South Bronx Residents Demand The Shutdown Of Polluting Power Plants
Peggy Shepard, executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, at rally Credit: Contributed photo
Amsterdam News
By: Ariama A.C. Long
Local environmental justice activists joined together last month to demand that the state New York Power Authority (NYPA) shut down four polluting peaker power plants in the South Bronx as the shift toward clean energy gets closer to becoming a reality.
“I wanted to stand with them in the call to get those peaker plants offline,” said Assemblymember Amanda Septimo. “As we’re bringing online cleaner energy projects, we want to take offline ones that we know are harmful.”
In Mott Haven and Port Morris, groups such as South Bronx Unite and WE ACT for Environmental Justice said they are railing against the toxic air and pollution emitted by the peaker plants. A combination of power plants, highways, truck traffic, and other toxic air factors in the area has resulted in asthma hospitalization rates eight times higher than the national average in the South Bronx.
