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For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
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Released, Tuesday, October 12, 2004

ALBANY - The Adirondack Council today testified in favor of proposed regulations on electric power plants that would require deep cuts in nitrogen- and sulfur-based air pollution in an effort to combat acid rain, smog and fine particles of soot that harm the environment and human health.

The Adirondack Council is one of New York's largest and most influential environmental organizations and is considered a national leader in the fight against acid rain.

The Council's comments came at the first of four public hearings, slated for four consecutive days, in Albany, Long Island City (Queens, Oct.13), Ray Brook (near Lake Placid, Oct. 14) and Avon (near Rochester, Oct. 15). Adirondack Council members, staff and trustees will testify at all four hearings.

"It is critically important that these regulations are adopted as soon as possible, so that the damaging effects of acid rain, especially on sensitive areas of the state such as the Adirondacks, can be diminished," said Adirondack Council Legislative Director Scott Lorey. "The Adirondack Park has become world renowned, not only for its beautiful landscapes, but for its empty lakes and devastated high-elevation forests, which are victims of acid rain. The park has more than 500 lakes and ponds which are now too acidic to support their native fish species.

"On many of our mountaintops, 80 percent of the lush red spruce and balsam fir forests have turned brown and died as the soil has been poisoned," he added. "Haze obscures the view of hikers who climb to the tops of the state's highest peaks. Whiteface Mountain, a place where the air should be clean, crisp, and healthy, is so heavily enveloped in smog and fine particles from smokestacks, it is out of compliance with national air quality standards. Without regulatory action on both the state and federal levels, our Park will not recover and our ecosystems will continue to be unhealthy and unproductive."

"However, acid rain affects all parts of the state, not just the Adirondack Park. Right here, acid rain is slowly deteriorating monuments and buildings of national significance," Lorey explained. "A 2003 study found that 25 percent of the locations where historic marble, limestone and sandstone buildings are being eaten away by acid rain are in New York State. Buffalo, Albany, New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse all made the list of the top 20 areas where these types of buildings are being destroyed . Our cities and our heritage can no longer withstand the effects of this pollution."

Other acid rain-related problems cited by Lorey included:

• Long Island Sound: The sound is suffering from excessive nitrogen pollution. While the main contributors to the Sound's nitrogen load are sewage and septic systems, runoff laced with air pollution increases nitrogen levels, leading to a loss of oxygen in the water and massive fish kills each year.
• Grape crops from Long Island to the Finger Lakes: Grape growers note that their harvests are diminished in vitality each year as the nutrients needed to grow vines and fruit are depleted from the soil by polluted rain and snow.
• The Long Island Pine Barren, the Catskill Park, the Taconic Mountain Ridge near Massachusetts and the Hudson Highlands are all suffering extensive environmental damage from decades of acid rain.
  

"Almost five years ago to the day (Oct. 14, 1999), Governor Pataki announced that New York would have the strongest acid rain regulations in the country," Lorey said, explaining that the regulations that were challenged in state court by a 2003 power company lawsuit that resulted in the regulations being thrown out on a technicality (regarding filing deadlines) in 2004.

The proposed regulations would require a 70-percent, year-round cut in nitrogen oxides, beginning this year. The two-phase sulfur dioxide reductions would begin in January and reach a 50-percent reduction (beyond current federal standards) by 2008.

"While some other states in the northeast have passed seemingly similar proposals, most of them either have loopholes allowing companies to buy their way out of reductions, or they only affect a select handful of plants in the state," Lorey said. "This proposed regulation would be imposed on every plant in New York, regardless of its age, regardless of its size and regardless of its location. In addition, it would limit the ability of companies to get credits from outside of New York.

"Some others groups testifying will demand that these regulations provide deeper cuts and also address the emissions of mercury and carbon dioxide," Lorey added. "While these other pollutants are a serious concern, we need the current proposed reductions now. Further delay of up to three additional years while the Department conducts a new round of analysis, revises technical modeling and conducts more briefings and then more hearings is unwise and would not provide any environmental benefit."

Lorey cited Pataki's leadership in these other areas by creating a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard seeking to increase New York's use of clean energy. He has also formed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), to look at reducing carbon emissions on a regional level. The Adirondack Council is a participant in the state stakeholder process for RGGI and we are confident that the proposal due out next spring will adequately address reducing New York's carbon emissions.

Founded in 1975, the Adirondack Council's mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of New York's six-million-acre Adirondack Park.