdicated its responsibilities" last year when it approved an air permit for the gas-fired Caithness Long Island Energy Plant without weighing the impact of emissions on local residents, according to the lawsuit.

The suit was filed Wednesday in Nassau County State Supreme Court by the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, known as BLARG, the Sierra Club and the Long Island Progressive Coalition.

The lawsuit asks the court to rescind the air permit and compensate the plaintiffs for costs incurred by the suit.

The DEC did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

In an emailed statement, Don Miller, spokesman for Caithness Long Island, said, "We have not reviewed the claims in the lawsuit and have no comment at this time."

Residents of nearby communities such as North Bellport say the Caithness plant is one of several industrial facilities in the area that contribute to high rates of respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. North Bellport is about two miles from the Caithness plant.

The lawsuit states that DEC officials ignored a 2019 state law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which they say requires state agencies to consider the impact of emissions on North Bellport and other "vulnerable" communities.

“We’re talking about decades of pollution that these communities have had to endure,” said Gilbert Zelaya, an attorney for Earthjustice, which filed the suit on behalf of the Sierra Club. “Right now they’re doing nothing. … To us, that means the DEC is sending the message that they don’t care about the health and well-being of these communities.”

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DEC finds more improper ash mixing at Hempstead burn plant as lawsuit continues

January 29, 2025

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has identified further instances of improper waste-handling practices at a trash-to-energy plant in Hempstead, finding more trucks rolled with an improper mix of ash on their way to Brookhaven’s landfill than previously reported.

The report comes as a judge in Mineola is reviewing a 2017 whistleblower case by a former employee that alleged years of improper waste handling practices at the Covanta Hempstead plant. The former employee sued on behalf of New York State, three Long Island municipalities and LIPA. 

LIPA, Garden City and Hempstead Town were dismissed as plaintiffs in the case, but the Town of Brookhaven remains, along with the former employee, Patrick Fahey, who alleges retaliation.

As Fahey's case moves forward, Judge Lisa A. Cairo, in State Supreme Court in Mineola, is reviewing a proposed $1 million settlement payment to Brookhaven Town by plant owner ReWorld that would remove the town as a plaintiff from the case, a move some local residents oppose. 

The plant, formerly owned by Covanta but since acquired by ReWorld, takes in more than 2,600 tons of primarily residential trash a day and after incineration produces up to 650 tons of ash.

The plant operates under strict rules for mixing and transporting incinerated ash to prevent its unintended dispersal, with lighter "fly ash," which contains toxic metals such as lead and cadmium, mixed at an approximately 70-30 ratio to heavier and less toxic bottom ash.

In an amended report filed Friday, the DEC looked at logs for 15,128 trucks loaded with the ash between 2006 and 2013, and found 601 were out of compliance by 5%. That compares with the DEC's initial review of 11,322 trucks for which it found 583 trucks out of compliance. 

The DEC review found 346 truckloads were 5% to 10% outside the proper ratio, and 255 truckloads more than 10% outside. The company changed its practices in 2014.

Michael Ross, an attorney for ReWorld, in a Jan. 24 letter to the judge argued that the amended DEC report weighs in the company’s favor, noting that its overall compliance rate during the years in question increased to 96% from 95%.

The residents of the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group say the latest results only provide more reason not to allow Brookhaven's $1 million settlement.

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DEC to Brookhaven: Rewrite report discounting landfill's role as toxic plume source

March 3, 2025

A state environmental official ordered Brookhaven Town to rewrite a draft report suggesting the town landfill may not be the source of plumes containing higher-than-normal levels of highly toxic "forever" chemicals.

State Department of Environmental Conservation geologist Francesca King, in a Feb. 13 letter to town officials, disagreed with the conclusion of a Brookhaven consultant who said contaminated plumes could have been caused by other current or former industrial and agricultural properties located near the landfill in Brookhaven hamlet.

The consultant, Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects, said in the 161-page report released in December that the town's state-mandated investigation was finished and "no further work is required to be performed in this regard."

King said the agency "does not support this conclusion," citing numerous examples of what she said was missing or incomplete information. She ordered a revised report by March 15.

The exchange comes as Brookhaven officials say they plan to close the 50-year-old landfill by 2028, when it is expected to run out of capacity. The landfill stopped taking debris from construction sites in December and now accepts only incinerated trash and automobile parts, known as "fluff."

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