TGE's assertion that our neighborhood is "an excellent location" for their power plant is based on arguable technical considerations and obvious profit motives. Is another power plant a good match for a community already struggling under a heavy environmental burden?

You decide!

The Project
The location for TGE's proposed power plant is at the existing Bayside Oil Terminal at One North 12th Street between Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The site consists of approximately 9 acres, bounded on the north by the Bushwick Inlet (which the community has been trying to acquire for open space development), on the east by Kent Avenue, on the south by North 12th Street, and on the west by the East River. There, TGE proposes to construct and operate a combined cycle electric power plant fueled by natural gas and oil, with a power capacity of approximately 1100 megawatts ("MG") annually. This would make it one of the largest power plants in New York City.

TGE's plans also include infrastructure for potential steam sales to Con Edison, connecting the facility with Con-Edison's 14th Street Repowered Plant through a tunnel crossing the East River.

Are There Reasons for Concern? Plenty!
Our neighborhood is already over-burdened with the highest concentration of waste transfer stations in the city, the largest sewage treatment plant in the Northeast, an underground 17-million gallon Mobil Oil spill (larger than the Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska), a nuclear waste disposal facility, freight transportation, paint and plastic bag manufacture, and over 3500-per-day truck traffic. There are presently five existing or approved power plants along a mile-and-a-half stretch of our waterfront. More than a hundred facilities with air pollution permits are now sited within one mile of the proposed TGE site.

North Brooklyn is presently included as part of a severe ozone non-attainment area. TGE's facility can only contribute further to our pollution problem. Based on TGE's air application, additional environmental pollutants would include the following:

CARBON MONOXIDE:	297.9	TONS ANNUALLY
SULFUR DIOXIDE:	61.4	TONS ANNUALLY
PARTICULATE MATTER:	204.8	TONS ANNUALLY
PM-10:	204.8	TONS ANNUALLY
NITROGEN OXIDES:	158.4	TONS ANNUALLY
VOC:	99.5	TONS ANNUALLY
SULFURIC ACID MIST:	15.4	TONS ANNUALLY
LEAD:	.02	TONS ANNUALLY

All of which adds up to 1042.22 tons of proposed additional pollutants released each year into an already toxic environment! This includes over 400 tons of fine particulate matter, which has been strongly linked to increased asthma rates, upper respiratory illness, and increased frequency of heart attacks and cardiac fatalities (see health impacts). With wind velocities in this area averaging 12 miles per hour, prevailing easterly winds can drive these pollutants 2.5 miles and more into our densely populated Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods.

What About TGE's Suggestion That Its Plant Will Actually Improve Our Environment?
Various ground spills have already occurred at the Bayside site (now considered a "brownfield"). TGE likes to point out that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requires that any purchaser of the site for the purpose of constructing a new facility be required to fully remediate the site; therefore (claims TGE) the community stands to benefit from their project! The fact is, however, that the current and past owners are already obligated to clean up those spills. TGE is doing our community no special favors!

TGE also suggests that air pollution in our area will actually go down as a result of removing Bayside Fuel truck traffic from our streets. But how does truck traffic stack up against the tons of projected toxic emissions outlined above?

Finally, while the site in its current state includes white oil storage tanks which can be seen from several locations in the neighborhood, TGE's proposal includes a 325 foot smoke stack! This structure would stand as high as the tower of the Williamsburg Bridge--taller than the Statue of Liberty! Views in the neighborhood would be profoundly and permanently impacted, with particular disruption of our views of the Manhattan skyline as well as Manhattan's view of our own historic steeples and low-rise neighborhood. Do we want a belching smokestack to symbolize our community in the future?

Contact TGE and your elected representatives now and tell them our neighborhood is no place for another power plant!

For references and further reading, link here to the excellent articles and information files at GWAPP and Williamsburg Watch websites.

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