PSEG's Misrepresentation of Reliability

  I'd like to share a speech I delivered to the LIPA Board of Trustees on May 29th, 2014. "On May 28th, 2014, Long Island Businesses For Responsible Energy, Inc., LIBFRE,  filed a complaint with the New York State Supreme Court in Riverhead, regarding the installation of your 6.2 mile overhead high-transmission line from East Hampton to Amagansett. The toxic poles, ladened with Pentachorophenol, have caused serious injury and will continue to cause serious injury to Plaintiffs and members of the class they represent in the following manner: 1) The poles have been treated with a wood preservative that contains pentacholorophenol (otherwise known as penta or PCP). We’ve been informed that these poles were not properly cured and rushed to be installed along the chosen route, in some places less than 25 feet from people’s homes. The rush is due to what I believe to be a misrepresentation of the reliability need. During the late 1980’s, we were told the same thing with regards to the need for the now defunct Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant.) 2) PCP and crude oil is leaching from these poles into the soil and groundwater. It is a dangerous poison, outlawed in 26 countries, that causes serious injury to humans if its fumes are inhaled, or it is ingested or touched. Our properties have been contaminated. 3) The power transmission and distribution lines to be operated will produce, transmit, and maintain unreasonable, harmful, and dangerous electromagnetic fields that are dangerous to the health of humans. 4) The new poles and lines have damaged the vegetation, natural quality, and scenic beauty of our area. This project has butchered our trees and damaged areas of local scenic significant vistas. East Hampton has been recognized as an area of unusual beauty and natural resources. The Nature Conservancy has designated the area as one of the “Last Great Places” in the Western Hemisphere. 4) The newly installed poles have significantly devalued the properties they run along. These properties are now perceived by prospective buyers, rightfully so, as being dangerous to the health of residents. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stated at a meeting I attended last Tuesday evening at Suffolk Community College at the Brentwood campus, that, “There is one set of rules for everyone. People are entitled to be safe in their homes, in their schools, and in their communities.” Governor Cuomo is perhaps not aware, that he is responsible for creating the long term LIPA agreement with PSEG-LI, LLC, a subsidiary, whose members are unknown, of a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc, a New Jersey holding company. He has transferred to this parent holding company, control of all energy decisions on Long Island, has created a lucrative deal with PSEG that has no oversight, no citizen participation, and no respect for the health and safety of the residents of Long Island. This deal will leak the yearly net profits of the subsidiary, and billions of dollars out of Long Island’s economy. Everybody, including PSEG, agrees that the poles and overhead lines can and should be removed and buried, without impairing the power supply of the East End. The issue remains as to who shall pay the cost. I urge this LIPA board to join in such agreement to bury the lines, and to assure us that the cost will be allocated fairly between the ratepayers and the stockholders of the New Jersey parent holding company of its subsidiary PSEG-LI. I wonder if the members of the LIPA Board of Trustees want as their legacy and the legacy of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to be remembered and cursed for your participation in this travesty? Both the LIPA Board members and the Governor do have the power to make this right by halting this project, pulling the poles, and burying the lines underground along a direct major corridor away from residential areas." Pamela Miller, a member of the research committee for the Stockholm Convention, and the founder of the citizen's group, Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), has invited myself and my Co-Chair, Rebecca Singer, to speak at the UN. The Stockholm Convention started with the banning of 12 substances. Later, the European Union nominated the addition of Pentachorophenol to the ban. They have a very intense review process. The POP's (Persistent Organic Pollutants) Review Committee did a lot of research and found penta in breast milk, in water, and in the Artic. They found penta to have effects on the endocrine system, blood serum, and wildlife. In October 2013, they determined that penta was a global contaminant and should be subject to global elimination. The United States and Canada have been the biggest fighters of the ban because of the wood preservative groups. It's all about money and power. Our website has launched, http://www.libfre.com.  Check us out. Read what we are doing. Read what our experts say. Sign our petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/gov-andrew-cuomo-ban-overhead-utility-poles-ban-penta. Our petition calls for the banning of pentachlorophenol (penta or PCP) use on utility poles. Penta is a toxic substance that leaches form PSEG's utility poles into our soil and groundwater. Our expert hydrogeologist found 300 times the acceptable level of penta in the soil 6" from the base of the poles. In addition, we are fighting to remove the 61' high-tension voltage utility poles from in front of our homes, and bury the lines underground along a direct major corridor away from residential areas. We just launched Go Fund Me on our website: http://gofundme.com/libfre.  Help us in this David and Goliath battle against PSEG/LIPA. And finally, check out our Facebook page and like us: http://facebook.com/libfreinc. When will our leaders wake up and stop working with big business at the expense of the health and safety of the people and the environment of the world?