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BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKOWITZ SAYS “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” TO STATE SITING BOARD
AND ITS ENDLESS DELAYS ON THE TRANSGAS POWER PLANT PROPOSAL

Photographs by Kathryn Kirk

In photo: Borough President Markowitz speaks out against the State Task Force’s decision on the power plant proposal along the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront, as Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, Councilmember David Yassky, and Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning members look on.

Demands power plant proposal be denied immediately.

On Wednesday, September 29, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, Councilman David Yassky and members of the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning (GWAPP) joined together on the steps of City Hall to blast the State Task Force’s decision on the power plant proposal along the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. The New York State Siting Board on Electric Generation Siting and Environment recently voted to give TransGas Energy Systems an additional 60 days to submit more testimony regarding their new scheme to build the power plant "underground" at the North 12th Street site, continuing the procedure indefinitely.

“The Williamsburg Greenpoint community has had enough last minute changes in plans —enough delayed decisions — and enough disrespect for the future of this vibrant neighborhood,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “A power plant in the middle of a neighborhood with such potential would derail all of the plans on the table for the future of the waterfront. Our vision for the waterfront is parks and affordable housing – Brooklyn will not stand for anything less. This community cannot keep defending itself from the onslaught of endless extensions and delays on the part of the state Siting Board. Reopening the hearings and allowing TransGas to file an amendment in another sixty days is absurd. Brooklyn demands that this charade end - because enough is enough!”

TransGas Energy had amended its original proposal to construct and operate a 1,100 megawatt electricity generating facility at the Bayside Fuel Site at Kent Avenue and Bushwick Inlet at the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The latest proposal, calling for an underground plant with a smokestack peering out, would store dangerous flammable petrochemicals and constantly produce noise, water and air pollution.