Stop the Plant

No Danskammer Fracked Gas Plant!

We continue to participate in permitting proceedings to ensure Danskammer’s plant is never built.

 

To complete its proposed plant, Danskammer must acquire an Article 10 certificate from the New York State Siting Board, and an air permit (officially, a “Title V air permit”) from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

 

In October 2021, the DEC denied Danskammer required air permits based on the project’s inconsistency with New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Danskammer filed suit in state court challenging DEC’s decision, but the court affirmed the DEC had authority to deny the permit and dismissed the case. In April 2023, Danskammer also lost an administrative appeal challenging DEC’s authority to deny the permit.

 

In June 2023, rather than continuing to fight the permit denial in court or at the DEC, Danskammer moved to pause the proceedings for one year. At the end of the year, Danskammer has indicated that it will withdraw or modify its application for a permit to build a new plant. While this represents an important victory, the fight to stop the plant is far from over—Danskammer may still try to build a new plant on the Hudson that emits toxic pollutants.

 

To date, 28 communities have passed municipal resolutions opposing the proposed plant. And a coalition of community organizations, businesses, and faith-based congregations has formed the Stop Danskammer Coalition to the #stoptheplant. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved and make sure we stop the plant!

Stop the Plant

DANSKAMMER DENIED!

On June 8, 2022, Orange County Supreme Court Judge Robert A. Onofry dismissed a lawsuit filed by Danskammer Energy LLC seeking to overturn the Department of Environmental Conservation’s denial of an air permit necessary for Danskammer to build its new fracked gas plant.

 

Judge Onofry ruled that the DEC had ample authority under the state’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act to deny permits for new polluting gas plants that interfered with the law’s aggressive mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The court also found that Danskammer’s remaining fact-based challenges must first go through the DEC’s administrative hearing process before they can be brought in state court. On June 22, Danskammer filed notice that it plans to appeal Judge Onofry’s decision.

 

Members of the Stop Danskammer Coalition will continue to participate in hearings before the DEC and NYS Siting Board over the next year to ensure we #StopThePlant!

Who is Danskammer?

Owners of the Danskammer power plant on the Hudson River in the Town of Newburgh want to replace the current facility—which operates only a few days a year—with a new gas plant that will run nearly all the time.

Danskammer makes no sense:

Air Pollution

It will emit over 25 times more particulate matter—which can damage the heart and lungs—and more than 25 times more volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that cause short- and long-term health problems.

Wrong Time

NY is committed to combating climate change. A new Danskammer will accelerate it by emitting over 40 times more climate-warming greenhouse gases annually—the emissions equivalent of adding 217,000 passenger cars to Hudson Valley roads!

There are smarter alternatives. Clean energy offers comparable jobs—and more of them. Renewables growth means job growth.

A Step Backward

It will increase industrialization along the river when communities are working so hard to reclaim their waterfronts. And it doesn’t fit in with NY’s nation-leading climate change goals—to phase out all fossil-fuel electricity generation by 2040.

No Need

Forecasts by NY’s electricity grid operator found that even with Indian Point’s closure, electricity demands will be met without a new Danskammer—and with new renewable projects.

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