by Peggy Kurtz and Gale Pisha
The desalination fight has scored a major victory for grassroots activism in the war against United Water’s proposal to treat Hudson River water for drinking in Rockland County.
In October, more than 1,600 citizens and elected officials packed two public hearings to voice their opposition to this environmentally harmful project.
As activists in the Lower Hudson Group, we find ourselves on the front line of a highly significant battle over water and energy, a battle we now understand is being played out across the country and around the world.
Five years ago, the Sierra Club co-founded a coalition, which has grown to 30 groups, to fight this proposal by multinational corporation Suez Environnement (United Water’s parent company) for a desalination plant to be sited on the Hudson River. The massive plant would impact the irreplaceable habitat of Haverstraw Bay, while the water would be contaminated by radionuclides being discharged and leaking from the Indian Point nuclear power plant just 3.5 miles upriver.
But above all, desalination is a climate change issue. Climate scientist Klaus Jacob called this desalination proposal “an abysmal, energy-guzzling greenhouse gas machine that has no place in a modern energy and climate change conscious environment and society.”
Desalination is the most energy intensive water supply source of all, which is why it is always the method of last resort, reserved for arid areas. With 49 inches of rain per year and increases predicted due to global warming, Rockland County is hardly an arid area.
Is new water supply needed?
Last spring, activists were fighting off approval of the project by the DEC. Our efforts were directed towards winning a more independent and transparent DEC review of this project. Thanks to the calls and e-mails of activists, a flood of resolutions in support of our request to the state were quickly passed by a majority of Rockland’s municipalities.
Facing strong opposition, in July the DEC punted the issue to the Public Service Commission (PSC), whose 2006 mandate, based on misleading information about Rockland’s groundwater and reservoir, had triggered the desalination proposal.
Suddenly, after years of refusing to review new information, the PSC reopened this case, going back to square one. Two hearings were scheduled for October.
Hundreds pack hearings
Reacting quickly, Sierra Club and other coalition members created a massive campaign to alert the public about the hearings, reaching over 25,000 people via emails, phone banking, leafletting, ads, radio interviews and social media. The “Water Week in Rockland Restaurants” initiative, held just before the hearings with participation of 35 restaurants, raised public awareness and thousands of dollars for the coalition.
About 1,600 citizens and elected officials turned out over two nights, overwhelmingly in opposition to desalination. Activists presented the PSC with 26,000 petition signatures.
Elected officials on every level urged the PSC not to rush into building an expensive and possibly unnecessary desalination plant. One speaker after another argued that Rockland has ample water supplies if properly managed, with plenty of time to put a water management plan in place.
Experts hired by the coalition with financial help from Atlantic Chapter also presented their analyses of the proposed project. Former NYC DEP Commissioner Albert Appleton described how NYC was able to avoid a similar desalination proposal, saving the city $5 billion through conservation, increased efficiency, leaky infrastructure repair and protection of the NYC watershed.
Appleton put forward three simple steps that could sustainably increase water resources for Rockland residents at a fraction of the cost of building a desalination plant: fair management of releases from Rockland’s reservoir to United Water’s New Jersey customers, a program of water efficiency, and repair of leaking water mains. These demand-side solutions are far cheaper and less harmful to the environment, with benefits to Rockland’s economy through green jobs.
Appleton explained that water demand has been decreasing nationwide over the past three decades despite population increases. If built, the desalination plant would result in skyrocketing water rates, leading residents to further cut their water use. In some communities where desalination plants have been built, demand has fallen so dramatically that the desalination plants have become “white elephants,” leaving communities permanently saddled with the massive costs of unnecessary infrastructure.
What’s next?
Rockland County is setting up a task force to create a forward thinking water policy, while the PSC reviews the public comments.
But this is a David and Goliath battle. United Water has already sunk a stunning $100 million into this project before its approval or a shovel in the ground. It is clear that this project is extremely important for Suez/United Water as a model for desalination in the wet Northeast.
That is why it is critical for this project to be stopped now. If approved, it would be a new foothold for desalination in a water-rich region, a highly negative precedent for water and energy policy in NY state.
We’ve all heard it said that water will be one of the defining issues of the 21st century, and that water and energy are very closely linked. As we connect with other groups fighting desalination proposals from California to Australia, we are feeling more strongly than ever that this battle matters beyond Rockland’s borders.
We are not only hoping to defeat this proposal now. We are determined to make Rockland County a model for sustainable water policy.
For updates on the desalination fight, go to www.sustainable rockland.org.
What You Can Do
1) Donations needed to hire experts
We need your help to hire experts to represent citizen interests at an evidentiary hearing. You can help by sending your tax-deductible contribution made out to “Sierra Club Foundation” and mailed to Sierra Club Foundation, PO Box 792, Pearl River, NY 10965 (write “Lower Hudson Group desalination” on the memo line). Or donate online at www.sustainablerockland.org.
2) Get involved
Come to the next Rockland Sierra Club meeting or email to let us know you can help: pkurtz9@gmail.com.
Peggy Kurtz and Gale Pisha are co-chairs of the Desalination Committee of the Lower Hudson Group.