Resolution urges swift action on air pollution

The Municipal Services Committee of New Haven's Board of Aldermen unanimously voted on Thurs., Oct. 1, to endorse a resolution pushing Connecticut Governor John Rowland to clean up the "Filthy Five": the five power plants, including one in New Haven, which account for over 50 percent of the state's air pollution. About two dozen Yale students attended the public hearing, most representing Yale's Green Corps, the activist arm of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition.

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH CLOUDY SKIES: Emissions from the city's power plant have contributed greatly to the state's troubling air pollution problem.

Ward One Alder Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, drafted the resolution with fellow alders Esther Armmand and Jelani Lawson, MC '96. "[The resolution] is a powerful way to communicate support for the environment," Gonzalez explained. The full board will vote on the measure on Wed., Oct. 7.

The New Haven Harbor Station plant, owned by United Illuminating, is the second-worst air polluter in Connecticut. According to Green Corps President Cindy Kang, BR '99, the company emits over 10,000 tons of pollutants each year. Part of a state-wide grassroots campaign, Thursday's resolution is similar to one recently passed in Portland, Conn. According to Bernadette Del Chiaro, energy field organizer for the Toxics Action Center, parallel initiatives are in the works for Middletown, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Montville, the sites of the other four plants.

Kang gave the focal speech of the committee meeting supporting the resolution. "Ninety-seven percent of Connecticut residents breathe air that is unhealthy, as reported by the [Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)]," she reported. "[The `Filthy Five'] were grandfathered in under the 1977 Clean Air Act. For over 20 years, they have been exempt from national pollution standards. Rowland has the authority to update and clean the power plants."

Rowland, an incumbent Republican up for reelection next month, has been criticized for his lack of attention to environmental issues. "Rowland's Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] has done absolutely nothing to clean up the environment," Yale College Democrats President Josh Kagan, SM '00, said.

Kang agreed. "He's a typical Republican governor: pro-industry, not pro-environment," she said. According to Del Chiaro, "When he wants to shine up his environmental record, he'll come forward on something like open space. But he has created a Department of Environmental Protection that has been extremely lax on coming down on polluters."

But Rowland spokesperson Nuala Forde said resolutions such as New Haven's are important to the Governor. "The Governor is always responsive to local concerns. Any input the local governments can provide will be helpful to him," she said.

According to Del Chairo, U.S. Representative Barbara Kennelly (D-Conn.), Rowland's Democratic opponent, "has been equally disappointing on these issues." Kennelly has made no strong public statement in support of environmental initiatives.

At the meeting, Mark Abraham, JE '02, who has researched air pollutants for several years now, provided a scientific perspective on the issue. "New Haven is currently exceeding the limits of particulate air pollution," he said.

Statistics collected by the New Haven Department of Health suggest that air pollution dramatically affects city residents. From 1994 to 1998, emitted tons of sulfur dioxide rose from 6,000 to 14,000. In that same time period, asthma in New Haven school children rose from 1,250 to 1,900 cases.

Several community members offered personal testimonies to the Board of Aldermen. They ranged from a critical-care nurse at Yale-New Haven Hosptial to Pete Ellner of the New Haven Green Party. Ellner recently moved to Woodbury because of New Haven's poor air quality.

"People think `the environment' only pertains to the outdoors and the country," Ellner said. "People in cities are just as interested in the issue of clean air."

The committee's decision coincides with an EPA order released on Thurs., Sept. 24, which called for 22 states to reduce their smog-causing emissions by 28 percent. Connecticut was among the states on the list. In order to help states meet the mandate, the EPA created a market-based "cap and trade" system of emissions credits to allow greater industrial flexibility. Under the new program, if a certain company released less than its maximum amount of pollutants, it would be able to sell its remaining emissions credits to another company.

Kang said the Green Corps has more plans up its sleeve. When Rowland speaks at Yale on Tues., Oct. 6, Green Corps members will dress in power-plant costumes, "complete with headpieces that look like billowing smoke," and hand out fact sheets.

Two weeks ago, Green Corps members in the college dining halls collected 1,200 signatures for a petition supporting measures against the "Filthy Five."

"We're focusing on this campaign all year," Kang said. "We're all part of the New Haven community. We have to breathe this air every day."

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