Much like their waterfront neighbors to the North in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, the residents of DUMBO and Vinegar Hill bear the burden of housing a power plant within the confines of their neighborhood. Con Edison, the City’s electrical utility provider, runs the Hudson Avenue Generating Station, which spans several blocks on Plymouth St. Clearly, electricity is not to be demonized. We can all agree that having electrical power in one’s home is a proverbial, “good thing.” However, power plants pose a threat in residential areas. Particulate matter emitted from power plants, such as VOCs and sulphur dioxide, is one of the leading causes of asthma – a major problem for children (and adults as well) in New York City.
A New York Times Real Estate article by Dulcie Leimbach from 2003*, discusses misgivings that some residents have about their local power plant:
“Some residents are resigned to this gigantic industrial presence while others have fought to make it as safe as possible. Last fall, the New York Public Interest Research Group filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency to require Con Edison to install more advanced pollution controls on a boiler that was shut down in the 1990’s and restarted in 2001.
The research group and other environmental organizations contended it never went through a proper review, though Con Ed disagrees. ”We are expecting an answer from the E.P.A. in September,” Tracy Peel, a staff lawyer with the research group, said of the petition.
Con Edison is evaluating the possibility of converting the plant to gas, which is environmentally cleaner, said Chris Olert, a spokesman, though such decisions, he added, take a long time.”
*Dulcie Leimbach, "If You're Thinking of Living In/Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn;
On Cobblestone Streets, History Lingers," The New York Times 31 Aug. 2003
