12
COURIER LIFE, APRIL 15-21, 2022
‘Deny, don’t delay!’
Activists rally outside DEC headquarters,
demand denial of National Grid project
Protesters gathered outside the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation headquarters
on April 5. Photo by Ken Schles
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
Environmental activists rallied outside
the state Department of Environmental
Conservation’s headquarters on April
5, urging the agency to put a stop to National
Grid’s plan build new natural gas
infrastructure at their Greenpoint depot.
Almost two years ago, the British energy
giant applied for less restrictive air
pollution permits, which would allow it to
construct two new Liquified Natural Gas
vaporizers at their Maspeth Avenue depot.
Community members and activists
have fought the permits at every turn, saying
the new vaporizers would be inconsistent
with the state’s goal to lower greenhouse
gas emissions as part of the Climate
Leadership and Community Protection
Act and that the company has failed to adequately
assess the environmental impact
of the new vaporizers.
National Grid said the new vaporizers,
which would turn stored liquid gas into a
vapor, are needed to more efficiently meet
the needs of its customers. The vaporizers
are only used on the coldest days of the
year — often turning on for just a few days
every winter. For almost as long as they’ve
been fighting, the DEC has been delaying
its decision on whether or not to delay the
permits, repeatedly getting permission
from National Grid to extend the deadline
as they gathered community feedback and
new information from the company.
Organizers gathered to tell DEC they’re
tired of waiting. They want the agency to
issue a “No,” and they want them to do it
by the most recently-promised deadline:
May 7.
“Deny the permit, don’t delay! Environmental
justice communities have
been poisoned by the fossil fuel industry
for decades in North Brooklyn,” said the
No North Brooklyn Pipeline Coalition, in
a statement. “We once again remind the
DEC and Governor that disadvantaged
communities are living next to this polluting
fracked gas facility today. The climate
crisis is here today. In 2022 delay is denial
and it costs lives.”
National Grid did not immediately provide
comment on the protest.
Coalition members dressed in pink and
white scrub suits laid down in formation in
front of DEC’s Long Island City headquarters,
spelling out “NO LNG” with their bodies.
The activists also demanded that the
DEC shut down the completed parts of the
North Brooklyn Pipeline, also known as
the Metropolitan Natural Gas Reliability
Project, a natural gas pipeline that snakes
through the borough from Brownsville to
Greenpoint.
Two federal agencies, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Department
of Transportation, opened investigations
into the project after a coalition of community
groups lodged a civil complaint accusing
National Grid and the DEC of violating
civil rights laws.
The DEC was most recently supposed
to make a decision on the permit by Feb.
7, but asked National Grid to extend the
deadline by three months just about a
week before the decision was due, citing
an ongoing effort to read and respond to
public comments.
Days before asking to extend the deadline,
DEC asked National Grid to supply
an updated CLCPA analysis.
In the Jan. 24 letter, the department noted
that, if the new vaporizers were found to
violate climate guidelines, it would need
to justify that the project was needed badly
enough to warrant an approval and provide
a plan to lessen the impact of greenhouse gas
emissions.
The department also asked National
Grid to explain whether or not the city’s
newly-enacted ban on new gas hookups
would reduce demand and thus, the need
for the new vaporizers; and to confirm the
project is needed to improve service reliability
— and will not be used to increase
the amount of gas stored at the Greenpoint
facility.
Opioid (heroin) treatment research study…
Do you have a history of problems with opioid use
(heroin, prescription opioids, or fentanyl)?
Have you recently been involved with the criminal justice system
or recently/currently on probation or parole (in the past 6 months)?
If you answered Yes to the two questions above you may be eligible for
a research study currently taking place at y NYU Grossman School of
Medicine and Bellevue Hospital. Eligible participants may receive
treatment at no cost and be seen at Bellevue Hospital Center. Compensation
will be provided for time and travel. All participation is voluntary
and all information provided will be strictly confi dential.
For more information, please call: (347) 491-9817
One time use only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other coupon or offer.
Coupon offer good until December 31, 2022. Valid for any new
service except subscription fees. Must mention coupon at time of sale.
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATION
DIVISION OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVE FUELS PROGRAM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The New York City Department of Transportation is releasing the following Request
for Proposals: 84121P0033-84121MBTP427 Consultant/Program Management
Services in Connection with NYC Clean Trucks Program.
Contract Term: Five (5) years (1825 CCD) with an option to renew under the
same terms and conditions for up to five (5) years (1825 CCD) at the sole
discretion of the City.
This Procurement for Consultant/Program Management Services is subject to
a DBE participation goal of 18%.
A Pre-Proposal Conference (Optional) has been scheduled for May 2, 2022,
Time: 11:00 A.M. via Zoom. Proposers who wish to connect to the Zoom
Conference will need a Zoom ID and Password or the link. Proposers who wish
to attend should contact the authorized agency contact person
(dmaco@dot.nyc.gov) via email no later than April 28, 2022 by 5:00 PM for the
Zoom link. Proposers will need to provide the first name, last name of everyone
who wishes to connect, name of the organization, phone number and email
address. Deadline for submission of questions is May 4, 2022 by 5:00 P.M.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) is released through PASSPort, New York City’s
online procurement portal. Responses to this RFP must be submitted via
PASSPort by 2:00 P.M. on May 16, 2022. To access the RFP, vendors should visit
the PASSPort public Portal at https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mocs/systems/about-goto
passport.page and click on the “Search Funding Opportunities in PASSPort”
blue box. Doing so will take one to the public portal of all procurements in the
PASSPort system. To quickly locate the RFP, insert the EPIN 84121P0033, into
the Keyword search field. In order to respond to the RFP, vendors must create an
account within the PASSPort system if they have not already done so.
/about-go-to-passport.page
/about-go-to-passport.page
link
/about-go-to-passport.page