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

January 22, 2025

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

NYS-DEC Approved Polluting Gas Plant Permit Renewal Without Complying with NY's Nation-leading Climate Law; Toxic Air Pollution Remains in the Area with Lowest Life Expectancy Rate on Long Island

Contacts

Nydia Gutierrez, [email protected]

NASSAU COUNTY, NEW YORK-

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

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 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.

As New Yorkers confront the dangers of accelerating climate change and community-poisoning air pollution, New York's landmark climate law declines to authorize the Department of Environmental Conservation to turn a blind eye to the harms caused by the state's existing fossil fuel facilities," said Josh Berman, Senior Attorney with the Sierra Club. "The Caithness gas plant spews nearly 1 million tons of climate and air pollution each year in a Disadvantaged Community and DEC must address its inconsistency with New York's climate mandates."

The Caithness gas plant's operation continues uninhibited, with its prior emission limits incorporated into the new permit without consideration of New York's climate mandates.

"The fact that the DEC has not conducted a CLCPA analysis because 'total annual emissions are still limited to the same amount as in the previous permit' is precisely the problem," said Gilbert Zelaya, a senior associate attorney with Earthjustice. "New York State cannot continue to approve air permits-unexamined-that allow fossil-fueled power plants to operate business-as-usual. With only 5 years remaining for the State to comply with mandates to achieve a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, it is time to course correct. The DEC must act now to prioritize reductions of pollution in disadvantaged communities rather than authorizing a continuation of the status quo."

The Caithness gas plant is located within 4 miles of 12 different State-designated Disadvantaged Communities. The area is surrounded with industrial activity and is also plagued by the ever-present nauseating stench emanating from the Brookhaven Landfill. The areas immediately adjacent to the Caithness power plant are among Long Island's most diverse communities, such as North Bellport in which 22.7 percent of residents are Black and 37.4 percent are Hispanic or Latino. These diverse communities have been forced to bear much of the burden of pollution on Long Island. While only 14% of census tracts on Long Island are designated Disadvantaged Communities under CLCPA due to surrounding environmental burdens, these communities bear the unfortunate distinction as a result of their vulnerability to and ongoing harm from pollution.

One of these communities, North Bellport, ranks at the 87th percentile nationally for concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), a dangerous air pollutant, and is in the 97th percentile nationally for ground-level ozone (also known as "smog"), a powerful lung irritant and asthma trigger. Poor air quality and continued air pollution have contributed to North Bellport having the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, at a mere 73.2 years, nearly eight years less than the average for Long Island and especially jarring when compared to more affluent areas such as Shelter Island where life expectancy rises up to 92.9 years.

About the Law: CLCPA

In 2019, responding to concerns raised by environmental organizations across New York State, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, the landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The CLCPA addresses the urgent threat of climate change by requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a clean energy economy. The CLCPA sets detailed obligations on agency decisionmakers to ensure that their decisions-including specifically permit approvals-support an all-of-government effort to achieve the law's mandatory emissions limits, namely a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state by 2030, a requirement that 70 percent of all electricity generated in NY be renewable by 2030, and a zero emissions electric sector by 2040.

The continued threat of poor air quality only further exacerbates vulnerabilities that already threaten the predominantly low-income, Black and brown disadvantaged communities residing near the Caithness gas plant. These communities already suffer immense environmental harm from high industrial activity in their vicinity.

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